PULLMAN — After one day of the transfer portal opening, Washington State could have fared better.
But the Cougars could also have done much worse.
On Monday, the first day of a three-week transfer portal opening that ends on Dec. 28, WSU lost 15 players to the portal. The list includes starters like defensive tackle Ansel Din-Mbuh and punter Nick Haberer, plus backups like defensive lineman Khalil Laufau and cornerback Warren Smith.
Those amount to costly losses for the Cougs, who got a meaningful boost in their pass rush from Din-Mbuh and valuable depth from players like Laufau. In recent days, they also lost starters in freshman running back Wayshawn Parker and redshirt freshman cornerback Ethan O’Connor to the portal.
But besides those, four portal entrants were walk-ons, two didn’t play this season and one had already been dismissed from the team during fall camp. In that way, it adds up to an OK day for WSU.
Perhaps more importantly, it adds up to what head coach Jake Dickert predicted last weekend. On Friday, he said he anticipated around 15-20 players to hit the portal. After one day, 15 have done so. If Dickert is right, if the Cougars can hang on to most of the rest of their roster, they might survive the worst of the portal.
Still out of the portal, after all, are many key pieces: linebackers Buddah Al-Uqdah and Keith Brown, wide receiver Carlos Hernandez, running backs Leo Pulalasi and Djouvensky Schlenbaker, defensive tackle David Gusta, edge Isaac Terrell, plus all four members of WSU’s offensive linemen with eligibility, including Rod Tialavea, Christian Hilborn, Devin Kylany, Fa’alili Fa’amoe and Brock Dieu.
If the Cougars can manage to keep those guys in Pullman, that’s a pretty solid core , especially considering the experience they all bring back. Al-Uqdah, Hernandez, Gusta, Hilborn, Fa’amoe and Dieu are all multiyear starters at WSU, and in today’s college football ecosystem, that kind of continuity comes at a premium.
The one starter the Cougs want to bring back most of all, though, has stayed mum.
What will John Mateer decide to do? He hasn’t shared anything publicly.
If he stays, Mateer would receive a hero’s welcome, enjoying an NIL package the Cougar Collective has worked hard to put together. If his first season as the Cougs’ starter is any indication — a shaky first few games followed by an electric final stretch — he’s in line to be even better as a redshirt junior next season. Playing an independent schedule with foes like Ole Miss and Virginia lined up, Mateer would also have an opportunity to play in front of more eyeballs than this season’s heavy Mountain West slate afforded.
If he goes, though, Mateer can likely enjoy that in spades. He’s already rumored to have a $1 million offer in hand, and with former WSU offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle taking the same job at NIL-rich Oklahoma, he might be seeing even bigger offers now. Quarterbacks with Mateer’s ability, his potential, are going for much more than $1 million these days.
Whatever Mateer decides, though, Cougar fans will be watching with bated breath. It was only a year ago that former QB Cam Ward declared for the NFL draft, only to change course and transfer to Miami, where he has flourished into a Heisman Trophy finalist.
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