Six players have just departed Kansas City.

 In the three years since the NCAA’s one-time transfer rule went into effect, Kansas State’s losses to the portal had been minimal.

That is why the sheer number of defections in the week since last Saturday’s 42-35 loss to Iowa State has been so stark, with 11 players declaring their independence before they even learned their bowl destination.

Most notable, of course, was senior starting quarterback Will Howard’s decision to bypass the bowl game and seek greener pastures for a fifth year granted to veterans of the 2020 pandemic. Not only did Howard start all 12 games for the 8-4 Wildcats, but he left as the school career record holder with 44 touchdown passes and helped lead the team to a Big 12 championship as a junior.

Still, Howard’s leaving did not come as a shock to most observers, given the fact that he had to fight off a challenge from true freshman Avery Johnson, the Wildcats’ presumptive quarterback of the future.

Running back Treshaun Ward, a highly regarded transfer from Florida State, also had a productive season with the Wildcats. But he was unlikely to displace sophomore DJ Giddens, a 1,000-yard rusher, next year.

On defense, sophomore junior college transfer Will Lee started for most of the year, but saw senior Keenan Garber claim more playing time as the season wore on. Garber, a converted wide receiver, is expected to return as a fifth-year super-senior next year, along with starter Jacob Parrish.

None of the other players were major contributors, though the decisions by sophomore Jake Rubley and redshirt freshman Adryan Lara to transfer leaves the Wildcats with Johnson as the lone scholarship quarterback.

Here is a list of players who already have entered the portal as graduate transfers, or those who have announced their intensions to do so when it opens to undergraduates on Monday, Dec. 4.