/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/52241669/624304176.0.jpeg)
Not exactly sure how I did this, but I COMPLETELY forgot to include local commit John Ojukwu. Apologies to you, my fellow readers as well as John. I’ve added him in as well as Bryan Thompson
Let’s check in on the soon-to-be Broncos!
Jermani Brown, ATH, Midlothian HS (Midlothian, VA)
Stats have still not been uploaded for Jermani.
Marques Evans, DB, Newbury Park HS (Newbury Park, CA)
Marques finished his senior season with 38 total tackles, 28 solo, 2 interceptions, a fumble recovery, 7 passes defended, 1 blocked field goal and 1 tackle for loss. He also had 8 receptions for 136 yards and 2 TDs.
Zeke Birch, DT, Madison HS (Rexburg, ID)
2017 stats for Zeke have not been posted yet. I’ll update when they do.
Aisa Kelemete, DE, Highland HS (Pocatello, ID)
Aisa’s stat have yet to be updated. I’ll post when they are available.
Isiah Moore, OT, Mesa CC (Mesa, AZ)
Stats for Isiah weren’t kept as he was an offensive lineman.
Breydon Boyd, LB, Katy HS (Katy, TX)
Breydon’s stats haven’t been posted all season, so hopefully I will be able to locate them at some point. He has some highlights on HUDL, but for whatever reason they crash the blog when I post the link. Just use the google machine to find them.
Michael Young, DB, Dodge City CC (Dodge City, KS)
Dodge City finished the regular season with a 28-21 win over Hutchinson, finishing 7-4. Michael had 4 total tackles, 2 solo and .5 tackles for loss in the win. He has 42 total tackles, 28 solo, 3 TFL, 2 fumbles caused, 1 recovered, 2 INTs, 6 pass break-ups and 3 kicks blocked.
DC3 was not selected for a bowl game, but they did finish #15 in the NJCAA.
Chase Cord, QB, Sunrise Mountain HS (Peoria, AZ)
Chase’s totals for the season, are as follows: 149 of 249 (59.8%) for 2,721 yards, 38 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He also had 74 rushes for 155 yards and 6 more TDs.
For his career, he finished 528 of 829 (63.7%) for 9,493 yards, 137 TDs and 20 INTs. He also had 40 carries for 391 yards and 38 more TDs. That’s 175 TDs accounted for in his HS career. CRAZY.
Mike Young, OT, Queen Creek HS (Queen Creek, AZ)
Michael ends his senior season with 53 tackles, 25 solo, 5 TFL, 1 sack, 2 INTs (one for a TD), 2 passes defended and 2 fumbles recovered.
Quentin Brown, LB, Conroe HS (Conroe, TX)
Stats aren’t available for Quentin at this time.
Tyreque Jones DB, San Gorgonio HS (San Bernardino, CA)
Tyreque finishes his senior year with 31 carries for 209 yards and 2 TD, 48 receptions for 1,033 yards and 15 TDs, 67 total tackles, 48 solo, 2 TFL, 2 INTs and 2 fumbles caused. Tyreque could play on either side of the ball and excel at the next level. He’ll be an exciting player to watch for the Broncos.
Cartrell Thomas, WR, Lancaster HS (Lancaster, TX)
Cartrell’s final season stats are not available.
John Ojukwu, OL, Boise HS (Boise, ID)
MaxPreps has some stats for John, but it is only listing him as playing one game. It says he had one tackle against Ridgevue in August. Not sure if that means he was injured that game or they just quit taking stats.
Boise finished 4-5 overall, 2-3 in conference. John is listed at a massive 6’6 285lbs. He’ll be a welcome addition to the O-line.
Bryan Thompson, WR, Rancho Verde HS (Moreno Valley, CA)
Bryan was a MASSIVE pickup for the Broncos in this class and our first 4* wide receiver. Along side Cartrell Thomas, Thompson and Thomas will be a formidable duo.
Rancho Verde finished their season 11-2, 5-0 in league, losing to Edison 32-28 in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 tournament semifinals.
Thompson finished with 77 catches for 1,377 yards and 14 TDs. Listed at 6’3 and 185 lbs, Thompson could make an immediate impact at WR.
All right! What I want to do now is quickly go over who is graduating, including some speculation, as well as who was still red shirting that we may have forgotten about. First up are the people graduating or potentially leaving the program:
Will Adams, OL
Chaz Anderson, WR
Travis Averill, OL
Steven Baggett, OL
Kellen Buhr, OL
Matt Cota, LS
Devn Demas, RB
Raymond Ford, CB
Elliot Hoyte, DL
Chancellor James, S
Darren Lee, LB
Sam McCaskill, DL
Jeremy McNichols, RB*
Jonathan Moxey, CB
Taylor Pope, WR
Tyler Rausa, K
Thomas Sperbeck, WR
Thomas Stuart, QB*
Tanner Vallejo, LB
Sean Wale, P
Ben Weaver, LB
Mario Yakoo, OL
There are some pretty big-time names on that list. Most notably is the number of OL players we lose. We need a solid class this time around to back fill. We had some solid players red shirt from last class which we will get to in a bit. Asterisks next to McNichols and Stuart as there is speculation that J-Mac could declare early and there are rumblings that Stuart may transfer for his last year of eligibility. Matt Cota is forgoing his senior year of eligiblity.
Now, who do we have waiting in the wings? Let’s see:
Kole Bailey, OL, 6’4 286lbs
John Bates, TE, 6’6 229lbs
Christian Blaser, WR, 6’1 171lbs (wo)
Julian Carter, WR, 6’2 200lbs
Ezra Cleveland, OL, 6’6 305lbs
Jake Constantine, QB, 6’1 194lbs
Nick Crabtree, TE, 6’7 263lbs
Bruno, DeRose, LB, 5’11 194lbs (wo)
Austin Dixon, OL, 6’6 264lbs
Emmanuel Fesili, DL 6’2 308lbs
Jordan Happle, S, 5’11 191lbs
Donte, Harrington, OL, 6’2 291 lbs
Reid Harrison-Ducro, CB, 5’10 170lbs (burned)
Chase, Hatada, DL, 6’3 268lbs (burned)
Camron Humphrey, QB 6’1 191lbs(wo)
Hayden Israelson, S, 5’11 180lbs (wo)
Dane Kordopatis, DL, 6’2 254lbs (wo)
Robert Lewis, CB, 5’10 168lbs
Sonatane Lui, DL, 6’1 293lbs (burned)(wo)
Tyson Maeva, LB, 6’ 219lbs (burned)
Robert Mahone, RB, 5’10 209lbs
Alexander Mattison, RB, 5’11 206lbs (burned)
Kekoa Nawahine, S, 6’2 195lbs (burned)
Bubba Ogbebor, WR, 6’ 187lbs (burned)
DeAndre Pierce, CB, 5’11 168lbs (burned)
Nicholai Pitman, LS, 5’11 220lbs (wo)
Nick Provenzano, LB, 5’11 203lbs (wo)
Jake Roper, RB, 5’10 183lbs (wo)
Kayode Rufai, DL, 6’4 255lbs
Derriyon Shaw, DL, 6’2 222lbs
Ma’a Tanuvasa, S, 6’1 185lbs (wo)
Solo Taylor, LB, 6’2 207lbs (wo)
Joel Velazquez, K, 6’ 218lbs
Ben Vering, OL, 6’4 240lbs (wo)
Jalen Walker, S, 6’ 167lbs
Jabari Watson, DL, 6’1 262lbs
Curtis Weaver, DL, 6’2 287lbs
Avery Williams, CB, 5’9 202lbs (wo)
Desmond Williams, LB, 5’11 193lbs
We have a TON of true freshman on the team. So far, we have burned at least 8 of those and 13 are walk-ons. I believe the only walk-on that had playing time was Sonatane Lui, who was a monster on the DL. I thought Fesili had burned his red shirt, but he didn’t have any info on his broncosports page indicating he had.
We have a plethora of defensive line players that appear physically ready to step in. Watson, Weaver, Rufai, Shaw and Fesili will all be able to step in and contribute as needed right away. Shaw, I believe, could still be recovering from an injury. We have 4 OL players stepping in and should have enough players with experience that we should be ok.
Running back will be interesting if J-Mac declares early with Demas graduating too. Mattison proved he can tote the rock at this level, and everything I have heard about Mahone is that he is just as legit. That would leave Young and Wolpin as the two remaining running backs on scholarship, that is, until we fill our spot this class. If J-Mac declares, we MIGHT take 2.
WR has an embarassment of riches. Bubba saw the field some and will prove vitally beneficial to him next season. Jefferson was injured, I believe, so hopefully he will be healthy. If Wilson returns, he will be our #1, presumably with Butler, Richardson and Modster filling in the remaining spots. Carter comes off his red shirt year and will be another big target. Thomas and Thompson coming in could also see playing time. We have depth there, but we need those players to step up.
The secondary will be interesting as well. We have a glut of safeties and have only James graduating. Evan Tyler looked promising before his injury, so it will be nice to have him back. DSG showed some promise and Hartsfield was solid. Nawahine made the most of his time and will surely see the field more in 2017. We will be very light at CB, though we thankfully burned 2 red shirts in Reid and Pierce giving them much-needed experience. Pierce was a baller and RHD will contribute plenty. With Moxey and Ford graduating, that leaves Horton as one starter, the probably Pierce opposite him. RHD will be the only other player with playing time with Lewis coming off his red shirt and Williams being a walk-on. Brown could very easily see the field day one. Michael Young will provide some much-needed experience and will most likely see the field right away as well.
Finally, LB will take a MASSIVE hit, losing 4 year contributors in Weaver, Vallejo and Lee. Martarano will hopefully have enough time to heal before Spring ball, but if he doesn’t, he’ll have time to heal before fall. Vander Esch will be 100% and wreaking havoc next fall and Maeva played very well down the stretch. Whitlock will be heavily involved in the rotation as well. Kam Miles will see some time. We MIGHT see Boyd if he can come in and blow things up. The opportunity should be there.
What do you think Nuggies? Any players in this class that you think will contribute right away? Who will we miss the most? Did you forget about any of the red shirts? Comment below! GO BRONCOS!