Washington State Cougars will benefit from more run and less shoot in 2021
Receivers
Since Rolovich arrived, there has been an exodus of receivers. Last summer Tay Martin (Oklahoma) transferred out of Pullman. After the season, Jamire Calvin (Mississippi State) left as well. Their production isn’t easily replaced. Even one of the coach’s big recruits, Jay Wilkerson, entered the transfer portal after last month’s Crimson and Gray Game.
That leaves the Cougars with a few veteran producers Travell Harris, Calvin Jackson Jr., and Renard Bell, and many more question marks. To make the “shoot” part of the offense work, they need five or six viable receivers. That may still happen.
Both Borghi and McIntosh are effective weapons as receivers. They can make even bigger contributions by using their ground game talents to open up the pass.
For good measure, keep in mind that Harris carried the mail five times last season, on jet sweeps and end-arounds. He picked up 61 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Quarterback
This a very unsettled Cougars’ quarterback room right now. After the first two games last season, it seemed like WSU was Jayden de Laura’s team for years to come. The true freshman QB from Hawaii showed all of CougNation why he was such a heralded recruit.
But things when south. Rolovich pulled de Laura from each of the next two games for ineffectiveness. After the season, things went from bad to worse. Arrested for DUI in February, de Laura was suspended from the team. Spring practice came and went without him participating.
During the spring session, redshirt junior Cammon Cooper and graduate transfer Jarrett Guarantano shared first-team quarterback duties. Neither one separated himself from the other. Guarantano has more experience, but Cooper has more experience with the players and system. When de Laura gets reinstated, the competition is on once again.
The bottom line here is that none of the three established themselves. Running the ball more gives whoever the quarterback is in 2021 a break. Opposing linebackers have to respect the ground game so it keeps them from blitzing or breaking off into coverage until they read the play.