How Kansas State football tight end Ben Sinnott came to be listed as the starting fullback

MANHATTAN — When Ben Sinnott, one of the Big 12's top returning tight ends, showed up on Kansas State football's depth chart Monday as a fullback, he had a simple explanation.

It was all about spreading the wealth among his teammates.

But try telling that to his Wildcat teammates, especially the offensive line. Even quarterback Will Howard couldn't resist.

"The O-line loves to give him a hard time about that, call him a blocking back," Howard, one of Sinnott's best friends on the team, said about his new fullback. "And I'd be lying if I said I've never gotten in on that joke, either, but he's a true Swiss Army knife."

Indeed, Sinnott has lined up both at tight end and fullback in the three years since he arrived in Manhattan as a skinny walk-on from Waterloo, Iowa. In K-State's offense, the two positions are somewhat interchangeable, although — since Collin Klein took over as offensive coordinator last year — they have started to phase out the traditional fullback.

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Sinnott, who now packs a solid 245 pounds on his 6-foot-4 frame, took full advantage of the new tight end emphasis in 2022, enjoying a breakout sophomore year. He was especially productive after Howard took over as starting quarterback midway through the season, finishing with 31 catches for 447 yards and four touchdowns.

Nonetheless, when the Big 12 coaches named their all-conference picks, there Sinnott was as the first-team fullback. And despite all evidence to the contrary, media members again slotted him at fullback on the preseason all-league team.

Sinnott just smiled.

"My coach (Brian Lepak) talked a little about it," Sinnott said of the decision to continue the charade. "It's a situation where I kid of go back and forth.

"We wanted to list some others of the tight ends, make sure we could get everybody in there on the depth chart. So that was kind of the reasoning."

Sure enough, junior Will Swanson and redshirt freshman Garrett Oakley are listed as co-starters at tight end, while Sinnott and junior Christian Moore are the fullbacks. Moore, in fact, is one of the few traditional fullbacks still on the roster.

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To Howard the fullback designation simply recognizes Sinnott's versatility and athletic ability and should not be taken as a slight.

"He can play out of the backfield, and that's the good thing about him," Howard said. "He could go block and kick out a (defensive) end, or he can go release and run a vertical, and that makes it really easy on us.

"Because you never know where we're going to put him or where we're going to motion him to, and he's so mobile and he can do so many different things."

Bottom line, Sinnott added, nothing has really changed.

"I'll be playing both," he said. "But obviously I'll still be a tight end, not to scare anyone."

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 tight end Ben Sinnott also at home as a fullback