In which BracketCat counts down the 87th day until the 2025 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State tight end Brayden Loftin.

#87 Brayden Loftin

Redshirt Junior | 6-5 | 230 lbs. | Omaha, Nebraska

Position: Tight End
Previous College: None
Projection: Co-Second-String
Status: On Scholarship

Brayden Loftin (b. Feb. 12, 2004) is a reliable, play-making tight end from Nebraska who redshirted and did not play in 2022, but emerged as a key part of the TE rotation in 2024.

He saw action in nine games in 2023 as a reserve tight end, and as a member of the kickoff return and field goal protection units, and he earned first-team Academic All-Big 12 honors.

In 2014, Loftin saw action in 10 games — including a start against BYU — although he missed three games in the middle of the season due to injury.

He hauled in 11 receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns over his 172 offensive snaps — including a career-high 46 offensive plays against Arizona — while he also served on the kickoff return unit during the three nonconference games.

Loftin tallied his first career reception in the season opener against UT Martin, which went for a 23-yard touchdown, and he also had a touchdown against Arizona as part of a K-State tight end unit that had a nation-best 13 touchdowns last year.

He also posted a career-high 45 receiving yards against Arizona, plus a career-best three catches against both Arizona and Arizona State, and was an Academic All-Big 12 performer.

Loftin, who is majoring in kinesiology, prepped under head coach Justin Kammrad at Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he was viewed as the 35th-best tight end and the 10th-best player overall in the state of Iowa for the Class of 2022 by ESPN.

He helped the Titans to win a state championship as a senior after he hauled in a touchdown pass in overtime and his team won, 32-24, in three overtimes.

Loftin, who also competed in track and field, earned all-district and all-state honors from the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association during his final campaign.

He finished his career ranking in the top 10 in Lewis Central school history for career receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns.

Loftin, rated a three-star player by most recruiting services, chose K-State over offers from Air Force, Army, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Dartmouth, Eastern Michigan, Harvard, Jacksonville State, Liberty, Miami (Ohio), Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Yale, as well as interest from Central Michigan, Iowa State, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

His primary recruiters were former offensive coaches Courtney Messingham and Jason Ray.

Here’s what former tight ends coach (and new offensive line coach) Brian Lepak said back in 2022 of both Loftin and his running mate, Garrett Oakley:

Our two incoming freshmen … have performed really well. They’re continuing to learn and as young guys they have a way to go. Tight end for us is a developmental position and they’re really coming along and picking it up and learning how to play hard and that’s the great thing about how we practice. They get a lot of reps because we split the field. They’re coming along well.

And this is what Chris Klieman had to say about his “other” tight end signee back in 2021:

He’s a really rangy guy that you can flex out and put on the ball, play in space, he can really run well. They won a state championship this year. He was really instrumental there. We’re excited about Brayden as we continue to enhance the tight end room with big athletic guys that can run.

Loftin’s new position coach, Luke Wells, also had high praise for his new protege this spring:

Brayden is an athletic kid who has good hands and is really good on the perimeter. I’ve been pleased with his development.