Derting says he plans on sticking around
PULLMAN – Washington State doesn’t know how its 2004 season will turn out, but it may have just gotten its first significant piece of good news for the 2005 season.
Middle linebacker Will Derting, a first-team all-conference selection in 2003 as a sophomore, said after Tuesday’s practice he intends to play for the Cougars through his senior season. There had been some speculation that Derting would jump to the NFL following his junior season.
“Right now, I’m planning on staying for two more years,” Derting said. “Circumstances change – everything changes – but right now my position is to stay here. That’s how I’m playing everything.”
Derting recorded 86 tackles last season as an outside linebacker, but with the graduation of nine seniors on defense the coaching staff decided to move him to the middle. As the lone returner in the front seven, he is one of two defensive captains and almost certainly the most valuable Cougar on defense.
“He came here to get a degree and it’ll probably take him two more years,” WSU coach Bill Doba said. “You only get to be a senior in college once. Some of the best years in our life are in college, and I wish I could go back. Unless, quite honestly, somebody comes in and says he’s going to be our first pick in the draft, I would advise him to stay.”
NFL teams rely so heavily on numbers when it comes to draft day in April, and it’s possible that Derting could fall short when held up against some of his collegiate peers on paper and not film. Derting is listed this season at 6-foot and 233 pounds, large enough to play linebacker in many systems. But he may be considered too small to play in the middle, and NFL linebackers generally need to be extremely fast to keep up with running backs and tight ends in pass coverage.
Derting estimates that he would currently run a 4.6 40-yard dash, while others in the draft may be as quick as 4.4 at the same position.
“I know for us, he’s a playmaker,” Doba said. “In the NFL, those guys are 6-foot-4 and 285, 260. They’re big, big-bodied guys. Whether he’s fast enough to be an outside backer or not, I don’t know. Everybody’s got him going out after this year, and he (still) may.”
Two more cleared
Two offensive linemen, freshman Eddie Vickers and sophomore Sean O’Connor, have been cleared to begin practice today, according to a WSU spokesman.
Vickers didn’t pass his physical after arriving on campus because of some concerns about his cardiac health and some family history indicating a potential problem. But the Vancouver, Wash., native passed an additional battery of tests and has gotten a green light from the medical staff.
O’Connor missed the first two days of practice with an injured back, but will now start practicing with the team as his recovery continues. He is expected to be at 100 percent in three weeks while easing his way into the fold. O’Connor is listed as the primary backup at both center and right guard on the team’s two-deep entering the fall season.
Walk on
The Cougars have added a number of walk-ons to the team to fill out its roster this season. While Division I-A football programs are allowed 85 scholarships, they can have 105 players in camp, and more than that after students arrive on campus for classes.
Perhaps the most intriguing is Alexis Alexander, a former Kansas City Royals farmhand who is now a 21-year-old freshman. Alexander practiced at wide receiver on Monday but was moved to cornerback for Tuesday’s practice.
Other invited walk-ons are Kipp Curtis, a wide receiver from Oregon, Blake Ferguson, a wide receiver from Bellevue, Carl Shaw, a wide receiver from Lewis & Clark in Spokane, Rafael Bolton, a running back from Los Angeles, Jeremy Parker, a wide receiver from Cheney, Bryant Claudon, a tight end from Auburn, Nick Cantlon, an offensive lineman also from Lewis & Clark, Drew Hansen, an offensive lineman from Kennewick, and Adam Hineline, a defensive tackle from Bellevue.
Notes
Don’t let its size fool you – Pullman has come in at No. 63 on The Sporting News’ annual list of the top sports cities in America. That’s just ahead of SEC hotbeds Auburn, Ala., and Knoxville, Tenn., and eight spots higher than Eugene, Ore. … Quarterback Josh Swogger and defensive coordinator Robb Akey are two of a handful of Cougars sporting yellow “live strong” wristbands. The wristbands are sold by the Lance Armstrong Foundation to promote cancer awareness. Swogger has a young cousin in Florida who had a bone marrow transplant in the spring, and Akey’s father has battled cancer this year after more than a decade in remission.
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