Boise State’s Bates, Williams to headline pro day; Idaho gets player back for rivalry
The Boise State football team will hold its annual pro day on Wednesday, with three graduating seniors and a couple of players from years past taking the field for NFL scouts.
Tight end John Bates and cornerback Avery Williams will show what they can do after declaring for the NFL Draft in December. Safety Evan Tyler will also work out after not joining the eight seniors who opted to return to school this year to take advantage of the extra eligibility offered by the NCAA as a means of COVID-19 relief.
Pro day will not be open to the public or media, and Boise State won’t live stream it, but the school will provide results after the workouts, which generally include the 40-yard dash, bench press, vertical and broad jumps, and a number of agility and position-specific drills.
Williams started every game at cornerback the past two seasons, and he earned Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year honors in both. Last fall, he returned two kickoffs and a punt for touchdowns and blocked two punts, one of which he recovered in the end zone. He led the nation with four special teams touchdowns and was the only player in the country to rank in the top 10 in both kickoff and punt returns.
The native of Pasadena, California, finished his career at Boise State with nine special teams touchdowns.
Williams isn’t just trying to impress pro scouts Wednesday, though. He’s also using the opportunity to raise funds to fight rare diseases with each bench press rep through a program called Uplifting Athletes.
Fans can make a financial pledge on Williams’ Reps for Rare Diseases page for each bench press rep he performs. His goal is 18 reps, and as of Tuesday afternoon, he had raised $3,900.
Bates had a hot start last season after matching his career high with five catches in each of the Broncos’ first two games, but he struggled after suffering a hamstring injury in week three against BYU and missed the final two games.
The 6-foot-6, 256-pound native of Lebanon, Oregon, appeared in 45 games for the Broncos since 2017, and he finished his career with 47 catches for 579 yards and two touchdowns. He attended the senior Bowl in January and earned an invite to the NFL Combine, which isn’t being held this year because of COVID-19 protocols.
ESPN Draft Analyst Mel Kiper has Bates ranked No. 7 among tight ends. After catching a long touchdown pass during Senior Bowl practice, Bates also earned some praise from another ESPN analyst, Todd McShay.
“He’s a big target,” McShay said during the broadcast on ESPNU. “He’s not a speed guy but he’s got a great catch radius and he’s a guy that you would love to target in the red zone.”
After suffering season-ending injuries in 2016 and 2017, Tyler was a fifth-year senior last fall. In 2019, he appeared in 12 games and snagged his first career interception. He saw playing time in five games last fall, collecting another interception in the regular-season finale at Wyoming. The native of Corona, California, finished his Boise State career with 39 tackles and one sack to go along with his two interceptions.
Former Boise State kicker Tyler Rausa said Monday on Twitter that he’ll also be in attendance, and former Broncos quarterback Jaylon Henderson confirmed the same to the Statesman on Tuesday.
Henderson began his college career at University of Texas-San Antonio and spent a year at Trinity Valley Community College before joining the Broncos in 2018. As a redshirt senior in 2019, he started the final four games of the regular season and led Boise State’s only scoring drive in a loss to Washington in the Las Vegas Bowl. He went undrafted last April.
After also coming from the junior college ranks, Rausa was with the Broncos from 2013 to 2016. He was the team’s starting kicker during his final two seasons, setting Boise State’s single-season record for made field goals with 15 and the Mountain West’s record for points in a season by a kicker (134) in 2015 as a redshirt junior.
The NFL Draft is scheduled for April 29-May 1, and at least one Boise State player has been drafted every year since 2010. Last year, offensive lineman Ezra Cleveland was picked in the second round by the Minnesota Vikings, while pass rusher Curtis Weaver (Dolphins) and wide receiver John Hightower (Eagles) were fifth-round picks. Weaver has since signed with the Cleveland Browns.
Vandals’ Walker will play this weekend
The No. 19 University of Idaho football team will have one of its best players back on the field Saturday when the Vandals (2-1) head to Pocatello to face rival Idaho State for a 3 p.m. kickoff.
During a press conference with reporters on Tuesday, Idaho head coach Paul Petrino wouldn’t say why linebacker Tre Walker missed last week’s win over Southern Utah, but he said he expects the junior from Dos Palos, California, to be on the field this weekend.
Walker was the Vandals’ leading tackler in the first two games of the season, posting 15 in the opener against Eastern Washington and 19 against UC Davis. He also carried the ball five times for 27 yards against Eastern Washington.
He earned HERO Sports All-American honors in 2019 after leading the Vandals with 138 tackles, which is tied for No. 6 in a single season in program history.
Walker is part of a trio of linebackers who have played a big role in Idaho’s ranking in the latest FCS STATS Top 25 poll.
He’s joined by senior Christian Elliss, who was a first-team All-Big Sky Conference pick in 2019 after leading the Vandals with 4.5 sacks and finishing second on the team with 104 tackles. He matched Walker’s 15 tackles in the season opener and is currently third on the team with 27 stops.
Walker leads the team with 34 tackles despite missing a game, and fellow linebacker Fa’avae Fa’avae is second with 33.
A transfer from Washington State, Fa’avae was named Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week on Saturday after posting a career-high 18 tackles against Southern Utah. His total ranks No. 2 by a Big Sky player this year, behind only Walker’s 19 against UC Davis.
This story was originally published March 30, 2021 at 3:28 PM.
