ANALYSIS: Three things we learned from Washington State's spring football camp

May 1—With the spring game in the rearview mirror, football pads and helmets go back to the shelf until college teams start fall camp in August.

Here are three things we learned about the Washington State in the spring:

No separation in quarterback battle

Both of WSU's top-two quarterbacks had a handful of highlight moments, but neither did much to separate themselves in the battle to be the Cougars' next signal-caller.

Sophomore John Mateer started with the 1s all spring and senior Bryant transfer Zevi Eckhaus spent his time as the No. 2.

Guys like redshirt freshman Jaxon Potter and true freshman Evans Chuba also earned playing time.

But it will likely be Mateer or Eckhaus calling the plays when the Cougars kick off Aug. 31 against Portland State, and both displayed some good things and some areas to improve on.

For Mateer, he is the more exciting player with his ability to run the ball and throw on the run.

His 75-yard, trick-play pass to tight end Billy Riviere was arguably the play of the spring on the first snap of the Crimson and Gray game Saturday.

He also had a throw on the run to wide receiver Josh Meredith for a 41-yard TD in the spring game.

The negative was his 46% completion rate on 11-of-24 passing for 194 yards, but the stats don't tell the whole tale. Several receivers dropped passes and Mateer also could've had a breakaway run that likely would've gone for at least 50 yards if the play wasn't whistled dead for a called sack by linebacker Kyle Thornton. Since quarterbacks can't be tackled during spring ball, QB run plays and sacks are up to interpretation by the coaches.

For Eckhaus, he was a better 19-of-30 (63%) for 196 yards. Both quarterbacks threw two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Eckhaus also led the Cougars on a 99-yard touchdown drive in the second scrimmage April 20 and dropped a dime to Carlos Hernandez for a 31-yard TD in the Crimson and Gray game.

But on the negative side, the Eckhaus-led Crimson team went three-and-out on its first three drives and had a quick punt again on its fourth drive. It wasn't until later in the scrimmage that the group found some rhythm offensively.

"We're going to keep learning going into fall camp, learning all summer and we'll be good by the season," Mateer said.

Parker stands out in four-man RB battle

Eckhaus can thank freshman running back Wayshawn Parker for one of his passing touchdowns.

Parker turned a short pass into a 41-yard touchdown when he spun away from the defense and went from the right sideline to the left corner of the end zone for a score in the spring game.

It was an overall slow spring for WSU's running backs, but the group broke out in the grand finale.

Sophomore Djouvensky Schlenbaker, the most experienced of the bunch, rushed 16 times for a game-high 106 yards and one touchdown.

Parker had a pair of 40-plus-yard plays.

Junior Dylan Paine rumbled for 50 yards on five carries and tallied four catches for 34 yards.

Redshirt freshman Leo Pulalasi went down with a scary lower-body injury early in the scrimmage Saturday, but WSU coach Jake Dickert said he could be back in time to participate in fall camp.

Those four are all vying to be the starter in a WSU running game that has stagnated the last couple of seasons.

"This was the first time we were really that explosive in the run game, and you saw what happened," Dickert said. "As soon as those things start happening, the offense starts flowing."

Edge could still be a strength of the team

Despite losing two edge rushers to the NFL (Brennan Jackson to the Broncos in the fifth round of the NFL draft and Ron Stone Jr. to the Raiders as an undrafted free agent), the position group might still be a strength of the WSU defense.

So much so, it could be one of WSU's deepest groups if the players can stay healthy.

The biggest names to know are senior Nusi Malani, senior Quinn Roff, junior Raam Stevenson, senior Andrew Edson and senior Utah Tech transfer Syrus Webster.

The starters in the spring game were Roff and Edson on the Crimson team and Stevenson and Malani on the Gray squad.

Dickert picked Stevenson as his defensive player of the scrimmage with a game-high 2.5 sacks.

"Raam Stevenson caught my eye," Dickert said. "He'd probably say 'Coach, I would've had four or five sacks today if this thing was live.' But I just think he's one of those guys, third year now, he's progressed better and better."

Roff had 3.5 tackles for loss with 1.5 sacks on the other side. And Webster was a highlight player earlier in the spring, although he didn't record a statistic in the spring game.

Malani is an expected starter after moving over from defensive tackle.

Wiebe may be contacted at (208) 848-2260, swiebe@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @StephanSports.