Boise State numerical roster countdown 2015: Day 86, Chase Blakley

We've got 86 days until the first home opener since 2009, so today let's take a peek at the player currently wearing the #86 jersey —Chase Blakley

#86, Chase Blakley, RS Freshman, TE

Stats

Height: 6'4"

Weight: 234 lbs.

High School: Coeur d'Alene High School, Couer d'Alene, ID

How'd he get to The Blue™?

Through the persistence of Eliah Drinkwitz. Blakley was a seemingly firm UW commit for the better part of a year and hadn't even been offered by the Chris Petersen's staff. Well, after Chris Petersen went to Seattle, Blakley no longer felt he was as highly prized as was warranted and the incoming Boise State staff made keeping the Northern Idaho stud in-state a major priority. So major, in fact, that Eliah Drinkwitz showed up at his CdA doorstep at 12:01 AM the morning the dead period ended. Blakley caught 47 passes as a senior for 762 yards and 11 scores and helped lead his team to a state championship. As a junior, he had 51 receptions for 598 yards and 7 TDs. Blakley was named the Preseason "Mr. Football" for Idaho prior to his senior season by MaxPreps and was named first team all-state on both offense and defense at the season's close. Blakley was rated a 4-star player and #8 at his position nationally by Rivals/Yahoo! and also was named the #1 player in the state by 247Sports.com. Blakley held offers from EWU, Florida, Idaho, Idaho State, Washington (obviously), and Wyoming. It's safe to say that list would have been a lot longer too if he hadn't been so thoroughly committed to the Huskies for so long.

Nickname

"Couer d'Alene Kid"

Because we need one more opportunity to misspell 'Couer d'Alene'

Look-a-like

I'm still getting a Vin Diesel vibe here

Career highlights

99 career receptions for 1,379 yards and 18 touchdowns. Awarded 4-stars and 8th best TE in the nation distinction by Rivals. Led team to state title in 2013. Was named first team all-state on offense and defense in 2013.

2015 prospectus

Last year, I stated that Blakley was the highest-rated tight end the Broncos had ever landed, and the incredible part of that statement was that he was almost sure to redshirt. A few years ago, if the Broncos landed anything close to a blue-chip commit, they were playing right away...that's usually the way things worked. Sure, true frosh still find themselves playing right out of the gate, but I think it's a testament to the uptick in recruiting and the Broncos' depth that players like Blakley can be afforded the luxury of redshirting.

This season, the tight end depth is still fantastic, but the graduation of Connor Peters has left at least one void at the position and I think Blakley or David Lucero are in a good spot to fill it. It's hard to say who might get the more reps of the two, but just from breaking down the modest amount of film on the two, I'd have to say that Blakley is a bit more of a well-rounded TE with his pass-catching and blocking prowess. Lucero, the taller of the two, is a fantastic receiver and should create matchup nightmares for opponents, but I see Blakley as a guy that might be more of an "every down" type of TE that could even fit into the backfield on occasion like Alec Dhaenens. I expect both Blakley and Lucero to finally get their feet wet this year and likely right out of the gate against the former object of Blakley's affection—the Washington Huskies. Major PT could definitely happen for one or both this year, but the departures of Jake Hardee and Holden Huff at year's end will fling the doors wide open for them to become major contributors to the Bronco offense in 2016 and beyond. With Matt Pistone's arrival this Fall, the tight end position promises to be stacked for a looong time.

Is he on Twitter?

Starting to like this country music

— Chase (@chase_blake208) February 17, 2015

Completely made up fact

At North Idaho's Silverwood amusement park, Chase once rode The Corkscrew so many times that he started to hallucinate.