WSU QB Jaxon Potter earns starting duties in season-opener against Idaho

PULLMAN — After a long wait, Washington State has rolled out a starting quarterback.

It’s redshirt sophomore Jaxon Potter, as indicated by coach Jimmy Rogers in a pregame interview aired right before kickoff on The CW. It’s just the second game of his college career, after playing 13 snaps in garbage time last season against Hawaii.

Coaches declined to announce a starter before Saturday.

The development registers as something of a surprise. After WSU’s fall camp, it appeared that fifth-year senior Zevi Eckhaus was the likely frontrunner in a four-way QB competition, which also featured transfers Julian Dugger and Ajani Sheppard. Eckhaus has by far the most experience of the four, and as he improved in one metric coaches prioritize — mobility — he looked to take the lead.

Instead, WSU head coach Jimmy Rogers and offensive coordinator Danny Freund are rolling with Potter, who has the tools they value at the position. Potter stands 6-foot-5, which gives him the ability to make strong and accurate passes, which he did consistently throughout fall camp. Potter may not be as mobile as his counterparts, but he makes up for that with a reliable deep ball, another quality coaches were looking for.

Toward the end of fall camp, Potter enjoyed one of his best days of the 14-practice slate. He completed two touchdown passes, one to true freshman wide receiver Carter Pabst and one to junior college transfer Devin Ellison, the latter of whom hauled a pass that traveled some 40 yards in the air. 

“Potter has been very, very consistent throughout (fall camp),” Freund said after that day of camp. “Got a lot of reps with the twos in the spring. You’ll see him with the ones. Throwing the football, he’s had an excellent camp, so just his accuracy and his command of the huddle has stood out. Really excited about Jaxon.”

In hindsight, perhaps Potter’s long touchdown pass to Ellison wasn’t just a highlight of fall camp. It was a harbinger of things to come.

A native of Huntington Beach, California, Potter was a three-star prospect out of Santa Margarita High School, which also WSU basketball great Klay Thompson and football alumni River Cracraft, Riley Sorenson, Kyle Sweet, Nick Begg and Matthew Bock.

Key WR, safety not dressed for pregame warmups

When the Cougars emerged for warmups before Saturday’s game kicked off, two notable players were dressed in street clothes: Ellison and senior safety Cale Reeder, the latter of whom was seen on crutches toward the end of fall camp before getting off them for the final day of camp.

The absence of Ellison, who was in a boot during warmups, could be costly for WSU. Despite missing a handful of fall camp practices with an injury, which Rogers called a heel issue, Ellison projected to use his speed and reliable hands to make a big impact in the Cougs’ offense. He likely would have started.

Reeder’s absence is also a tough blow for the Cougars, who could have used his veteran savvy in their secondary, but that’s a position where they have a little wiggle room. WSU also has fellow veterans Tucker Large and Matt Durrance, who figure to make the safety spot a strength of their defense, perhaps the strongest.