Boise State roster countdown 2019: Day 75, Kole Bailey

As you all know...75 is the atomic number of rhenium...but did you know it’s also the number of days we have until our Broncos take on Florida State? How about that it was the jersey number of our homegrown giant Kole Bailey? Yeah, you knew all that.

#75, Kole Bailey, RS Junior, OL

Stats

Height: 6’4”

Weight: 301 lbs. (+4 lbs)

High School: Twin Falls HS, Twin Falls, Idaho

How’d he get to The Blue™?

Idaho isn’t necessarily the most heavily-recruited state in the union when it comes to FBS level football...but every year, there is a small batch of the elite that bring recruiters to the Gem State. Bailey was one such prospect in the 2016 recruiting class. In fact, Bailey was THE top recruit in the state that year according to 247sports and as such, the Broncos knew ALL about him. A 4A All-State first-teamer as a senior, Bailey spurned offers from Nevada and SDSU to become a Bronco. Good on ya, kid.

Nickname

“George“

Big “It’s a Wonderful Life” fan here...and as such, I cannot let a Bailey pass by without passing on this moniker. Buffalo gals, won’t you come out tonight?

Look-alike

Houston Texans DE JJ Watt

Career Highlights

#1 prospect in the state of Idaho in 2016, was first team All-Idaho 4A as a senior, and first team all-conference and second-team all-state as a junior.

2019 Prospectus

As highly-touted and highly-recruited as Bailey was coming out of Twin Falls High...his promise has yet to be fully realized on The Blue just yet. As we’ve discussed, 2017 and 2018 weren’t exactly high water marks for the Bronco O-line, and with all the fiddling and experimenting, Bailey got left out of the final shuffle. So, with 3 seasons down (one a redshirt), Bailey has yet to log any game minutes, and honestly, I don’t know if this is the year that drought will end. In John Molchon’s countdown the other day, I speculated that the starting O-line might go: Cleveland, Molchon, Larson, Quevedo, and Ojukwu. I’m definitely sticking with that for the time being and can see Bailey as probably Ezra Cleveland’s primary backup.

With some attrition on the O-line due to graduation and injury, I think this is probably where Bailey stays...the only problem (for Bailey’s resumé, not for us) is that Cleveland is the best lineman we’ve currently got, so it might be another year of modest playing time until Cleveland moves on to greener pastures fields. Casey intimated yesterday that he thought that would be sooner than we’d like, so Bailey will either float between O-line positions this year..spell Cleveland, or really come into his own as a Bronco senior. Either way, he’s making the Broncos better with his presence, so I hope he’s rewarded with some PT this season. It definitely can’t hurt to start getting Cleveland’s eventual heir some quality time.

Is he on Twitter?

Yep, and he’s a good kid.

Completely made up fact

Hailing from Twin Falls, where base-jumping off the Perrine Bridge is perfectly legal—Bailey did his own fair share...but a bad case of acrophobia had him bass-jumping rather than take on the parachute variety. His best jump ever was over an Ibanez TR 70 (strap included).