Will a late addition push Boise State’s top cornerbacks for playing time in fall camp?

The Boise State football team hit the transfer portal hard this year, and quarterback Malachi Nelson is just one of the new additions who has a chance to make an immediate impact.

Nelson is in the running to win the starting job. Former Cal cornerback Jeremiah Earby heads into fall camp as one of the team’s top two at the position, cornerbacks coach Demario Warren said. Former Ball State defensive end Tavion Woodard should get plenty of snaps even though Ahmed Hassanein is back after posting 12.5 sacks last season, edge coach Jabril Frazier said.

The most intriguing of the Broncos’ transfers might be the one who most recently joined the team: former Washington cornerback Davon Banks.

Banks, who joined the team in May, spent the past two seasons with the Huskies. He took the field against the Broncos last season in Boise State’s 56-19 loss at Washington, and now he’s one of the Broncos’ top three cornerbacks, Warren said Monday.

Banks played in eight games for the Huskies in 2022 and took the field in the first two games last season before an injury sidelined him for the rest of the year. He posted two tackles and four pass breakups against the Broncos, and Warren said he’s glad to have him wearing the Broncos’ blue and orange this year.

“We didn’t bring him in for no reason,” Warren said. “He’s going to add some depth, obviously, but he’s also going to be competing for the top spot at different positions.”

Warren said Banks is versatile enough to play on either side of the field, and he’s physical enough to play nickel.

“He’s big enough, body wise, where he can play the boundary, and he’s quick enough and smart enough to play the field side,” Warren said. “He also has the body type to where if we need to get him in the box that we can, so he gives us a tool that we haven’t had, and that’s exciting.”

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Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson knows Banks well. He said Monday that the Broncos recruited him when he was coming out of San Jacinto High School in California, which is the same program that produced nose tackle Sheldon Newton.

“He’s a guy that I not only knew as a person, but I also knew how he would help our team,” Danielson said of Banks. “Especially on the back end of the defense, we knew we needed to keep the competition through the roof.”

Transfers top depth chart

Earby and A’Marion Mccoy are the top two cornerbacks heading into fall camp, according to Warren. McCoy, who began his career at Laney College, led the Broncos with three interceptions last season. Earby posted 62 tackles, two interceptions, 17 pass breakups and two fumble recoveries in 24 games the past two seasons at Cal. He was named honorable mention All-Pac 12 as a freshman in 2022.

Earby was one of the stars of spring ball this year after he finished the Broncos’ 15 practices with at least five interceptions.

“He learns from his mistakes quickly, and he has a high football IQ,” Warren said. “In a couple of those huge plays he made at the end of camp, he messed something up the day before. We drilled it and worked on it, and the next time he saw it, it was a pass breakup or a pick.”

Banks and sixth-year senior Markel Reed are next in line heading into fall camp, Warren said. He also said redshirt sophomore Dionte Thornton and redshirt freshmen Khai Taylor and Franklyn Johnson Jr. have taken huge strides in the past seven months.

Reed returned for his final season of eligibility after suffering season-ending injuries in 2021 and 2022, and dealing with nagging injuries last fall, despite appearing in 11 games.

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NOTES

▪ Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty was named to the Maxwell Award watch list on Monday. The award goes to the best offensive player in the country. Jeanty was named preseason Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year this month. He posted 1,345 rushing yards and scored 19 total touchdowns last season.

▪ Hassanein was named to the Bronco Nagurski Award watch list on Tuesday. The award goes to the top defensive player in the country. Hassanein was named the preseason co-Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year this month.

▪ Boise State left tackle Kage Casey was named to the Outland Trophy watch list on Tuesday. The award goes to the top offensive lineman in the country. Casey started all 14 games at left tackle last season as a redshirt freshman and made the preseason All-Mountain West team this month.