Are you ready for some football? It’s Day 1 of spring football practices on the Palouse, and new head coach Jimmy Rogers gets his first chance to show what he’s got on the football field.
As always, spring football is not exactly a time to make bold predictions about the upcoming season. Spring football is good, to be clear, but it’s all about evaluating the talent on campus right now, tinkering with some things, testing new schemes and more. This season, given the new coaching staff and a huge roster turnover, the spring sessions will likely be all about learning new systems and names.
Practices begin today and the spring season concludes on April 12 with the annual Crimson and Gray game in Pullman. There is a scrimmage at ONE Spokane Stadium on March 29 for those of you in my neck of the woods.
The players stepping on the field today will largely be brand new to Pullman, as what seemed like the equivalent of Stimson Hall entered the transfer portal this offseason. On defense, the defensive line and secondary are nearly all new guys and Keith Brown and Parker McKenna are the only linebackers returning with meaningful snaps,
Things are a little better on offense. Brock Dieu and Christian Hilborn have plenty of snaps under their belts on the offensive line, but three other guys will need to step up. The Cougs lost Wayshawn Parker at running back, but Djouvensky Schlenbaker and Leo Pulalasi return, as does Dylan Paine from an ACL injury. Pulalasi was the primary backup last year, and Schlenbaker’s big body was used here and there.
Tony Freeman, Josh Meredith and Tre Shackelford return at wide receiver. While none of them were game breakers like Kyle Williams, they have the experience to help WSU in what will likely be a bridge season.
Andre Dollar and Tre Leckner are back at tight end, and it appears Hudson Cedarland has joined them in the tight end room. Cedarland was previously a linebacker.
And then there’s the quarterback position. Rogers lured Zevi Eckhaus out of the transfer portal and it’s assumed Eckhaus will be the no. 1 guy this spring. Redshirt sophomore Jaxon Potter is behind Eckhaus for those who love to love the backup quarterback.
Those are the names we’re familiar with. There are tons of new guys, and I expect plenty of them will practice with the ones this spring and into the fall.
It’s been 64 days since WSU walked off the field at the Holiday Bowl. A lot has happened since then, and it’s time to see the new version of WSU football.