2017 Boise State Recruiting Roundup: 12/19/16

It was a productive week on the recruiting front for the Broncos. We lost a long time local commit (Aisa Kelemte to WSU), but we gained 3 new commits. We will review them below.

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. More post-season recognition for Brown too.

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.

Evans also made his commitment official by signing his letter of intent and will be on campus in January!

Zeke Birch, DT, Madison HS (Rexburg, ID)

2017 stats for Zeke have not been posted yet. I’ll update when they do.

Isiah Moore, OT, Mesa CC (Mesa, AZ)

Stats for Isiah weren’t kept as he was an offensive lineman. Isiah is listed as a soft verbal on Scout.com.

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.

Young Made his commitment official as well by signing his letter.

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.

John made it official and signed on the line to be a Bronco! He also earned 1st team All-Idaho.

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.

Rathen Ricedorff, QB, Mesa CC (Mesa, AZ)

Listed at 6’1 200lbs, Rathen played with Isiah Moore at Mesa CC where he earned 1st team All-NJCCA All-American honors, which is no small feat. He completed 282 of 434 pass attempts (64.98%) for 3,688 yards, 42 TDs and just 7 interceptions. His highlights are incredibly impressive. What stands out is his ability to extend plays and how well he leads the receiver. Very rarely did a receiver need to break stride to catch a ball from him. He will absolutely push Ryp this spring.

Like a few other players, Rathen has also signed to be a Bronco and will be here in January.

Zach Troughton, OL, Butte CC (Oroville, CA)

Zach is another recent commit that will fill the shoes on the OL. Listed at 6’5 315lbs, he is a massive addition to the line. His Butte team lost to American River in the NorCal Championship game 9-15, finishing 9-3 on the year. Zach earned 1st team All-American CC Football team honors.

Zach makes 5 early signees for the Broncos.

Roman Kafentzis, S, Mater Dei HS (Santa Ana, CA)

Hailing from powerhouse Mater Dei, Roman shut down his recruitment and committed to the Broncos. His Mater Dei squad lost to St. John Bosco in the state championship finals, finishing #2 in the state of California.

Coming in at 6’2, 200lbs, he finished his senior year with 49 total tackles, 38 solo, 10.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and an interception.

I will leave the info from the previous post up for further discussion. 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

Devan 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 eligibility.

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!