WSU WRs Tre Shackelford, Kyle Maxwell make plays in weather-delayed Day 5 of WSU fall camp

PULLMAN – Above all else, Washington State wide receivers coach Nick Edwards tends to stress one theme to his players.

You gotta be a complete player, Edwards will tell his guys. We can’t just be out here to catch footballs and catch touchdowns.

With one resounding block late in Monday’s fall camp practice, the Cougs’ fifth of the three-week period which was delayed a few hours by severe weather, WSU receiver Tre Shackelford announced to anyone within earshot that he takes Edwards’ message to heart.

It came late in the practice. WSU quarterback John Mateer handed the ball off to running back Djouvensky Schlenbaker, and at first, he didn’t see any running lanes.

Then Shackelford leapt in front, laid out nickelback Jackson Lataimua with a vicious block that sounded more like a firecracker than a football play, freeing up Schlenbaker to break free for a long rush. The Cougs’ offensive players unleashed primal screams. After all, it wasn’t just the look of the hit.

“Everyone heard it,” Dickert said.

In the end, it may have been only one block from one of the Cougs’ new transfer wide receivers, but it provided evidence of the work Shackelford has put in so far, and the promising trajectory ahead of him. A former Austin Peay receiver, Shackelford has been practicing mostly with the second-team units, trying to stand out in a crowded wide receiver room, and with plays like that, he is turning heads for all the right reasons.

On Monday, Dickert and Co. also got a better look at another transfer receiver, former Louisiana Tech wideout Kyle Maxwell. A redshirt senior, he sat out spring ball with an injury, and he’s still recovering, getting up to about 85-90% healthy now, Dickert said. So far, it’s been mostly positive for him in fall camp.

On one sequence in this practice, Maxwell went up and made an acrobatic catch, using his 6-foot-3 frame to leap and reach for the ball. He’s one of the few receivers on this team who can do so, who can leverage his sheer size to snare 50-50 balls. It’s one of the main reasons WSU coaches pursued him through the transfer portal.

“I think he’s finally starting to get his stride,” Dickert said. “As we get into week 3, we’re gonna see the full Kyle Maxwell. Really good signs of life today, and we need that downfield, catchability. Tomorrow, we’re getting into the red zone, and that’s where we’ll need him.”

It’s particularly helpful for WSU because returning starter Carlos Hernandez, an outside wide receiver, will be out “for awhile” with a foot injury, Dickert said Monday.

The Cougs were also happy to see transfer safety Tyson Durant emerge from a relative quiet first few days of camp. In the spring, he stood out as one of the team’s single best players, making plays all over the field and making the coaches who recruited him from Akron look like geniuses.

Durant returned to those kinds of habits on Monday. Playing with the second-team unit, Durant read the eyes of WSU QB Zevi Eckhaus, who loaded up for a pass over the middle. Durant darted to the spot, laid out with a horizontal dive and secured the ball, a gorgeous interception .

With or without that play, Durant was likely in line for meaningful playing time this fall, even as a backup to Lataimua or redshirt freshman Adrian Wilson. By making that pick, though, Durant reminded everyone watching how he can use his athleticism in the free safety spot.

“Shoot, he’s just a ball player,” WSU defensive back Kapena Gushiken said. “That’s not even just right now. In the spring, he was making plays, and that’s just his instincts. He’s just a good football player.”

Same goes for Shackelford, who made one of the loudest plays of fall camp – maybe even of spring ball back in April. Regardless of the role he earns come Aug. 31, when WSU opens the season against FCS Portland State, he’s shown he’s willing to round out his game. To become a complete player.

“It was a great play,” Dickert said. “You don’t get your name in the paper, you don’t get publicity for those things, but that’s how you win football games.”

Turns out, sometimes you can do both.