Boise State will sign more than 20 recruits Wednesday. Here’s a look at the class
The Boise State football team is expected to sign as many as 24 recruits Wednesday on early signing day, according to a spokesperson for the program.
The Broncos have added six players to their 2023 recruiting class the past two days, including two transfers from teams in Power Five conferences: former Wisconsin safety Titus Toler and former Colorado wide receiver Chase Penry.
247Sports national recruiting editor Brandon Huffman sat down with the Idaho Statesman on Monday to paint of picture of what Boise State fans can expect from the class.
Is Toler a player you see making an immediate impact?
When you’re getting transfers this late in their career, you’re bringing them in with the expectation that we’re plugging and playing you. We have a need at this position, and you’re coming in to help us on that first Saturday in September.
Toler bounced around between a couple of different high schools, not because he was a bad kid that had to transfer around, but because he wanted to keep challenging himself to play at higher levels. He was at Mater Dei, and he was at Oregon Lutheran before St. John Bosco. His dad is a coach as well.
Toler played in one of the best high school leagues in the country in the Trinity League, and he was able to play at Wisconsin. There’s a reason he was a four-star coming out of high school. He’s a really physical DB, and he comes from a school that you want to continue to make inroads into if you’re Boise State coach Andy Avalos.
What is Boise State getting in QB CJ Tiller?
He’s an intriguing player. I saw him for the first time in Arizona in early 2021. I went out and watched him play last fall and it was a fantastic game. He transferred to Rancho Cucamonga, the same school that CJ Stroud played at a couple years ago before starring at Ohio State.
The thing Boise State fans need to be really excited about is when Avalos made the decision to make a change at OC, Tiller knew Dirk Koetter was probably not going to be the long-term answer, but in the days after the change, he really rallied a lot of the players in the 2023 class and kind of became the Pied Piper of the class. You see the leadership ability he has, you see the Pied Piper effect he has, and when you combine that with a player that is going to continue to develop as a passer, you’re getting a really nice combination of an on-field leader who is also a great talent.
Will Tiller sign on Wednesday?
I thought there was a possibility that Washington State would make a late run with Sam Leavitt flipping to Michigan State. I thought Cal might make a late run, but it almost seems as if he’s doubled down in the last week. I think he is excited to play for new Boise State OC Bush Hamdan, and I don’t think he’s going to sign anywhere else but Boise State on Wednesday.
How high is RB Jambres “Breezy” Dubar’s ceiling?
When you look at Dubar, you see a guy who we at 247Sports have as a four-star recruit. We know the kind of caliber recruits that Boise State running backs coach Keith Bhonapha has developed in the past, even going back to his early days at Boise State with Doug Martin and Jay Ajayi. Then you look at what Myles Gaskin did under Bhonapha at Washington. He was a four-time 1,000-yard rusher, and Dubar is better than all those guys were coming out of high school.
He has the size, he has the speed and he has the power, and all you had to do was watch the Frisco Bowl to see how much Boise State wants to win in the trenches. This might be the most talented running back Boise State has brought in, in the last 10 or 15 years, and he’s a guy I expect will get some snaps early in his career.
Is there a recruit on defense that you’re really excited about?
We talk all the time about guys that get overshadowed by their teammates. Wyatt Milkovic is that guy. He was at Basha this year and they won the highest-level championship in the state of Arizona, but he’s overshadowed by his teammate Cole Martin, who is an Oregon commit. They’ve got an elite 2024 quarterback (at Basha) in Demond Williams and Miles Lockhart, another elite 2024 recruit. They have a lot of the flashy guys you see all year around in 7-on-7 tournaments, but then it gets to be the season, and they put those things calls helmets and shoulder pads on, and you need a thumper in there. Wyatt has been that guy.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulls out an old Avalos-style neck roll to play a couple of games. A lot of times head coaches find players that remind them of themselves. Avalos was the quarterback of the Broncos’ defense, and Wyatt fits that mold really well.
Boise State had a late run on DB commits. Is there a star in the group?
I’m a big Gabe Tahir fan. He’s a guy I’ve been high on since his freshman year at Kamiakin High in Washington. For whatever reason, there wasn’t a lot of recruiting attention on him, but this is a guy who former Boise State assistant coach Stacey Collins laid the groundwork for. That’s why he’s got the offer from Penn State. When Boise State offered Tahir this summer, I put in a crystal ball projection within 24 hours.
This is a guy who I think could end up being a sneaky star. There are so many guys I’ve watched in high school that for whatever reason didn’t get recruited the way they should. Boise State cornerback Jaylen Clark was another one I was standing on the table for. He had next to no offers, and he’s probably going to be a fixture in the Boise State secondary the next couple of years. Gabe has a lot of similarities to Jaylen. He’s not as thick, but he has that length, super long arms and a smooth backpedal. Of the defensive backs Boise State has coming in, he’s the one I’m the highest on.
Boise State’s 2023 recruiting class
QB CJ Tiller, 6-3, 200, Rancho Cucamonga (California) High
LB Wyatt Milkovic, 6-1, 233, Basha High (Chandler, Arizona)
OL Jason Steele, 6-4, 280, Murrieta Valley (California) High
RB Jambres Dubar, 6-0, 200, Anna (Texas) High
WR Jackson Grier, 6-0, 175, St. Thomas Aquinas High (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
CB Franklyn Johnson Jr., 5-11, 175, Little Elm (Texas) High
OT Kyle Cox, 6-6, 270, Eatonville (Washington) High
OT Carson Rasmussen, 6-5, 300, Owyhee High (Meridian)
TE Cayden Dawson, 6-5, 232, University City High (San Diego)
TE Oliver Fisher, 6-5, 225, Sherwood (Oregon) High
DL Michael Madrie, 6-4, 260, Argyle (Texas) High
DL Max Stege, 6-5, 250, Cologne Crocodiles, Germany
Edge Demanuel Brown, 6-4, 230, Dekaney High (Houston)
CB Khai Taylor, 6-2, 174, Pittsburg (California) High
DB Ty Benefield, 6-2, 185, Crean Luthern (California)
CB Nick Hawthorne, 6-2, 175, Boswell (Texas) High
S Titus Toler, 5-11, 195, Wisconsin, Long Beach, California
LB Chase Martin, 6-1, 205, Thousand Oaks (California) High
CB Gabe Tahir, 6-2, 180, Kamiakin High, Kennewick, Washington
CB A’marion McCoy, 6-1, 170, Laney College, Atherton, California
WR Chase Penry, 6-1, 190, Colorado, Greenwood Village, Colorado
TE Matt Wagner, 6-5, 230, Rock Hill High, Prosper, Texas
