OL Jaylin Caldwell and two teammates are re-signing with WSU, Cougars announce
As the college football ecosystem changes, Washington State is changing with it.
The Cougars disclosed Sunday they’re re-signing offensive lineman Jaylin Caldwell, the third player for whom they’ve made such an announcement this offseason, joining fellow offensive lineman Ashton Tripp and linebacker Keith Brown, whose deals were revealed Saturday. All three will return to WSU next fall.
This means that trio has signed revenue-sharing name, image and likeness agreements with WSU, securing their returns to the team next season. In a growing trend around the country, it’s another sign of the times in college football, where teams are using the newly passed House settlement to share revenue directly with players.
For WSU, these three re-signings could figure prominently in coach Kirby Moore’s first season at the helm of the program. The Cougars are working to build on their football revenue-sharing pool, which was around $2-2.5 million last season. They aim to push that number closer to $7 million, interim athletic director Jon Haarlow said, which wouldn’t include additional NIL deals facilitated by the Cougar Collective, WSU’s primary NIL arm.
Among this trio, the most important deal might belong to Tripp, who started all 13 games at left tackle this season, permitting only one sack on 490 pass-blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. In his redshirt sophomore campaign, Tripp was a little better in the run-blocking department, posting a 50 grade against a 48.4 pass-blocking grade, both per PFF.
His return is a boon for Moore and the Cougars, who are set to lose two key pieces up front, center Brock Dieu and right tackle Christian Hilborn, who are both now out of eligibility. Each has started the majority of the past three seasons, giving Moore and new offensive line coach Jack Abercrombie some work to do to reassemble their front five.
That’s another reason why Caldwell’s decision to return to WSU amounts to a key development for the Cougars. Caldwell may not have logged a ton of snaps this season – before going down with his own season-ending injury, Caldwell played just 81 snaps in two games, replacing the injured Hilborn – but he acquitted himself well in limited playing time. In those two games, Caldwell allowed only two pressures, both of which came against Ole Miss.
A former transfer from Division II Grand Valley State, Caldwell appears to be in good shape to start at right tackle next season for the Cougs. Listed at 6-foot-6 and 325 pounds, Caldwell has good size for the position, and his mobility is improving. Before going down with an injury against Virginia, he registered a PFF run-blocking grade of 65.1, which is above average.
Finally, the Cougars’ defense is getting a nice lift with the return of Brown, whose decision was far from a guarantee. Earlier this month, he announced he was planning to enter the transfer portal, only to delete his post and seemingly rethink his decision. Before this season, he was poised to earn meaningful snaps at the middle linebacker spot before suffering a season-ending injury during fall camp.
With Brown in the fold for next season, the Cougars are getting an experienced middle linebacker whose veteran savvy will benefit a depleted position group. Two of WSU’s starting linebackers this season, Caleb Francl and Parker McKenna, are out of eligibility. True freshman Anthony Palano, who started seven games at MLB, is planning to enter the portal when it opens on Jan. 2.
Can the Cougs hang on to middle linebacker Sullivan Schlimgen, who earned five starts in his true freshman season this fall?
Schlimgen initially followed former coach Jimmy Rogers from South Dakota State to WSU, opening up the possibility he could follow Rogers to Iowa State. But news on Schlimgen’s future has yet to materialize.