2013 Boise State recruiting: How are things going?

The 2013 Bronco recruiting class added another name to the list yesterday (ATH Dionza Blue) and, on paper, has been easily the best recruiting class of Chris Petersen's tenure. So, how close are we to being done-zo, and will all of our guys make it till LOI day? Let's discuss.

Who's still on the board

WR/S Jermaine Kelly (6'2" 185 lbs. Salesian High School)

Kelly, a one-time UCLA commit, is hugely talented at both the DB and WR positions. Scout.com has him rated a 4-star and the #22 CB in the country. Kelly would be the perfect guy to finish the class.

Do we have a chance?

No clue. Kelly de-committed from UCLA about one day after visiting Boise State and also was seen wearing a Boise State sweatshirt at the Cal State game. That said, Kelly has offers from most of the Pac-12 and beyond. It would be a huge boon and a bit of payback to UCLA for snagging Marcus Rios out of our class last year. I still am inclined to think the chances are getting slimmer by the day.

Update: "Slimmer" was right. Kelly has committed to Washington.

TE Matt Burke (6'6" 215 lbs. Cardinal Newman High School)

Burke came all the way from Florida to visit The Blue last month on a west coast swing that also saw him visit the Aztecs of San Diego State. Burke is rated the #47 TE in the nation and was selected to play in the US Army All-America Game.

Do we have a chance?

Slim. Burke doesn't have a boatload of offers, but that may change rapidly. He's visited Boise State and SDSU and is scheduled to visit Harvard next week, and he's also expressed interest in Boston College. If you ask me, Burke has seen what the western U.S. has to offer and may be wanting to keep to the east. It's worth noting that the Broncos have already signed a higher-rated TE this class (Fruitland High's Alec Dhaenens, at #29).

DB Patrick Enewally (6'2" 191 lbs. Gahr High School)

Enewally was offered a few months ago by the Broncos and has since seen his recruiting pick up a lot. He visited with Kelly back in December and also took a trip to UW shortly thereafter. If you can read between the lines about Kelly's Cal State Game attire...you could do the same with Enewally—he was in a Huskies hoodie. He's a 3-star recruit and the 50th ranked CB in the country.

Do we have a chance?

50/50. Enewally seemed to enjoy his time on The Blue...but the same could be said of his trip to Seattle. It looks like UCLA, UW, and Boise State are his top three, but I'm inclined to think that it's between the Dawgs and Broncos.

DT Toby Johnson (6'3" 296 lbs. Hutchinson CC)

Johnson is the second-highest rated recruit still on our offer list...and it's a HUGE offer list. He's considered a 4-star recruit and has offers from most of the SEC.

Do we have a chance?

A snowball's chance...but you don't want to know where. Johnson has expressed "high" interest in Georgia and holds a Bulldog offer, so I'd give good odds he ends up there. He'll visit Auburn before signing day and either way, I think he heads to SEC country. Be consoled by this: Boise State has 2 JC defensive tackle recruits in this class, and one has already signed. We should be good there.

WR AJ Richardson (6'1" 185 lbs. Narbonne High School)

Richardson is a Cal commit...but you could say that he's a "soft verbal" at this point, as he announced his plans to check out a few other programs last week. He was selected to play in the Semper Fi All-America Bowl and is rated a 3-star and the #57 WR recruit in the country.

Do we have a chance?

Maybe. I have no idea how many slots we feasibly have left in this class, but it looks like Richardson has added Boise State, Nevada and Duke in the mix with Cal for his services. CB Bryan Douglas is a Narbonne grad, so who knows if that helps matters, but it's safe to say that his highlight tape is—what's the word kids are using nowadays? Sick?

WR K.J. Young (6'1" 182 lbs. Citrus Hill High School)

Young's offer list apparently includes Oklahoma, but his top choice for now still appears to be the Broncos. He visited back in October and is rated a 3-star by Scout and the #99 prospect at his position in the country.

Do we have a chance?

If we still have room, absolutely. Like I said, our class has to be winding down with 23 known commits and a few guys coming off of grayshirts. If there's some attrition in the class or more room than we know of, I'd say Young wouldn't be hard to lure to The Blue.

Update: Young has moved the Broncos to "low" interest. Apparently, we got our two WRs (Keys and Austin) and there was no longer room for Young.

OLB Akeem Harrison (6'1" 205 lbs. Killeen High School)

I know next to nothing about Harrison, but he has a Boise State offer...and it's his only one. He's rated a 3-star and the #90 prospect at his position.

Do we have a chance?

If we have the room...and I'm not sure we do. The Broncos may have offered Harrison, but we also offered other OLBs in this cycle and received verbals from them (Gabe Perez, Joe Martarano...possibly Mat Boesen)...so our OLB quota for this class might be tapped. Of course, there is still some question as to whether Martarano sticks with his commitment or heads to the MLB. This is a tricky proposition since the MLB draft isn't until June...hopefully, Martarano will have enough of a sense of his draft projection (and subsequent contract $$) to make an educated decision before too long.

Areas of need

Boise State appears to have recruited well to their needs this class...the top need being defensive tackle. The Broncos have already signed JC-transfer Deuce Mataele and are expected to sign Justin Taimatuia, Nick Terry and Kamalei Correa (possible DE) next month. Terry recently received an offer from Cal and will take an official visit there. Whether that means his schollie is safe or not is not known.

Another need was at DB, since the Broncos are graduating both starting corners and have their 3rd man (Bryan Douglas) rehabbing an injury. Two JC corners were picked up, in Mercy Maston (yet to sign) and Cleshawn Page (signed), and yesterday's verbal from ATH Dionza Blue, looks to be a DB add as well—as does the addition of ATH Thomas Sperbeck.

An area of less-pressing need was RB, but depth can always be a concern and experience at that position is slim. The Broncos picked up JC-transfer Derrick Thomas (signed) and prep standout Aaron Baltazar (a UW de-commit) in this class to shore up their ranks.

Kicker? That's covered too. The Broncos lose Michael Frisina (he of the clutch bowl kicking) but will replace him with K Tyler Rausa...another JC-transfer.

Stars of the class

All the 2013 recruits look big, fast and very good. On paper, the stars of the class—at least according to ESPN's recruiting service—are C Andrew Tercek and RB Aaron Baltazar...the worldwide leader has both rated as 4-star recruits. Scout.com also has Tercek as the top commit based on his positional ranking of 21—their next best being MLB Tanner Vallejo, with a positional ranking of 25. Don't be surprised to see some names other than Tercek and Vallejo being mentioned for contributors as true freshman, however...MLB and Center are less a pressing need for next season as other spots. Arguments could be made for TE Alec Dhaenens (#29 rated in the country), WR Kendal Keys (Pac-12 offers aplenty) or a slew of other 2013 verbals...that's how high I am on this class.

Can we hang on to all of them?

Man, I hope so. This class is absolutely loaded with talent and all of them fit the "OKG" tag that Coach Pete looks for. The only two I'm sweating as LOI day looms are Nick Terry, with his Cal trip forthcoming, and Joe Martarano, with his MLB paycheck forthcoming.