Reports: Inside Eastern Washington’s opening depth chart loaded with homegrown players
This season, Eastern Washington’s roster includes 29 transfers, but the two-deep depth chart released Monday highlights the program’s strong reliance on players it has recruited and developed from high school.
Out of 27 starters—11 on offense, 11 on defense, and five specialists—only four were not signed or walked on to EWU directly from high school.
On offense, the only exception is senior center Jack Seelye, who started at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California. On defense, the lone exception is redshirt senior linebacker Adam Cohen, a transfer from UCLA, who also did not start his college career at EWU.
Junior transfer punter Landon Ogles and sophomore Brady Peterson are both listed for the punter position, indicating that either one could start on Thursday night at Roos Field against Monmouth.
Senior Michael Wortham, now in his second year at Eastern, is named the starter for kick returner. He is also listed as an “or” option with Efton Chism III for punt return, and Wortham is expected to play some quarterback behind redshirt junior starter Kekoa Visperas.
Aside from Seelye, Cohen, Ogles, and Wortham, all other starters joined Eastern as freshmen.
The Eagles have eight returning starters on offense, including Visperas, a 6-foot, 193-pound quarterback who led the Big Sky in passing yards per game last season (275.4). He will once again be throwing to seniors Chism and Nolan Ulm, along with redshirt sophomore Miles Williams, who made two starts last season.
Redshirt junior Tuna Altahir returns as the starting running back for the second consecutive year, while redshirt junior Jett Carpenter is set to make his first career start at tight end.
The offensive line boasts experience, featuring four senior returners: left tackle Wyatt Hansen, left guard Luke Dahlgren, center Seelye, and right guard Brenden Rivera, alongside redshirt sophomore Dylan Conner, who is starting as right tackle.
On the other side, the defense will have a younger lineup. While there are six seniors listed as starters, there are also two redshirt freshmen in defensive end Tylin Jackson and safety Jaylon Jenkins. An additional six redshirt freshmen fill backup roles on defense.
Despite the youth, the defense returns six players from last year’s final depth chart, led by defensive end Brock Harrison, who has played a team-high 46 games at Eastern. He is joined by returning senior starters Matthew Brown and Jacob Newsom at the tackle positions.
Alongside Cohen at linebacker are senior Conner O’Farrell and redshirt junior Ahmani Williams. Senior Cage Schenck is the starting nickelback, with seventh-year senior Darrien Sampson and redshirt junior DaJean Wells at cornerback. Next to Jenkins at safety is redshirt sophomore Kentrell Williams Jr., who started seven games last season.
Though few transfers are starting, they will still contribute significantly to the Eagles. Almost every backup on the offensive two-deep is a transfer—either from this year or last—and there are five more transfers listed as backups on the defensive side.
Eastern is looking to break its streak of two consecutive losing seasons, something it hasn’t done since 1989 to 1991. From 1992 to 2021, the Eagles made 14 playoff appearances, securing an FCS national title after the 2010 season.