Boise State roster countdown 2018: Day 2, DeAndre Pierce

Just two days left in the countdown and this will be MY final countdown of the year, so I’m going to try real hard on this one. Today, we’re actually honoring a player that wears #4 on the roster, but since he’s double-booked with another semi-important player (Brett Rypien) at that jersey number, we wedged him in on day 2. I’m sure Deandre Pierce won’t mind. If he does...it was Michael’s fault.

#4, Deandre Pierce, Junior, S

Stats:

Height: 5’ 11”

Weight: 175 lbs. (+1)

High School: Long Beach Poly, Long Beach, CA

How’d he get to the Blue™?

By being good at what he does. Mr. Pierce was a three-star recruit according to ESPN, Rivals, and Scout. While he was (mostly) recruited by Mountain West schools, he had some interest from the academies—Army, and Navy. The other MWC schools were: Colorado State, San Jose State, and Nevada. The Broncos were very fortunate to have enlisted his services.

Nickname

“Ray Ray”

This might actually be his nickname, or maybe I’m taking his Twitter handle a little too seriously.

Look-a-like

Antonio Pierce. Spooky resemblance.

Career Highlights

Voted All-MWC honorable mention in 2017. Appeared in all 14 games for the Broncos in 2017—making 11 starts. Finished fourth on the team in tackles as a sophomore with 83. Academic All-MWC in 2017. Academic All-MWC in 2016. Appeared in 12 games as a true freshman. Broke up two passes, with 19 total tackles (14 solo), and one tackle-for-loss.

2018 Prospectus

Pierce showed some good flashes in 2016 as a true frosh, but really drove the point home last season that he’s a force to be reckoned with—even if he doesn’t have a “classic” safety bod. “Unassuming” would be how most spectators or pundits would describe Pierce’s stature...and it’s certainly a far cry from his NFL vet papa (Antonio), but you’d also be hard-pressed to find anyone on the team that lowers the boom more often than DeAndre.

But DeAndre isn’t just an enforcer...he’s a great open field tackler. In fact, the two starting safeties last season (Pierce and Nawahine) had 192 tackles between them (Nawahine had 108—second most on the team behind Leighton Vander Esch). That tandem might be one of the better safety tandems the Broncos have fielded since Jeron Johnson and George Iloka. I expect Pierce’s junior year to be similar to his sophomore campaign...a lot of tackles, some truck stick hits, and quite a few disrupted plays. The entire secondary this season will be fun to watch.

Is he on Twitter?

Yes, and in need of some thoughts and prayers.

Completely made up fact

DeAndre is now the only the 5th lightest player on the roster. His weight gain can be attributed to following the Atkins Diet. Not THAT Atkins Diet, the Chet Atkins Diet—all fried food all the time.