Good Sunday morning, everyone. Time to talk some football.
This past week has been a very busy one for Mount Si High School football player Andrew Edson. Edson, who is a tight end and a defensive lineman for the Wildcats in addition to playing baseball for the school, last week received four college football scholarship offers, all of which we reported on here. The four offers added to four others he’s received during his college recruitment process, so in total he currently has eight offers to look at.
We have put together a look at all of the colleges which have made offers to Edson thus far, and examine whether programs might be, or might not, be a fit for the Valley athlete. We explored each school’s potential roster by examining the number of seniors they are expected to have this fall at the tight end, defensive lineman or defensive end or both, and linebacker positions (incase schools are recruiting him at that spot). Those numbers are important because it may give a guide as to how many open spots a school may have at a particular position for Edson’s freshman year, which will be the fall of next year, and possibly guide whether he can get playing time right away or could have to redshirt.
As we have discussed, the NCAA is currently in a recruiting “dead period” as a result of the current COVID-19 disease outbreak. This “dead period” and state and local government restrictions on such things as travel, large gatherings and the like, are likely to keep Edson from making official visits to any of these colleges for some time.
So with that, here’s our current thoughts on the eight schools all vying for Edson’s services as a college athlete.
Eastern Washington
Potential seniors at TE: 1
Potential seniors at LB: 1
Potential seniors at DE/DL: 4
Record: 7-5, missed FCS playoffs
Coach: Aaron Best
Our thoughts: This is a school that we suspect will be appealing to Edson if for no other reason than two things: one, it would reunite him with former Mount Si teammate Gale Kamp, who will be a freshman there this fall (Kamp graduated back in June) and two, it’s close to home, just a four-hour drive east on I-90 from North Bend in Cheney, so it will be easy for family and friends to drive over and watch him play. However, with as many other offers as Edson’s received – and that the roster construction as we see it here portends to a possible redshirt year for Edson as a freshman – Eastern may end up not making the early cut. We’ll see though.
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Yale
Potential seniors at TE: 1 (Only six on entire roster)
Potential seniors at LB: 3
Potential seniors at DE/DL: 6
Record: 9-1, won Ivy League (they do not play in FCS playoffs)
Coach: Tony Reno
Our thoughts: As we discussed here last week when Edson announced this offer, this one’s a pretty prestigious one because it comes from an Ivy League school, and those universities as you all know are very hard to get into – you have to be extremely good academically in order to land one of these opportunities, so this offer frankly is as much about Edson’s academic performance as it is his athletic performance. Getting a degree from this New Haven, CT, school means an awful lot, and especially now in these challenging times we are all the sudden living in thanks to COVID-19, having a degree with the Yale name attached to it is an even more valuable piece of paper than it’s ever been. So this hopefully will not be lost on Edson or his family as he looks at his options. And it also helps that the school has a real good team and gets national exposure each season with the annual game against league rival Harvard.
Montana State
Potential seniors at TE: 1
Potential seniors at LB: 2 (both inside linebackers)
Potential seniors at DE/DL: 3
Record: 11-4, made FCS semis
Coach: Jeff Choate
Our thoughts: This school we don’t anticipate will last too long in the search process here. Yes, they are a good school in the Big Sky Conference, and yes, he’ll have support over there from soon-to-graduate MSHS hoopster Tyler Patterson, who will be a freshman this fall with the Bobcat men’s hoops team. But when you look at the overall number of possible roster slots opening up in time for 2021, when Edson will be a college freshman, and the number of other offers Edson now has to consider, we don’t expect this school to be a contender long-term in the process. Never say never of course, and an 11-4 record this year, a trip to the national FCS semis and a great coach in Jeff Choate, formerly with the University of Washington, should perhaps keep them in the discussion, but we’ll see.
Wyoming
Potential seniors at TE: 1
Potential seniors at LB: 0
Potential seniors at DE: 1
Record: 8-5, made Arizona Bowl and beat Georgia State, 38-17
Coach: Craig Bohl
Our thoughts: In looking at the potential 2021 roster construction for this squad based on the above information, we find them to be the worst of the four Mountain West schools recruiting Edson in terms of providing him an immediate playing opportunity, so if the Wildcat player is factoring playing right away into his decision-making, the Cowboys likely will not remain in the discussion for very long in this process. Wyoming does have a past connection to Mount Si – receiver Parker Dumas, who graduated from MSHS a few years ago, spent two seasons with the Cowboys before medical issues forced him to retire from the sport. The program is on the rise, and the continued success of NFL quarterback Josh Allen, who is a Wyoming grad, will continue to provide the program valuable national visibility, important since their geography makes them a hard place to recruit to. They’re located in Laramie, WY, which is at around 7,000 feet elevation along I-80 about an hour’s drive west of the Wyoming state capital in Cheyenne and about a two-three hour drive away from the nearest major airport in Denver, CO.
San Jose State
Potential seniors at TE: 3 (Total of six on entire roster)
Potential seniors at LB: 4
Potential seniors at DE: 2 (Total of five on entire roster)
Record: 5-7, did not make bowl game
Coach: Brent Brennan
Our thoughts: As we were doing our research on the rosters of the schools who have made offers to Edson Friday in prepping this for you, we were surprised at some of the things we saw with these Mountain West programs outside of Wyoming. With San Jose, there’s likely to be just three tight ends and three defensive ends total going into 2021 barring transfers, etc. coming into the program, so it would appear to us that there would be a fairly ample opportunity for Edson to at minimum compete for a high spot on the program’s depth chart at either of those positions as a freshman. Doesn’t guarantee him a starting spot, no, but could make him a contender for some quality playing time out of the gate. The program has been average in recent seasons, but historically has struggled not only on the field, but to gain significant traction and visibility within the San Francisco media market up against Pac-12 schools Stanford and California. The school has a past association with MSHS – gymnast Cami Guyer competed for the Spartans several years ago. Guyer, from Fall City, is a Mount Si grad.
Fresno State
Potential seniors at TE: 2 (Total of six on entire roster)
Potential seniors at LB: 2
Potential seniors at DE: 2 (Total of three on entire roster)
Record: 4-8, did not make bowl game
Coach: Kalen DeBoer
Our thoughts: As with their Mountain West arch-rivals San Jose above, Fresno’s potential 2021 roster construction based on our information above there also suggests an ample opportunity could exist for Edson to compete for significant playing time out of the gate as a freshman. Again, no guarantee of starting spots, but the opportunity to be an instant contributor could be had with this team based on what we saw. Thing is, though, this is a program that has struggled in recent seasons; it finished 4-8 last fall, and with that, the program has struggled to generate much visibility nationally. It, however, has established a strong local persona in the Fresno area, so you might say this would be a college version of the type of program Mount Si is here at the high school level with the strong community support.
Nevada
Potential seniors at TE: 2 (Total of five on entire roster)
Potential seniors at LB: 1
Potential seniors at DE: 4 (Total of seven on entire roster)
Record: 7-6, made Idaho Potato Bowl, fell to Ohio U.
Coach: Jay Norvell
Our thoughts: Again, as with Fresno and San Jose, there appears to be a potential 2021 roster construction here based on our research that suggests a good chance for Edson to compete for significant playing time out of the gate as a freshman. And this is a Nevada program that appears to be in a bit better competitive position than their two above-mentioned regional rivals in the Mountain West conference, having made a bowl game this past season. Part of why perhaps Nevada may have its radar on Edson is that among their assistant coaches that also handles some of their recruiting is himself a Mount Si alum. 2013 alum Jimbo Davis, who played for the Wolfpack then became part of the program’s coaching staff following his graduation from the university in Reno, NV, handles some special teams duties with Nevada.
United States Military Academy (Army)
Potential seniors at TE: 1 (Four on entire roster)
Potential seniors at LB: 3
Potential seniors at DE/DL: 3
Record: 5-8, did not make bowl game
Coach: Jeff Monken
Our thoughts: As with the offer from Yale, this offer also carries with it a little bit of prestige, it being from one of our military service academies. So there of course is that, but also, with this, if Edson chooses to go this route, he’ll also become part of the U.S. military and serve his country. Football at a school like this one is secondary to the service aspect so if Edson values the overall prestige of the degree and the ability to serve his nation as a factor in his decision-making, then we’d expect Army to remain in the discussion.