WSU Football Recruiting: More OL Commits, Cougars to Use H-Back in Run Game(?) and 1 Spot Left Up Front
By Josh Davis
Just about a week ago, Coug fans everywhere were fretting about the offensive line, which had a single commitment remaining on the list. Washington State’s coaching staff has quashed the fear of shortness within the OL this week, picking up two more on Thursday, to go with the commitments of Andre Dillard and Brandon Evers.
The newest beef-eaters to verbally commit are 6’5, 240 pound Nick Begg out of Santa Margarita HS (CA) and 6’6, 285 pound Miguel Machado of Pasadena JC.
Santa Margarita has already dropped WR River Cracraft and OL Riley Sorensen into the Cougars’ lap, both of which played as true freshmen in 2013. Begg was tabbed to play on the defensive line at Arizona State, but after discussions with the Cougs, decided he liked their plans for him better.
The 240 pounder hopes to fill out at some point into that 6’5 frame into offensive line size to play tackle, much like Dillard is hoping to do when he arrives. In the meantime, the athleticism of Begg is such that ASU was going with him at DE, but Washington State wants to use him at tight end and H-back.
That’s right, Leach is looking to expand his offense with some sets that will specifically boost the running game. We saw what even the threat of a run game could mean to the Cougars’ passing attack this season and Leach ran a lot of two-back sets to offset the blocking issues. It worked decently at times but adding a legitimate H-back look would give the Cougs another actual blocker, especially in the red zone with Jeremiah Laufasa. An H-back would also add another short yardage, underneath option in the pass game.
Begg may also put his hand down as a (mostly) blocking tight end. He may not be the quintessential TE or H-back mold, which is why the plan is to fill him out at tackle, but until that guy commits to Wazzu, Begg should be able to fill the role adequately (at least the coaches are hoping so). That puts him right in line for immediate playing time as a true freshman for the Cougs as they expand their attack, which is a huge reason for the decommitment from the Devils and the pledge to WSU.