BOISE (Statesman of Idaho) Boise State football’s 2025 roster is beginning to take shape following two weeks of fall camp.
Here is where each defensive position group and special teams stand with one week of camp left and the Broncos’ season-opening trip to South Florida on August 28 rapidly approaching:
Interior linemen
Prior to senior defensive tackle Braxton Fely withdrawing from the transfer portal, Boise State nearly lost all four of their best interior linemen from 2024. All three of the other primary contributors received their degrees.
Redshirt junior David Latu (BYU), redshirt seniors Dion Washington (Hawaii) and Keanu Mailoto (Arizona), and three other transfers are anticipated to fit into the interior.
Max Stege, a junior defensive end, claimed that he enjoys playing with Washington because he can read the offensive tackles and sees a lot of cheating.
Washington played in all 12 of Hawaii’s games last season and 27 of Nevada’s games in the three years prior.
Latu is playing well, and Mailoto just had one of his best games in short-yardage goal-line scenarios, according to Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson on Thursday. However, he still needs to work on his aggressiveness at the point of attack. Michael Madrie, a redshirt sophomore, will make his injury comeback next week and should be included in the mix, Danielson added.
Defensive end and edge
Jayden, a redshirt junior edge rusher Virgin-Morgan, who recorded ten sacks during the previous season, is back as the team’s sack leader. The Detroit Lions drafted defensive end Ahmed Hassanein, and he has competition on the opposite side of the defensive line.
Junior Max Stege, who appeared in all 14 games as Hassanein’s backup last season, appears to be the obvious option. In late July, Danielson declared that Hassanein had been replaced at the defensive end position by Stege.
Additionally, two transfers, redshirt junior Sterling Lane II (Arizona) and redshirt senior Malakai Williams (Idaho), will have the opportunity to support Jayden Virgin-Morgan at edge.
Linebackers
Marco Notarainni, the redshirt senior captain, will continue to play as the middle linebacker, but the position next to him is up for grabs because Andrew Simpson transferred to North Carolina.
Danielson announced that there would be a rotation at the position prior to fall camp. Redshirt junior Jake Ripp has put in a ton of effort and is prepared to begin, he said. Last season, Ripp briefly trained as an edge rusher, but since Simpson left, he has returned to linebacker. In the spring game, he played both positions and recorded a game-high two sacks for nine yards.
Junior Chase Martin and sophomore Clay Martineu are also considered. But according to Danielson, redshirt sophomore Boen Phelps, who switched from safety to linebacker in the spring, has had a great fall camp and is playing very quickly.
Up until the opener, there will probably be competition to start with Notarainni.
Secondary
Under the leadership of redshirt senior safety Zion Washington, senior corner Jeramiah Earby, junior safety Ty Benefield, and redshirt senior corner A Marion McCoy, the Broncos bring a wealth of experience to their secondary.
With redshirt junior Jaden Mickey, a transfer from Notre Dame, and redshirt senior Davon Banks vying for starting nickel, the Broncos are being forced to play more nickel defense in 2025 by the abundance of returning talent.
According to defensive coordinator Erik Chinander, Banks got a sack blitzing out of nickel during the autumn scrimmage, while Mickey has been playing the majority of his snaps in camp in nickel. Derek Ganter, a transfer from Eastern Washington, has also shown promise as a boundary safety and redshirt sophomore. He caught Thursday’s scrimmage’s lone interception.
Special teams
After kicker Jonah Dalmas graduated and punter James Ferguson-Reynolds transferred, special teams will have some new players in 2025.
The coaching staff has an easy choice because the only punter on the roster is junior Oscar Doyle, a transfer from Weber State. But the kicker competition is still open. Junior transfer redshirt Dalmas was assumed to be replaced by Colton Boomer (UCF), but special teams coach Stacy Collins stated last week that redshirt junior Jarrett Reeser has put in a ton of effort and that there is still plenty of competition despite Boomer’s minor injury this fall.
Mason Hutton, a redshirt senior, has the potential to be among the nation’s top long snappers, according to Danielson and Collins, who have stated this time and again.
Cole Miller, a redshirt sophomore defensive back, has been working out as the holder.
There are multiple options for the Broncos returner. In 2024, Latrell Caples, a sixth-year wide receiver, and Dylan Riley, a sophomore running back, shared the majority of the returns, with Caples finishing the season as the main returner. Malik Sherrod, a sixth-year transfer running back, was originally signed to be the special teams returner. In 2023, he had a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Boise State, and he might end up playing for the Broncos again in 2025.
