Feb. 4—The Eastern Washington football team announced the signing of 15 players on Wednesday, filling in some gaps left by those who entered the transfer portal in January.
But unlike previous seasons when the door to the portal reopened later in the spring, at this point this year, the Eagles will enter spring practices without the threat of attrition by transfer. Chalk that up as one fewer layer of complexity for EWU recruiting coordinator Wes Nurse.
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“I think everybody is happy that this is what your team is unless you add more,” Nurse said on Wednesday. “There is always going to be some natural attrition where guys may (leave the team), but you know for a fact this is your team barring some different circumstances.”
The Eagles may still have some needs — most notably at defensive tackle — and those could still be addressed with the Eagles still about 10 players under the NCAA cap of 105 on the roster.
But for now, this is the group.
“It’s a culmination of everybody’s hard work of getting the right guys here who can help us push this whole thing forward,” Nurse said.
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The 15 signees Wednesday include eight transfers, including six from other Division I programs. That includes linebackers LJ Roberts (Portland State) and Mayson Hitchens (Weber State) who bring with them significant experience: Hitchens made 91 tackles for the Wildcats last season, seventh-most in the Big Sky. Roberts made 70 tackles for the Vikings last season, fourth-most on the team.
“The thing about linebacker is it’s not just playing linebacker,” Nurse said. “Those guys also play on special teams and in sub packages. They get dinged. You need a great linebacker corps.”
Other transfers include wide receivers Jamai East (Oregon State) and Trenton Swanson (Idaho), cornerbacks Jesse Taylor (San Jose State) and Jordan Pierro (Louisiana Tech), long snapper Bennett Nield (Central Washington) and defensive end Carson Moore (Bakersfield Junior College in California).
The class announced Wednesday lists seven high school seniors, including three from Washington: kicker/punter Morgan Dodson (Chiawana), tight end Cody Gasseling (East Valley in Yakima) and defensive lineman Silas Stewman (Ellensburg).
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Brady Annett, the only quarterback announced Wednesday, threw for 2,532 yards and 35 touchdowns last season at Corona Del Mar High School in California.
The other three prep players who signed are defensive tackle Kaio Finau (Berkeley, California), wide receiver Bennett Juve (Gilbert Christian, Arizona) and linebacker Jameson Wade (Red Mountain, Arizona).
Eastern signed 15 players during the early signing period in December. In January, 15 players left the EWU roster as transfers.
