On a crisp late-winter Wednesday, the Eastern Washington football team concluded the third of its ten scheduled offseason practices slightly ahead of time, recognizing that some players might be heading out of Cheney for the university’s spring break.
The Eagles will regroup on March 31, continuing without further interruptions as they prepare for the Red-White game on April 18.
As the team broke their huddle at Roos Field, players clustered into their position groups, highlighting both the constraints of these spring practices and the opportunities available to those in attendance.
Currently, the Eagles have just a few more offensive linemen than tight ends, with several linemen nursing injuries.
“To be honest, we’re far from where we want to be,” EWU head coach Aaron Best remarked prior to practice on Wednesday. “Overall, the energy has been quite positive.”
Determining which players will fill the five open starting spots on the offensive line is a question that won’t be fully resolved until August. Best mentioned that more players will join the team over the summer, but for now, they are working with the roster they have.
“That’s definitely the area where we need to measure up the most from a positional standpoint,” Best stated.
The players taking snaps behind those linemen are generating considerable interest, particularly fifth-year quarterback Jared Taylor, who rushed for 708 yards last season—just ten yards shy of team leader Tuna Altahir, the running back who transferred to Stanford during the offseason.
The Eagles have lost their leading passer, Kekoa Visperas, who is now in his final season at FCS Tennessee Tech. Additionally, Michael Wortham, who received an extra year of eligibility after spending time at a junior college, will also be playing at Montana next season.
Aidan Carter, who recently completed his redshirt freshman season, has temporarily left the program for a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
As the Eagles gathered with their position groups, first-year offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Marc Anderson stood with four players: Taylor, redshirt sophomore Nate Bell, redshirt freshman Jake Schakel, and true freshman Anthony Quinones.
“The main difference from last year is we have a lot of new faces, like we’re trying to make up for 8,000 snaps,” Taylor said, referring to the entire team. “Spring is a great time to get everyone up to speed.”
In the 2024 season, Taylor, in his second full year after transferring from Feather River College in California, played a more rugged role than a traditional passer. He appeared in 11 games, but attempted more than five passes only once, when Visperas was unavailable against Montana State. Otherwise, his plays mostly involved him charging toward the line of scrimmage, which proved effective as he rushed 137 times and scored 10 touchdowns.
However, both Best and Taylor indicated that a shift might occur this season.
“The beauty of the offense here at Eastern is that it remains about 60 to 70% the same,” Best explained. “The foundation has been consistent, and we’ve showcased dynamic play for over two and a half decades.”
Reflecting on last season’s run-heavy quarterback strategy (with Visperas also rushing for 375 yards and nine touchdowns), Best labeled it as part of playing to their strengths.
“We’ll still implement the plus-one QB run this season,” he noted. “But we need to be more successful at throwing the ball downfield. That will likely be the most noticeable change; we probably won’t keep it to 15 passing attempts per game.”
“But when you have five seniors on the offensive line and a quarterback like Jared Taylor, who was productive with the ball last year, it’s natural to lean into that more.”
Taylor is eager to dispel the notion that he rushed due to an inability to throw. His statistics from Feather River support this; he completed 294 of 461 passes (63.8%) for 4,211 yards and 45 touchdowns over two seasons.
When he was called to pass at Eastern last year, he was efficient, completing 20 of 27 attempts for 144 yards and two touchdowns against Big Sky champion Montana State, keeping the game close going into the final quarter.
“Last year I was playing a different role position-wise and verbally, playing quarterback in a unique way,” Taylor explained. “Now I’m returning to my true quarterback role, and it’s been a lot of fun.”
It remains to be seen how much the Eagles will utilize their other three quarterbacks. Bell played in just two games last season, Schakel, a three-star recruit from Emerald Ridge High School, redshirted, and Quinones graduated early from Liberty High School in Murrieta, California, to join the Eagles this spring. Freshman Kaden Rolfsness from Puyallup High School will also join the team later this summer.
Leave a Reply