WSU Football Signing Day After-Thoughts: Did Cougs Do Enough in 2014 Class to Improve O-Line?

It was well known that the Cougars have had issues on the offensive line in the past few years. Many Cougar fans, including myself, were really hoping that Washington State would land some big time recruits for the 2014 class on offensive line. The coaching staff was able to land 4 commits so far for the 2014 class including: Nick Begg, Sean Krepsz, Brandon Evers, and Andre Dillard.

Nick Begg is a 3-star recruit out of Santa Margarita, CA and was a Arizona State greyshirt before deciding to transfer to Washington State. Begg, 6’5, 225 lbs, will come into the 2014 season playing offensive line and will possibly play defensive end and tight end/h-back for the Cougars. Begg will work into his role as an offensive lineman as the seasons move on (at least that’s the plan).

Sean Krepsz is a 3-star recruit out of Riverside, CA and enrolled early at Washington State and will be available right away in the 2014 season. Krepsz sizes up at 6’5, 295 lbs and should see some playing time at OT for the Cougars early in the season. Krepsz enrolled at Washington State in January and will be able to go through all of the teams spring drills.

Brandon Evers comes in at 6’7, 290 lbs and is ranked 2-stars. Evers, who has played a little quarterback and tight end, is from Enterprise High School in Redding, CA and will be able to use his size and frame to help the Cougars out at tackle.

Andre Dillard is the fourth and final commit so far for the 2014 class for the Cougars offensive lineman. Dillard is un-ranked, but is an in-state recruit out of Woodinville, WA and lines up at 6’5, 245.

So, the question, did the Cougs do enough in 2014 class to improve offensive line play?, is still in play.

The Cougars were able to land two recruits who will be able to play right away and landed two more who will more than likely be ready in the 2015 season. The Cougars will have 16 returning lineman from 2013 and will have lost most of the big names from last year, giving the possibility for a freshman to come in and make a name for himself early in his career at Washington State.

Begg will take some time to develop into a true offensive lineman as he played WR and defensive end in high school. Coach Leach plans on using him as an H-back or as a blocking tight end and work him into the offensive line. Begg could and more than likely will see some plays at offensive line throughout the season, but it won’t be until after a few games that he gets into a steady rotation at offensive line.

Krepsz will more than likely take a redshirt in his first season unless he shows the coaches that he is good enough and ready to play right away. With 6-8 other offensive lineman fighting for a spot on the line I see the coaching staff getting a year and half out of Krepsz for free. Since he enrolled early, Krepsz was able to utilize the weight room and will be able to use spring camp to have an edge on the rest of the incoming freshman.

In the long run I believe these 4 additions to the Cougars offensive line will help the line greatly. All four of them have the attributes and skills to play D-1 football and succeed at their jobs. Begg, Krepsz, Evers and Dillard all have great hands and footwork while maintaining speed and size. Three of them stand at 6’5″ with Evers being the exception at 6’7 and all range from 245 lbs to 295 lbs, which right now is taller than 10 of the current returning lineman and is around the same weight as most of the returning 16 (with the exception of Dillard).

With the offensive line being so deep I find it hard to say that these four will come in and are going to make a big impact right away but I see them making a small impact this next year and continuing to get better and gaining more and more playing time as their years go on.