From QBs to edge rushers, 5 takeaways from Washington State’s spring ball slate

PULLMAN — A month has passed, and so has the Washington State spring football season, which concluded with Saturday’s Crimson and Gray spring game. The Crimson team walked it off with a game-winning field goal, but that didn’t bear as much importance as what coaches and players showed us across 15 practices.

Here are the five most important takeaways.

1. The spring game was no indication, but John Mateer is in the lead for WSU’s starting QB job

After his outing in Saturday’s spring game, an 11-for-24 effort with 194 yards and two touchdown passes, even John Mateer acknowledged the showing wasn’t his best.

“There was a couple drops — I don’t know how many drops,” Mateer said. “But that’s not good enough, truly.”

Still, all told, Mateer came away from spring ball the clear leader in the quarterback room. He took first-team reps in all 15 practices, while his competition, Bryant transfer Zevi Eckaus, found a niche with the second team. Coach Jake Dickert wouldn’t commit to a winner, joking at one point he might wait until game day rolls around this fall to decide, but if that were tomorrow, it looks likely Mateer would get the start.

Both endured their ups and downs — coaches chided Mateer earlier in spring ball for turning it over too much, which he corrected, and Eckhaus tossed a pair of interceptions in Thursday’s practice — but Mateer appears ready to take the reins.

“I feel good. I feel like I put in the effort,” Mateer said after the spring game. “I prepared myself to be in a good situation. I’m gonna keep working as hard as I can and let the chips fall how they do.”

2. WSU’s starting running back job, on the other hand, is up for grabs

The Cougars’ running back room took a hit Saturday, when rising sophomore Leo Pulalasi was carted off with a leg/foot injury. It will require surgery and Pulalasi will miss 6-8 weeks, Dickert said.

Still, that puts Pulalasi on track for a return for fall camp, which means he’ll be back competing with the other three players competing for the starting running back role: Rising sophomore Djouvensky Schlenbaker, rising senior Dylan Paine and true freshman Wayshawn Parker, an early enrollee.

In Saturday’s spring game, Schlenbaker recorded the most promising outing, rushing 16 times for 106 yards and one touchdown, a one-yard plunge. He also ripped off a 53-yard run. He’s caught the attention from all kinds of coaches, and he’s submitted one of the most encouraging springs on the team.

Plus, in the spring game, Parker broke free for a 42-yard touchdown rush, evading tacklers with the speed and elusiveness that helped him stand out this spring.

But during spring ball, coaches took care to evenly distribute carries to all four running backs, signaling that all are in the mix for the starting role come fall. For WSU to improve at running the ball, there might be more to the equation than the ball carrier — the Cougs’ offensive line has vowed to solve last year’s run-blocking issues by being more physical — but it’s an important first step.

“This is the first time we were really that explosive in the run game, and you saw what happened,” Dickert said. “As soon as those things start happening, the offense starts flowing. Wayshawn, that might have been the play in the spring. There was a couple of them but that was fun to watch. Great for a young guy. Dylan’s just a workhorse, and I think Djouvensky continues to get better.”

3. WSU coaches hit on their offseason additions at linebacker

Over the offseason, one question loomed over WSU’s personnel: How would the Cougs fare at the linebacker spot? They returned one promising player, rising sophomore Buddah Al-Uqdah, but between losing Devin Richardson to graduation and returning senior Kyle Thornton, who struggled in spots to end the season, WSU needed to improve at that position.

If spring ball taught us anything on that front, it’s that coaches succeeded. Louisville transfer Keith Brown competed for first-team reps, as did Portland State transfer Parker McKenna, and true freshman Frank Cusano might have been the surprise of the spring.

An early enrollee from northern California, Cusano made sterling plays in scrimmages, and he totaled three tackles in the spring game. The Cougs look to be in good shape at that position.

4. Tyson Durant ran away with the title of transfer of the spring

Cusano might have been the surprise of the spring, but if coaches gave away an award for transfer of the spring, Akron transfer safety Tyson Durant would be a shoo-in. He earned first-team reps at safety all spring long, and he made the plays to match, registering a pair of tackles in the spring game and interceptions left and right in earlier practices.

It’s a sigh of relief for the Cougars, who were losing a lot at that position, as safeties Jaden Hicks and Sam Lockett moved on to opportunities in the NFL. WSU needed reinforcements at that position, and Durant has provided it, by all indications earning a starting role for next season.

“The biggest guy that has stood out is Tyson Durant,” WSU safeties and nickels coach Jordan Malone said last week. “You watch the film on him, playing a different position at a different school. But he came in, and the biggest thing is the guys accepted him like he was one of us right out of the gate. He got comfortable and did a good job of playing and communicating, and he made a lot of plays.”

5. Cougs might take a step back at edge, but maybe not as much as previously expected

There may be no replacing former WSU star edge rushers Brennan Jackson and Ron Stone Jr., both of whom earned opportunities with NFL teams over the weekend (Jackson drafted to the LA Rams, Stone signed with the Raiders), but it’s possible the team might have the pieces to make a splash at that position.

One of the Cougs’ biggest offseason additions was Utah Tech transfer Syrus Webster, who looks like a lock to start at edge next season, and returner Raam Stevenson caught the attention of Dickert — in Saturday’s spring game and during camp.

Toss in players like senior Nusi Malani, another likely lock at edge, and depth pieces like Quinn Roff and Isaac Terrell, and WSU might have something brewing.

“Raam Stevenson caught my eye today,” Dickert said. “He said, ‘Coach, I probably would have had four or five sacks if this thing was live.’ I just think his he’s one of those guys — third year now, he’s progressed better and better.”