56 Days left until football, people! Today, we will be highlighting a local gentleman in Boise State defensive lineman, Dane Gooch!

#56, Dane Gooch, Freshman, DL

Hudl.com

Stats

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 260

High School: Bishop Kelly High School, Boise, ID

How’d he get to the blue?

Dane was on two back to back, Bishop Kelly state championship teams, and played his way to earning 4A All-SIC Second Team Defense honors as a senior. Also while at BK, Dane finished 7th at the 4A state meet in shotput. I was unable to find a record of his other recruiting suitors, and he is presently on the Boise State roster as a walk on, but at the greatest position of need: Defensive Line.

Courtesy of Hudl, we do have some footage of what Mr Gooch is capable of as a player.

Nickname

“The Watcher”

Not to be confused with the Dr Dre track of the same name, Gooch seems to display an above average awareness of what’s happening in front of him on the field; watching intently and not being fooled. Combine that with the above gaze that could just as easily be wistful remembrance as relishing in the observance of a righteous act of retribution of some kind, and we have...the man, the Gooch, The Watcher.

Look-a-like

Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images

Prison Break’s Wentworth Miller

Career Highlights

Presently none on record as a Bronco. But he does have the aforementioned high school state titles under his belt. Turns out, they don’t give those away.

2016 Prospectus

Dane is listed only as a defensive lineman, so he could play on the outside or gain some weight and slide inside to tackle. Boise State lost a lot of size and talent in its front four with the departures of Baltimore Raven’s 2nd round pick, Kamalei Correa, as well as Justin Taimatuia, and the unfortunate departure of an anticipated replacement with Dereck Boles. As a result of this Boise State went very heavy on the defensive line--both in terms of emphasis and literal size—with this last recruiting class, and while the competition for playing time is open in theory, it seems like a difficult road for someone in Dane’s shoes. That said, Boise is known for turning unknowns into stars—just ask former 2 star recruits turned All-Pro NFL players Ryan Clady or Doug Martin. And being a walk-on certainly proved to be no serious obstacle to the now-starting center of the Super Bowl winning Denver Broncos, Matt Paradis. Dane has his work cut out for him, but we wish him all the best in the competition.

Is He On Twitter?

Not that I could find

Completely made up fact

Stoic watcher that he is, Dane had the above expression on his face for the duration of the runtime when he first saw Saving Private Ryan. Since he subscribes to the Ron Swanson school of thought that crying is only acceptable at funerals and the Grand Canyon, he only shed a tear when a character in the story died. So...he was actually crying the whole movie. As a real man should, because it’s incredible!