New-look defensive front for Boise State? Don’t worry, new starter says
The Boise State defensive line is seeing quite the shakeup this year, with several key contributors from the 2024 season no longer with the team.
The Broncos lost interior linemen Michael Callahan, Herbert Gums and Sheldon Newton to graduation, as well as defensive end Ahmed Hassanein on the outside.
The departures almost resulted in senior defensive tackle Braxton Fely leaving the program, but he reversed course. That makes Fely the only returning starter up front, and with 42 college games already under his belt, he said the lack of experience was something that “hit” his mind when he entered the transfer portal.
Fely clarified Tuesday that he sees the defensive line group as “great,” but there is still the underlying fact that this is a much less experienced group than in recent years.
Fely shared around 1,000 snaps with Callahan, Gums and Newton in 2024. He had 24 tackles in 2024, whereas no other returning interior BSU lineman had more than two. Although depth charts won’t be released for a while, it’s likely that Fely will be sharing snaps with redshirt sophomore Michael Madrie, and transfers David Latu and Dion Washington.
Junior defensive end Max Stege will be replacing Hassanein on the outside, and when talking to the media Thursday, he expressed little concern about the next group of guys.
“We did lose a couple of seniors, definitely a couple of leaders. But we have people stepping up,” Stege said. “Everybody knows that we lost a lot of guys last year, and everybody knows their part and their roles.”
Despite essentially backing up Hassanein, Stege has played in 24 games across his first two years, and made 14 tackles, including three sacks, in 2024.
And redshirt senior defensive tackle Dion Washington and redshirt junior defensive tackle David Latu are not strangers to the college game. Washington appeared in all 12 games for Hawaii last year and played in 27 games for Nevada in the three years before that. Latu played in all 12 games for BYU in 2023 before a redshirt season in 2024 that saw him play in just two games.
Stege described Washington as a “beast” and said he was excited to play alongside him because of Washington’s knowledge of the game.
“(Washington) sees a lot of cheats. He sees a lot of passes or runs,” Stege said. “He can read the offensive tackles pretty good. So it’s nice to have him right next to you.”
Stege was also effusive in his praise for Fely, who said earlier this week he was working hard to earn back trust after entering the portal. Stege said the only thing that matters is that Fely is back for 2025.
“He’s an awesome guy to be around. I love Brax,” Stege said. “He’s all about the team, he’s never about himself, and it’s just super cool to have him back. He has such a big role on our team.”
