Seven Cougars named to 2023 Preseason All-Pac-12 teams
The Washington State University Cougars have seven football players that have been recognized for outstanding talent this year.
COURTESY PHOTO/WSU ATHLETICS
PULLMAN — Seven Washington State players were named to Preseason All-Pac-12 Conference Teams, the conference office announced Tuesday.
Four players were named to the second team in EDGES Ron Stone Jr and Brennan Jackson, defensive back Chau Smith-Wade and punter Nick Haberer. Defensive back Jaden Hicks, kicker Dean Janikowski and running back Nakia Watson were each named honorable mention.
Redshirt-senior Stone Jr. is coming off a 2022 campaign that saw him earn his second-straight all-conference honor after being named to the first team in 2021. Stone Jr., from San Jose, Calif., recorded 34 tackles including four for loss with two sacks, three pass breakups and tied for second in the Pac-12 with 11 quarterback hits.
Jackson, a redshirt senior from Temecula, Calif., was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2022, his third career all-conference accolade after receiving honorable mention the previous two seasons. Jackson recorded 41 tackles, tied for fourth in the Pac-12 with 12 tackles-for-loss including a team-high six sacks. Jackson also forced one fumble, broke up three passes and led the team with 38 quarterback pressures.
Smith-Wade, a junior from Denver, earned his first career All-Pac-12 accolade in 2022 after making 42 tackles with 2.5 for loss, tied for the Pac-12 lead with three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, a team-best eight pass breakups and two interceptions. Smith-Wade earned the fourth-best defensive grade and fourth-best coverage grade in the Pac-12 by PFF College.
Haberer, a junior from Sunshine Coast, Australia, picked up his first All-Pac-12 honor in 2022 after finishing the regular season third in the conference with a 42.4 average and recorded six punts of 50+yards including a long of 62. Haberer also led the league with 30 punts fair caught and produced the best hang time average (4.14) and was second with 22 punts inside the 20.
Hicks, a redshirt sophomore from Las Vegas, Nev., was named a Freshman All-American by College Football News after posting totals of 76 tackles, the most among Pac-12 freshmen defenders, along with two tackles-for-loss, one sack, six pass breakups, one interception and one fumble recovery he returned for a touchdown.
Janikowski, a redshirt junior from Fallbrook, Calif., a 2021 First-Team All-Pac-12 selection, connected on 11-of-14 on field goal attempts, long of 50, while going 40-of-41 on PATs in 2022. Janikowski recorded 73 points, fifth-most among Pac-12 Conference kickers last season.
Watson, a redshirt senior from Austin, Texas, earned his first career all-conference honor in 2022 after finishing the regular season ninth in the Pac-12 with 13 total touchdowns and seventh with 96.7 all-purpose yards-per-game, seventh with 69.9 rushing yards-per-game and tied for eighth with nine rushing touchdowns. Watson had three 100-yard rushing games, forced 36 missed tackles on runs and was third in the Pac-12 with ten runs of 20+ yards.