As Week 3 approaches, WSU’s defense getting depth from new — and unexpected — sources

PULLMAN – Across the last five years, Jimmy Rogers has watched Cale Reeder grow up before his very eyes.

He monitored Reeder’s senior year in Illinois, where he earned all-state honors behind six interceptions. He watched him become a freshman at South Dakota State, where he played in all 10 games, some on special teams and some at safety. Then he helped him flourish in his final three years as a Jackrabbit, securing a starting spot at safety for 31 contests, which helped their program win one national championship and come one game away from another.

What Rogers has yet to see from Reeder: How he fares at Washington State, where he has missed each of the Cougars’ first two games recovering from a knee injury. That trend is set to end on Saturday, when Reeder is expected to suit up for WSU’s road test against North Texas, seeking its third straight win to open the Rogers era.

For WSU, which eked by FCS Idaho and followed with a comfortable win over San Diego State last weekend, it’s a welcome development. The Cougars have been able to cushion the absence of Reeder with the production of veteran safeties Tucker Large and Matt Durrance, both of whom also transferred from South Dakota State, limiting their first two opponents to a combined 166 passing yards.

But never has WSU’s safety corps been at full strength – until now. What’s interesting is that while Reeder’s coaches and teammates have sung his praises, extolling his high-level reads and nose for the ball, he has yet to display it in a game setting. After missing spring ball with an injury, so far, he’s only had the opportunity to show it in fall camp.

Which is where Rogers can offer some insight. He worked with Reeder directly for the first three years of his career, then became SDSU’s head coach for the next two.

“It’s just his consistency. He’s somewhat reckless with his body,” Rogers said. “I think our best defenses have always had success with safeties that can tackle and also cover on the perimeter, and he’s got great speed. But overall, it’s the same thing. I think that he’s really locked in and wants to do his job at an extremely high level.”

Reeder’s numbers speak for themselves. In his Jackrabbit career, he played in 53 games, totaling the following: 168 tackles (6 1/2 for loss), four interceptions, 12 pass breakups and one forced fumble. He played an invaluable role on the 2023 SDSU team, which went 15-0 on its way to a national championship, posting 11 stops in postseason play alone.

The Cougars might need similar production in their first road game of the season, a contest against North Texas, which is also off to a 2-0 start to the season. The Mean Green pilot one of the nation’s fastest-tempoed offenses, with just 21.2 seconds per play, thanks to the offense-first mentality of head coach Eric Morris, who worked as WSU’s offensive coordinator in 2022.

In that way, the Cougs are getting Reeder back at the perfect time. He’ll join forces with Large and Durrance to try and limit UNT QB Drew Mestemaker, who has displayed sharp accuracy and an ability to avoid sacks. But Reeder’s return means fewer snaps for other safeties. The likely candidate to see a reduced role is freshman Kyle Peterson, who played a career-high 41 snaps last weekend, underscoring the trust he’s earned from coaches in a short time.

“There’s a certain level of trust there because of what he’s been able to do throughout the course of his career, and the knowledge which he has,” Rogers said. “Not just the knowledge of which he has, the knowledge of which he shares with the entire defense when he’s on the field. So if we can stay healthy at that position, I feel good.”

Like Peterson, the Cougs could get a boost from another unlikely source. That would be redshirt freshman Jack Ellison, who has rocketed up the depth chart early in the season, earning the No. 2 role at middle linebacker behind redshirt freshman Anthony Palano. Against SDSU, Ellison logged 26 snaps, by far a career-most.

Still a walk-on, Ellison’s ascent has come as a surprise. He didn’t always compete with the Cougars’ first-team units during fall camp, and in their season-opening win over Idaho, he played just one snap.

But with the season-ending injury to senior Keith Brown, WSU’s middle linebackers all got bumped up. The latest is Ellison, who could provide critical depth not just this Saturday, but in the ones to come this fall.

“You gotta be able to trust people that they have done the same prep as the ones, and they can go out and execute,” Rogers said, “and I feel like Jack has done that with his reps. Jack has talent. He’s fast, he’s explosive, he’s a big kid, and he cares a lot. And when you have those things, there’s a recipe for success. He’s gotta go out and execute to earn more reps.”