For the second time this spring, a key piece of Boise State’s defense has entered the transfer portal.
This time it’s star defensive tackle Braxton Fely.
Fely was second team All-Mountain West last season, finishing with 24 tackles, 5.5 sacks, and 25 pressures. He was poised to be a star along Boise State’s defensive line this season.
In addition to Fely, the Broncos already needed to replace Herbert Gums, Sheldon Newton and Michael Callahan on the interior. There are three players returning on the interior defensive line (IDL) who totaled just 90 snaps last season. In the winter, Boise State added three transfers along the interior: Keanu Mailoto, David Latu and Dion Washington, but the Broncos may look to add more depth in the Spring portal window with Fely’s departure.
It’s a tremendous loss for Boise State’s defense. Having lost four of their top six players along the defensive line, the hope was for Fely and Jayden Virgin-Morgan to be cornerstones at STUD and DT, and find the right fits around them. Instead, Spencer Danielson and Erik Chinander will now be tasked with replacing six of last year’s top-seven defensive linemen. As a player, Fely brought pass rushing upside that is hard to come by on the interior. His 25 pressures were third on the team and his 5.5 sacks were fourth. He has fantastic short area quickness which allows him to maneuver around less athletic guards and centers. That quickness also allowed him to excel in Chinander’s system that emphasizes stunting and getting defensive linemen on the move. His talent and production are what led media members to vote Fely all-Mountain West last season. Pro Football Focus isn’t as convinced.
I have tremendous respect for my other employer, PFF, and their football analysis. They’re lower on Fely than consensus. MUCH lower. Fely had a PFF Grade of 55.7. A grade of 60.0 is considered replacement level. In particular, PFF felt Fely was the worst tackler on the team, with a 29.9 grade and 33% missed tackle rate. Additionally, his 51.2 run defense grade was the lowest any of last season’s IDL. Even Fely’s pass rush grade was lower than you may expect at 65.6, suggesting his production is largely due to his high snap count: Fely had 349 pass rush snaps, third highest on the team. Fely’s 6.4% win rate suggests they may be onto something.
Ask the media and coaches, and they’ll rave about Fely’s talent and production, emphasizing that he will be challenging for Boise State to replace. PFF believes his production was largely due to playing time, and with more playing time others can fill the same role. My belief? Somewhere in the middle. I didn’t put Fely on my All-Mountain West ballot last season. I agree that his lack of size has led to deficiencies in run defense; I thought those were made apparent in the Fiesta Bowl where Fely looked too small to compete with Penn State’s offensive line. Conversely, Fely was a preseason all-conference shoo-in for me. I think he’s an exceptional pass rusher, especially in true pass rush sets where he can pin his ears back and get after the quarterback. His loss won’t be easily replaced, but I don’t think it drastically changes the Broncos’ outlook in 2025. However, it’s imperative that this team finds capable replacements.
The potential fill-ins include the three transfers previously listed, redshirt sophomore Michael Madrie, redshirt freshman Hayden Hanks and redshirt freshman Lopez Sanusi. Madrie played in six games last season with limited production, but there’s belief that he has similar pass rushing upside to Fely in a longer frame. Sanusi played in just two games and is a bigger bodied tackle who projects more as a run stuffing IDL than someone who can get after the quarterback. Hanks didn’t play as a true freshman, using the redshirt season to add weight, but was the #2 player in Montana as a recruit. The staff’s decision to add three transfers tells me they may not think some of the in-house options were ready for a full-time role.
Amongst the transfers, Washington seems like the ideal Fely replacement. With a similar build, Washington has over 1,100 snaps in the Mountain West and has proven to be a productive player in the conference. In 2023 at Nevada, Washington had a PFF grade of 76.7 flashing fantastic run defense as a B-gapper and sliding inside to nose tackle on pass rush downs, with 12 pressures on just 165 pass rush snaps. 2024 was a down year for Washington after transferring to Hawai’i, but the 2023 tape is encouraging enough to believe he can contend for the job. Mailoto and Latu have less tape than Washington: Mailoto played 119 snaps in two years at Arizona and Latu played 183 in two years at BYU. Mailoto has a longer frame, and in his limited reps showed an ability to use that length to excel in the run game by winning leverage on shorter interior offensive linemen. Latu saw significant time as a sophomore at BYU with injuries to their defensive tackles, but had limited reps last season and ultimately redshirted. Latu was a JUCO All-American at Snow College, showcasing his potential as a run stuffing tackle. During his Sophomore season at BYU, he had breakout games late in the season against Texas and Iowa State that proved he has the strength and size to be a contributor at the power four level.
With Fely’s departure, there are two starting spots to fill in the offseason. Bronco Nation News will be monitoring the position battle closely through spring and fall camp. Amongst the six candidates I listed, my early picks to win the starting jobs would be Latu and Washington, with Mailoto and Madrie as the primary backups. As for Fely, we’ll monitor where he ends up, so tune into BNN Live for our thoughts on his fit in his new home and who is in line to replace him.
Nathan Carroll is a part-time contributor for Bronco Nation News and host of the TBA Basketball Podcast. Nathan works for Pro Football Focus as part of their data collection team, specializing in charting player data at the FBS level. Previously, he graduated from Boise State’s Honors College with a degree in Quantitative Economics and worked 5 years in Boise State’s athletic department. Follow him on X at Nathan_26_
