Former Ohio State and current Kansas State offensive tackle George Fitzpatrick has already made quite an impression on his new coaching staff. Six months after transferring from Ohio State to Kansas State, Fitzpatrick is in line to start, according to Wildcats head coach Chris Klieman.
“We needed some older guys as these younger guys grew, and George Fitzpatrick is one that was here in the spring that elevated himself to the top of the depth chart at left tackle,” Klieman said of his offensive line at Big 12 media days on Tuesday.
Despite being a four-star and top-200 recruit out of high school, Fitzpatrick failed to break out of a reserve role during his three years in Columbus. After playing in 4 games during his first two seasons at Ohio State, Fitzpatrick only played in 84 offensive snaps during the 2024 season, even after other offensive tackles like Josh Simmons and Zen Michalski suffered injuries midway through the year.
Fitzpatrick may not have had ample opportunity to put his skills on display with the Buckeyes, but he showed enough for the Wildcats to be aggressive in acquiring him out of the transfer portal. On3’s Pete Nakos reported on Tuesday that the Wildcats “Paid top dollar” for his services.
While Fitzpatrick is in a good position to make an impact for the Wildcats, the Buckeyes’ focus will be on their own transfer portal additions, including former Minnesota offensive tackle Phillip Daniels and former Rice offensive tackle Ethan Onianwa. While it is still unknown if Onianwa or Daniels will start in 2025, both players made starts at their former programs in 2024 and received plenty of reps in the Spring.
