Washington State Football: 2027 Recruiting Targets On The Rise

Although it is still a long ways out, Washington State has already gotten the wheels turning for the 2027 recruiting cycle. As of now there have been no commitments to the team but WSU has extended several offers, placing a particular early emphasis on the offensive side of the ball (specifically receivers and quarterbacks). Here's a quick look at the notable players that the Cougars are recruiting for the class in two years.

Quarterbacks

As of this article's publication, the Cougs have extended offers to nine different high school signal callers per 247 sports, three of which are four-star prospects: Hunting Beach's Brady Edmunds, Hank Hendrix of Fayetteville and Sione Kaho from right around the corner in Tacoma. Edmunds is one of the top QB prospects in the nation and has received a ton of Division I interest including from heavy hitters like Ohio State. He is expected to commit to the Buckeyes when all is said and done.

Both Hendrix and Kaho are still uncommitted, though, and both would be big names to nab if Washington State is able to do so. Hendrix is a 6-3 junior and is the #1 prospect currently coming out of Arkansas. He has received interest from teams like Michigan, Michigan State and Baylor to name a few. Kaho, meanwhile, has picked up offers from Oregon, BYU and Arizona State.

Other QB names to keep an eye on are Chance Thomas (Anaheim, CA), Bradley Cassier (Santa Monica, CA), Will Mencl (Chandler, AZ) and Jerry Meyer III (Waxahachie, TX). All four are three-star recruits.

Wide Receivers/Running Backs

There are a dozen wideouts for the class of 2027 that currently have offers from Washington State, the most noteworthy being Arbor View High School's (Las Vegas) Damani Warren. Warren is a four-star prospect who has 38 offers on the table right now. IMG Academy's Zion White is in that same tier as is Trenton Yancy from Duncanville, TX. All three have been recruited by the Cougars, although it is very likely none will ultimately land with WSU.

There are a few in-state guys, however, that the Cougs could end up having a better chance at. Braylon Pope (Sumner, WA) is the fourth-rated recruit in Washington as of now and Maurice Williams (Graham, WA) is the sixth-rated. Both have interest from Washington State as well as Washington.

The other wide receivers to keep an eye on for that class that are uncommitted and have offers from the Cougars are Antayvious Ellis (Crowley, TX), Bode Sparrow (Kaysville, UT), Delontay Williams (Spring Valley, CA), Damani Porras (Downey, CA), Rob Larson (Folsom, CA) and Jay Williams (Long Beach, CA).

Right now there are five running backs that have garnered interest from WSU. Landen Williams-Callis of Richmond, TX headlines the group as the second-best rated running back prospect in the country. He is joined by Jaxsen Stokes (Chatsworth, CA), Ezra Sanelivi (Henderson, NV), Nikko Juarez (Manteca, CA) and Jayshon Gibson (North Richland Hills, TX)

Tight Ends/Offensive Line

Interior offensive lineman Ian Aloisio and tackle Cole Reiter highlight the OL group that the Cougars are targeting. Aloisio is a native of Provo, UT while Reiter hails from Germantown, WI and both are four-star prospects and the second-highest rated prospects from their resepective states. Each has multiple DI offers including from WSU as well as from several others.

As far as tight ends go, the biggest name on the list of those who have received offers is that of Las Vegas standout Zac Fares. Fares stands at 6-5 and weighs 220 pounds and ranks as Nevada's third-best prospect and is also the 12th-rated tight end recruit for the class of 2027. The other name to know is Grant Union High School's (Sacramento, CA) Rahzario Edwards who is 6-6, 210 pounds. He, too, is a four-star player.

Defensive Line/Linebackers

Flipping it to the other side of the ball, the Cougars have reached out to several defensive linemen and linebackers for the class in two years. Four-star prospects Zane Rowe, Elija Harmon and Kasi Currie are the notables of the group, all of which play on the interioir of the D line. Rowe comes from Denton, TX while Harmon and Currie are California natives, playing in Inglewood and Chatsworth respectively. Currie weighs in a 315 pounds while Harmon is 280. Rowe is 255.

Linebacker Toa Satele from Hawaii is the top prospect at that position that Washington State has extended an offer to and is the top prospect form the state. He is one of five backers that the team has expressed interest in. The others are Kekoa Peko (Bellflower, CA), Linkin Apana (Honolulu, HI), Kawai Chamberlin (Eugene, OR) and T.J. Alualu (Honolulu, HI). The recruiting footprint in Hawaii for linebackers is a heavy one.

Defensive Backs

West Linn, OR cornerback prospect Josiah Molden is the biggest defensive back name the Cougs have recruited so far. Molden, who has also picked up offers from Oregon, Ohio State and Washington, is one of the better DBs in the nation for 2027's class and is expected to be even more heavily recruited by college football's top teams in the year to come. He is one of seven CBs the Cougars have targeted so far.

There are currently only two safeties that have offers from WSU and they are Myles Baker (Chatsworth, CA) and Blake Betton (Shakopee, MN). Betton, a three-star prospect, is one of Minnesota's top players while Baker has 17 Division I offers right now.

Athletes

The Cougs have also offered 12 players without designated positions. These "everything" guys could go one of many ways when they get to the collegiate level. Four of them are four-star players; Cathedral Catholic's (San Diego) Honor Fa'alave-Johnson, IMG Academy's Osani Gales, Waxahachie High School's JayQuan Snell and Ridgeline High School (Millville, UT) standout Krew Jones.