In fall camp opener, WSU QBs see mixed bag of results and offensive linemen try new positions — Yahoo Sports

RESOLVING THE LEDGER

In fall camp opener, WSU QBs see mixed bag of results and offensive linemen try new positions — Yahoo Sports | AIPROPX

Aug. 6—PULLMAN — Listen to Kaden Beatty talk about his nightly routine and you might get jealous. In his second season as a Cougar, he's taken on more of a leadership role, which he's backed up by getting eight hours of sleep per night, every night.

A fourth-year junior defensive tackle, seemingly primed for a breakout season, Beatty says he tires himself out during the day by being "go, go, go, all the time." So by the time he returns to his apartment and slips into his bedroom at night, he doesn't have to do much else.

"I can lay down, and it's time for lights-out," Beatty said.

That rest helped Beatty tackle WSU's first day of fall camp, which unfolded Thursday afternoon at Rogers Field, where head coach Kirby Moore led his first practice of the fall. On a sweltering Pullman afternoon, the sun beating down on the artificial turf as the temperatures reached the mid-80s, the Cougars whisked through a practice equally high on pace and energy.

"Great energy to start the first day. A lot of details to clean up," said Moore, whose group will return for practices on Friday and Saturday to wrap up the week. "I thought there was some good verbal combat, communication on both sides of the ball, offense, defense, some good work in special teams. We gotta get them in playing shape. But it was a good first day, good start."

This August, all eyes will be on the Cougars' QB situation. Three are competing for the starting job: UC Davis transfer Caden Pinnick and returners Owen Eshelman and Julian Dugger, all of whom took reps in Thursday's practice mixed with players from the first, second and third teams. For that reason, it won't be immediately clear which is taking first-team reps — coaches are still sifting through evaluations and roles.

How did they fare on Day 1? It was something of a mixed bag. Pinnick and Eshelman did well to complete several shorter and intermediate passes over the middle, many of which went to veteran wideout Tony Freeman, but their accuracy eluded them a tad on longer passes, which they overthrew for incompletes. They aren't expected to be perfect on the first day of fall camp, of course, but that trend also showed up during spring practices back in March and April.

Whatever Moore and offensive coordinator Matt Miller's list of criteria looks like, deep-ball accuracy likely isn't at the very top, but it's certainly on there somewhere. The quarterbacks will have to reel that in as camp progresses. For his part, Dugger didn't look downfield as much, turning a couple plays into scramble opportunities, at one point taking a simulated sack from defensive end Malachi Wrice.

"Timing, being on the same page," Moore said. "We got to have a lot of dialogue, more communication, more reps with the receivers, tight ends, backs and the quarterbacks. The first one, that was a great opportunity for us to make a play. Obviously, we threw it again on the next series of plays, and we got to keep throwing it. Sometimes the defense can dictate where the ball goes, and if it's a deep one, we gotta take advantage of those opportunities."

Here's another interesting development from Thursday's opener: The Cougars might be tinkering with their offensive line even more than expected. One lineup included Ashton Tripp at left tackle (where he's played all his career), Kyle Martin at left guard (a change from his usual position of center), Noah Dunham at center (a change from his usual position of right guard), right guard Nick Bakken (his normal spot) and at right tackle was Jonny Lester, who is best at the guard spots but has played tackle in games when injuries have called for it.

Absent from that group were veterans Max McCree and Jaylin Caldwell, one of whom is likely to earn the starting gig at right tackle. McCree played there during spring practices while Caldwell rehabbed from an injury, from which he has since recovered. That's what makes the aforementioned lineup so intriguing: Is Lester playing right tackle because he's preparing to do so in game settings? What about Martin and Dunham?

Bakken looked to be competing for the starting right guard spot with Dunham, but that could change if Dunham moves to center, which he did a bit during spring practices.

"We're gonna shoot out a lot of different lineups there, and we're trying to find our best five up front," Moore said. "There's guys with experience at tackle, guard, some versatility with those guys at center. We gotta figure out who our best five is, what they do really well, and that's not gonna happen right away. But we gotta make sure there's really good communication because all five gotta be on the same page."

A few defensive highlights belonged to tackles Paul Hutson and Balaam Miller, the latter of whom reached up to bat down a pass from Pinnick. The Cougars' defenders often stacked up inside runs. They refrained from jumping offsides on hard-counts. Before one snap, the effervescent Beatty piped up from the sideline: "Nah, we're too disciplined."

Turns out, that's another benefit of getting eight hours of sleep per night.