Kansas State football linebacker Daniel Green not on depth chart for Big 12 opener with UCF
Kansas State football is likely to be without one of its top defensive players for this Saturday's Big 12 Conference opener against Central Florida.
Super-senior middle linebacker Daniel Green was not on the Wildcats' depth chart Monday after appearing to hurt his right shoulder early in the second half of last Saturday's 30-27 loss at Missouri.
Austin Romaine, a true freshman, is listed as the starter for the UCF game, scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
K-State coach Chris Klieman is expected to address Green's status during his weekly Tuesday news conference.
Green, who battled injuries much of last year and missed part of preseason training camp, had his most productive game against Missouri with a team-high nine tackles, including 2.5 for loss with a sack. But on the second play of the second half, he sacked Tiger quarterback Brady Cook using only his right arm and looked to have trouble fully extending the arm the rest of the game.
Related: Kansas State football's injury outlook improving ahead of season opener
Green missed the next series on defense, giving way to Romaine, but returned to finish the game. He appeared to be wearing a brace on his right shoulder.
Green surprised teammates and coaches alike in January by announcing that he would return for an extra season instead of entering the NFL draft.
"After a senior season plagued by injury and not being 100% for most of the year, I wanted to finish my college career playing my best ball … see y'all in the fall," Green wrote on social media.
Green led the Wildcats in tackles with 89 and tackles for loss with 16 as a junior in 2021, but was seldom at full strength last season, though he still appeared in 13 of 14 games and tied for fourth on the team with 58 tackles. After missing the end of training camp, he started each of the first three games this season.
"I feel like each week I'm getting healthier and have been feeling even better," Green said last Tuesday ahead of the Missouri game. "So each week I'm getting closer to 100%."
Romaine, a 6-foot-2, 235-pounder from Hillsboro, Missouri, impressed K-State's defensive coaches from the time he arrived in the spring. He has appeared in all three games this season, totaling three tackles, all two weeks ago against Troy.
Junior Beau Palmer is listed as the backup middle linebacker.
Good news for the offensive line
The release of Monday's depth chart provided some good news for the Wildcats on the injury front.
Super-senior right tackle Christian Duffie, who missed the first three games after suffering an injury during the summer, appeared for the first time, albeit as a backup to Carver Willis. Willis started the first three games in Duffie's place.
Duffie, who started 35 straight games leading into this season, presumably will be limited as he works his way back. Klieman said following the Missouri game that he expected Duffie to be back against UCF.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State football linebacker Daniel Green off depth chart for UCF
