Countdown to fall camp: What to make of WSU's wide receiver corps, and how could races unfold?

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Aug. 3—Editor's note: This is the sixth in a series of stories that will run each day previewing Washington State's preseason camp before it begins on Thursday. This edition covers the Cougars' wide receivers.

PULLMAN — Think back to January, when Washington State made a giant splash in the transfer portal and landed Tank Hawkins, the speedy wide receiver from Florida. He instantly became one of the Cougars' highest-rated transfers in recent memory, and his decision was met accordingly around the program orbit, praise raining on coach Kirby Moore .

Turns out, Moore and coaches weren't done restocking the shelves at wide receiver.

In the days that followed, more receivers transferred to WSU including Oregon State's Darrius Clemons, Missouri's Daniel Blood, West Georgia's Jordan Dees and Medanos College's Ryan McKendry, a really solid haul for a new-look program trying to lead a new-look conference. Ahead of the Cougars' fall camp, which begins Thursday, those are the guys who will be vying for the biggest roles at the wideout spots.

That's to say nothing of returner Tony Freeman, who is back for his third season as a Cougar, ready for what could be his best yet. He's likely to earn punt -returning duties, same as he did his first two seasons. A year after catching 54 passes for 590 yards and three touchdowns — doing so under last season's WSU coaching staff, which prioritized establishing the run and playing slowly — he could be unleashed in a way he hasn't yet in a WSU uniform.

Thanks to his experience alone, he could have a leg up in the battle for a meaningful role in fall camp, but expect things to be competitive. If there's one receiver to keep an eye on, particularly because he plays a similar role and style as Freeman, it's Hawkins. In two years with the Gators, Hawkins played in eight games, totaling 12 catches for 116 yards and one touchdown. He played in six games in 2024, then after playing in four games last season, he chose to opt out of the rest of the year, preserving his redshirt season and giving him three more years of eligibility.

A consensus four-star recruit out of IMG Academy in the class of 2024, Hawkins fielded offers from Alabama, Penn State, Oregon, Miami, Nebraska, Wisconsin and others at that time. But does he still have the tools that gave him those kinds of opportunities a few years ago? Hawkins turned in a fine spring ball, but he didn't stand out in the way his resume might suggest he's capable of, taking something of a backseat to other receivers in the room.

Namely, it was Blood, who produced the best spring slate of any of the Cougars' wide receivers. A 5-foot-10 wideout from Missouri, where he played sparingly in three years of Moore's offense, he hauled in a number of touchdown catches. He found himself involved in many of the Cougars' best passing plays in the spring, which is another reason he might enter fall camp with a sort of advantage: He earned clear credibility from coaches, from Moore to receivers coach Derek Sage.

"I think Daniel Blood is having a really, really good spring camp thus far," WSU offensive coordinator Matt Miller said back in April.

The rest of the Cougars' group of receiver transfers is a little tricky to parse. It's entirely possible WSU gets a big year from Clemons, who hauled in 25 catches for 292 yards and two touchdowns in 2024 before missing last fall with an injury, but he missed all of spring ball with an injury. (It's unclear whether it's the same injury). He has good size and a solid resume — he's listed at 6-foot-3, and he started his career at Michigan — but he hasn't gotten on the field enough in Pullman to generate the same optimism just yet.

Still, if he's healthy this August, look for him to get squarely involved in the Cougars' wideout rotation. The same goes for two other wide receiver transfers: McKendry, who also missed a good number of spring practices with an injury, and Dees, who met the same fate. Dees got on the practice field a bit more — he caught a touchdown pass during an early-April practice in Spokane — but he missed the spring game.

For those reasons, it's also possible the Cougars give more opportunities to returning receivers who are still working toward meaningful roles, like returners Branden Ganashamoorthy and Noah Westbrook, or even walk-on Jay Porter, who submitted a standout spring. Those receivers could provide valuable depth, or depending on availability around the position group, significant roles.

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