On Day 3 of WSU spring ball, WR Daniel Blood keeps establishing himself and defense snags several more picks

PULLMAN — Not long after he entered the transfer portal, looking for a new home for his final season of college eligibility, Daniel Blood got a call from a number he recognized. On the other end was Kirby Moore, his offensive coordinator at Missouri, where Blood had just played the first three seasons of his career.

As it turned out, Moore had just taken the head coaching job at Washington State, and he wanted to gauge Blood’s interest in following him across the country and playing at WSU. It didn’t take much to pique his interest.

“I thought it would be best for me, because I know the offense, I know the coaching,” Blood said on Monday morning, shortly after WSU’s third spring practice wrapped up. “I know what he wants from me, and I know what he wants from the team.”

On several occasions during the Cougars’ spring practice slate, which continues on Thursday in Pullman and Saturday in Spokane, Blood has proven it. In one of the latest installments, which came in Tuesday’s session, Blood hauled in a dime from quarterback Caden Pinnick — one of the three quarterbacks vying for starting duties this fall.

This spring, the 5-foot-10 Blood has been a constant for the Cougars, playing with the first, second and third teams. He looks like one of the team’s fastest players, and with his speed, he profiles as a prominent figure in WSU’s offense this fall. Add in his familiarity with Moore’s offense — which looks to involve a spread, run-centric approach — and you can see why he could get on the field sooner than later.

But can Blood earn playing time in what looks like a crowded WSU receiver room? Also competing for snaps will be returner Tony Freeman, Florida transfer Tank Hawkins, Oregon State transfer Darrius Clemons, junior college transfer Ryan McKendry and others.

And that’s to make no mention of the WSU player who might be engineering the best spring slate of all: receiver Branden Ganashamoorthy. After seeing minimal playing time on offense in his first three seasons as a Cougar, his fortunes might be changing. In one 7-on-7 play in Tuesday’s practice, he bolted downfield and hauled in a perfect throw from Pinnick, who placed a touchdown pass of some 40 yards right over Ganashamoorthy’s shoulder and into his hands.

Still, WSU’s quarterbacks haven’t been perfect. In one 7-on-7 session earlier on Tuesday, Pinnick dropped back and looked for a receiver in the flat, where SMU transfer DJ Warner surged in for an interception. In a live game, he might have had room to take it the distance the other way for a touchdown. In a spring practice setting, he had to settle for a rollicking celebration with teammates along the sideline.

Then in another sequence in practice, redshirt sophomore safety Trey Ridley leapt in front of a pass thrown by quarterback Owen Eshelman, another of the QBs in the hunt for the starting job. Ridley has also enjoyed a nice spring camp, and he’ll be fighting for snaps with fellow safeties like Jaylen Thomas, Jeremiah Bernard, Jshawn Frausto-Ramos and others. Another safety looking to earn snaps: Arizona State transfer Jack Bal, who also snagged an interception in Tuesday’s practice, keeping up with what has become a trend on the Cougs’ defense early in spring practices.

How will Warner fit into WSU’s defense? This spring he’s been playing linebacker, which would represent something of a change of pace from his first couple seasons of college ball. Both at Kansas and SMU, where he played his freshman and sophomore campaign respectively, he played a good chunk of edge rusher. That’s where he could unleash his athleticism and size, which is clocked at 6-foot-4 and 229 pounds.

But at Washington State, Moore and defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Trent Bray are deploying him in the middle of their defense, giving him a chance to show off his skills in coverage. In that department, he logged an average grade on Pro Football Focus in past seasons, hovering in the low 60s. If spring practices can serve as any kind of barometer, though, he looks capable of improving.

“He’s got a ton of athleticism,” Kirby Moore said. “What he’s done on the edge already, obviously, transitioning to linebacker. The length, can create a lot of problems for the offense in terms of block destruction, in terms of getting his hands on the ball in terms of coverage, how quick he can close space from a speed and a size standpoint.”