After Boise State’s win over North Dakota on Saturday, our columnist Mike Prater penned a story that piqued my interest.
He noted that the Broncos depth chart included 45% freshmen and sophomores (21 of 47) and 53% (25 of 47) of every guy who played on Saturday were also freshmen or sophomores. More than that, five of Boise State’s offensive starters fit that bill, too.
The article brought up an interesting argument. Is it good to have that many freshmen or sophomores playing? How great of a developmental program could you be if there are as many youngsters contributing as veterans? And what does that say about how Boise State recruits?
Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin calls out drills before a game against LSU in 2021 (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
I had heard fans speculate that coach Andy Avalos inherited a less-than-favorable situation. Not only did he take over during COVID but former head coach Bryan Harsin, many have said, did not leave Avalos a stacked cupboard.
In other words: Are Boise State’s young guys that good or does it say something about the talented Harsin recruited or, perhaps, a little of both?
It is said all the time in college football that you can’t judge a coach until they hit year four when they’ve had three full recruiting classes and the roster is probably 80% of ‘their’ kids.
Now in the midst of his third season, Avalos said he recruited about 60 guys on his roster. But, because Harsin was still around on Early Signing Day in 2020 (Harsin bolted for Auburn six days later), you can really only say that Avalos has two recruiting classes under his belt — 2022 and 2023.
When you look at the past six Boise State recruiting classes, one could make the argument that Harsin really struggled to bring in talent towards the end of his tenure — especially with the Class of 2020 — but his 2021 signing class was phenomenal. It includes seven guys who are currently starting for the Broncos, two more transfers (Will Farrar and Caleb Biggers) who started last year before graduating and five others who contributed.
We will still need time before fully judging Avalos’ early recruiting classes, but the early numbers are quite encouraging.
Boise State’s 2022 recruiting class has already produced a half-dozen starters and a handful of other contributors. And nine guys from the crop of 2023 recruits and transfers are already seeing playing time, including safety Ty Benefield and running back Breezy Dubar.
Here’s every player from the past six recruiting classes and the categories we felt were most appropriate. You make the judgment.
2023 (28)
ALREADY PLAYING (9)
RB Breezy Dubar (4 star)
S Ty Benefield (3 star)
CB A’Marion McCoy (Juco transfer)
S Milo Lopez (3 star)
DL Max Stege (3 star)
OL Ethan Carde (Texas Tech transfer)
DL Sheldton Newton (NAU transfer)
EDGE Tyler Wegis (Utah transfer)
WR Chase Penry (Colorado transfer)
OTHERS (19)
QB CJ Tiller (3 star)
TE Cayden Dawson (3 star)
CB Nick Hawthorne (3 star)
OL Carson Rasmussen (3 star)
CB Franklyn Johnson (3 star)
OL Jason Steele (3 star)
EDGE Demanuel Brown (3 star)
TE Oliver Fisher (3 star)
S Khai Taylor (3 star)
LB Chase Martin (3 star)
LB Wyatt Milkovic (3 star)
CB Gabe Tahir (3 star)
OL Kyle Cox (3 star)
DL Michael Madrie (3 star)
TE Matt Wagner (3 star)
WR Jackson Grier (2 star)
DL Howard Brown (Iowa State transfer // Ruled ineligible)
EDGE Kivon Wright (Boston College transfer)
S Titus Toler (Wisconsin transfer)
2022 (24)
STARTER (6)
RB Ashton Jeanty (4 star)
OL Kage Casey (3 star)
DL Braxton Fely (3 star)
OL Roger Carreon (3 star)
P James Ferguson-Reynolds (2 star)
OL Cade Beresford (Washington State transfer)
Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty scores against Washington. (Photo by Boise State Athletics)
CONTRIBUTOR (3)
EDGE Jayden Virgen (4 star)
QB Maddux Madsen (3 star)
WR Prince Strachan (3 star)
WAIT AND SEE (9)
LB Dishawn Misa (4 star)
TE Austin Terry (3 star)
WR Zamondre Merriweather (3 star)
S Dionte Thornton (3 star)
LB Jake Ripp (3 star)
DL JJ Talo (3 star)
OL Hall Schmidt (3 star)
LB Gavin Hambrick (3 star)
NOT LOOKING GOOD (1)
EDGE Cortez Hogans (Juco transfer, mostly due to injury)
ALREADY TRANSFERRED (5)
EDGE Deven Wright (Juco transfer)
OL Tyson Molio’o (3 star)
RB Elelyon Noa (Utah State transfer)
QB Sam Vidlak (Oregon State transfer)
WR Keenan McCaddy (3 star)
GRADUATED (1)
EDGE George Tarlas (Weber State transfer)
2021(24)
STARTER (9 total // 7 current, 2 former**)
WR Eric McAlister (3 star)
QB Taylen Green (3 star)
OL Mason Randolph (3 star)
LB Andrew Simpson (3 star)
S Seyi Oladipo (3 star)
DL Ahmed Hassanein (3 star)
LB Marco Notarainni (3 star)
**OL Will Farrar (Texas Tech transfer)
**CB Caleb Biggers (Bowling Green transfer)
CONTRIBUTOR (5)
TE Matt Lauter (3 star)
S Zion Washington (3 star)
ATH Kaden Dudley (3 star)
TE Kurt Rafdal (Nebraska transfer)
RB Cyrus Habibi-Likio (Oregon transfer)
DIDN’T MAKE AN IMPACT // HASN’T YET MADE AN IMPACT) (7)
CB Jalen Neal (Juco transfer // Still on roster)
LB Jai Jones (3 star // Medically retired)
LB James Wilborn Jr. (3 star // Still on roster)
OL Joseph Amos (3 star // Not on roster anymore)
OL Cord Kringlen (3 star // Still on roster)
ATH Ben Ford (2 star // Still on roster)
S Jared Reed (Utah State transfer // Retired from football)
ALREADY TRANSFERRED (3)
LB Rejhan Tatum (3 star // Not sure if he’s still playing football)
WR Jalen Richmond (3 star)
QB Colton Fitzgerald (3 star)
2020 (24)
ELITE (NFL-caliber) (0)
GREAT (Multiple-year starter and contributor) (4)
WR Latrell Caples (3 star // Still on roster)
DT Herbert Gums (3 star // Still on roster)
S Rodney Robinson (3 star // Still on roster)
K Jonah Dalmas (no star // Walk on // Still on roster)
Boise State defensive tackle Herbert Gums looks to make a tackle against Washington. (Photo by Boise State Athletics)
Good (Played in over 20 career games // Solid contributor) (4)
DT Divine Obichere (3 star)
CB Kaonohi Kaniho (3 star // still on roster)
CB Jaylen Clark (3 star // still on roster)
EDGE Shane Irwin (3 star)
DIDN’T MAKE AN IMPACT (16)
RB Taequan Tyler (Juco transfer)
S Semaj Verner (4 star)
OL Nathon Cardona (3 star // Still on roster)
DE Brandon Hernandez (3 star)
WR Isaiah Bradford (3 star)
WR Austin Bolt (3 star // Still on roster)
CB Donovan Clark (3 star)
OL Kyle Juergens (3 star)
OL Riden Leong (3 star)
DE Robert Cooper (3 star)
WR Cole Wright (3 star // Still on roster)
TE Russell Corrigan (3 star)
CB Jonathan Earl (3 star)
OL Uzoma Osuji (2-star transfer)
QB Jack Sears (3-star transfer)
LB Brock Miller (3-star transfer)
2019 (20)
ELITE (NFL-caliber) (1)
S JL Skinner (4 star)
Boise State safety JL Skinner celebrates after making a play against UCF in the season opener on Sept.2, 2021. (Photo courtesy of Boise State Athletics)
GREAT (Multiple-year starter // One of top players at position in the MW) (3)
RB George Holani (4 star // Still on roster)
QB Hank Bachmeier (4 star)
OL Ben Dooley (3 star // Still on roster)
Good (Played in over 20 career games // Solid contributor) (5)
DT Michael Callahan (3 star // Still on roster)
CB Markel Reed (3 star // Still on roster)
EDGE Isaiah Bagnah (3 star)
DT Jackson Cravens (3 star)
S Alexander Teubner (no star // Walk on // Still on roster)
DIDN’T MAKE AN IMPACT (11)
CB Khafari Buffalo (no stars)
ATH Keegan Duncan (4 star)
ATH Casey Kline (4 star)
WR Khyheem Waleed (3 star)
WR Shea Whiting (3 star // Still on roster)
QB Kaiden Bennett (3 star)
WR DK Blaylock (3 star)
TE Dylan Hall (3 star)
OL Jacob Golden (3 star)
CB Ozziah Williams (2 star)
P Gavin Wale (2 star)
2018 (26)
ELITE (NFL-caliber) (3)
WR Khalil Shakir (4 star)
WR John Hightower (3 star // Juco transfer)
DL Scott Matlock (2 star)
GREAT (Multiple-year starter // One of top players at position in the MW) (5)
WR Stefan Cobbs (3 star)
LB DJ Schramm (3 star)
EDGE Demitri Washington (3 star)
OT Garrett Curran (3 star)
TE Riley Smith (3 star)
Good (Played in over 20 career games // Solid contributor) (7)
RB Andrew Van Buren (4 star)
CB Tyric Lebeauf (3 star)
TE Tyneil Hopper (3 star)
OL Kekaniokoa Holomalia-Gonzalez (3 star)
WR Billy Bowens (3 star)
DT Scale Igiehon (3 star)
QB Jaylon Henderson (3 star // Juco transfer)
DIDN’T MAKE AN IMPACT (11)
DL Kukea Emmsley (4 star)
RB Danny Smith (3 star)
S Phillip Mills (3 star)
TE Cole Ramseyer (3 star)
LB Brandon Hawkins (3 star)
OL Dallas Holliday (3 star)
OL Keeghan Freeborn (2 star)
QB Cade Fennegan (2 star)
S Mujeeb Rufai (2 star)
WR Cameron Thomas (3 star)
OL Braydin Shipp (3 star)
