Three under-the-radar Bulldogs who could have an impact on run toward MW title

Fresno State ended its 2017 season at 10-4 with a Hawaii Bowl victory and in the “others receiving votes” category in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Coaches Poll, ranking 32nd in one and 30th in the other.

Obviously, they have their sights set higher this season and the Bulldogs have the headliners to get them there with quarterback Marcus McMaryion, linebacker Jeffrey Allison, a deep group of wideouts led by KeeSean Johnson.

They return 17 starters, and have been picked to win the West Division in the Mountain West Conference in a preseason media poll. But Fresno State also will need large contributions throughout the roster, in practice and on game days to make a return trip to the conference championship game and beyond that, perhaps, a New Years Six bowl game.

Here are three players that might be under the radar now, but won’t be for long ...

Mykal Walker, junior defensive end

Walker played some linebacker during the spring, but was moved back to defensive end and on Saturday in the Bulldogs’ first fall camp scrimmage was able to make plays in a number of ways with his speed off the edge.

How well does he run? When the Bulldogs do conditioning runs, Walker gets his work in with the skill position players, not the linemen.

In a deep playing rotation defensive line coach Jamar Cain deploys to keep players fresh and productive, he figures to play a lot of snaps along with Emeka Ndoh, Kwami Jones, Damien DeGruy and Andrew Wright and Isaiah Johnson.

At 220 pounds Walker is undersized compared to the Bulldogs’ pair of highly productive ends from 2017 – Robert Stanley and Tobenna Okeke, both listed at 245 pounds, combined for 22.5 tackles for loss. But he is quick and athletic coming off the edge and could rack up a high number of tackles for loss for a defense that lost its three most productive players there with Stanley, Okeke and tackle Malik Forrester.

“He brings a lot of length, a lot of speed,” coach Jeff Tedford said. “He’s a very good football player. He covers a lot of ground, is a long-levered guy. He can give some people problems on the edges, but he’s versatile enough that you could drop him into coverage and do a lot of that stuff. He’s very athletic, got a lot of burst.”

Keiti Iakopo, junior defensive tackle

Iakopo was one of the players added by Tedford and staff after fall camp had started a year ago, and was playing from behind much of the year leaning everything from the name of the guy lined up next to him on the defensive line to how the Bulldogs practice to what to do on the field on any given play.

In his first full fall camp and with a full season, a spring practice and a summer behind him is not the same player now.

“He’s strong,” Cain said. “He has a lot of fast twitch. He runs to the ball. That’s what we saw on film and we didn’t get that last year because he was trying to figure it all out. Now, he has a full year with (strength and conditioning coach Andy Ward). He has a full year in the defense and he’s able to show us what we saw on film.

“He’s going to be a guy that helps us a lot.”

The comfort level plays large into that, and from a conditioning standpoint he is better able to take on 30-plus snaps a game having dropped close to 20 pounds and lowered his body fat percentage by seven points.

Forrester, also, proved last season that an interior lineman can be a productive player in the Bulldogs’ defense. He had 9.5 tackles for loss, second in the conference among defensive tackles. Opportunity is there for Kevin Atkins, Jasad Haynes, Iakopo.

“This is my first fall camp – going into fall camp this year I actually know the playbook and that’s the biggest help I can get,” Iakopo said. “The game is a lot slower now that I know formations and playbook, plus I have Kevin (Atkins) and Jasad (Haynes) and everybody to call it out for me, too. The game just moves a lot slower than it used to, and I’m able to move faster and get to the spot that I need to.”

Markus Boyer, senior center

Boyer has been with the No. 1 offense since the start of fall camp and is likely to be there when the Bulldogs open the season on Sept. 1 against Idaho, picking up for Aaron Mitchell, who had started 38 consecutive games.

The requisite physicality, not much of an issue. But Mitchell was in charge up front, making the line calls and adjustments for a unit that led the Mountain West in fewest sacks (10.0) and fewest tackles for loss (46.0) allowed. If the Bulldogs are to maintain that level and pack more punch into their running game, Boyer will be a critical piece. Fresno State last season didn’t go backward often, but also didn’t go forward in big chunks, averaging 4.2 yards per rush with only six plays of 20 or more yards.

Only one team in the nation had fewer explosive runs – Western Kentucky. The team that led the nation, Georgia with 47, had six runs of 20 or more yards a victory over Oklahoma.

“He’s getting there” offensive line coach Ryan Grubb said. “He’s definitely not as probably confident as Aaron was in his calls. But he’s getting better and getting better in his film study and really truly knowing things.

“He’s asking questions when he doesn’t know, which is half the battle. Instead of posing like he knows there’s no fear there, which is a good thing. As long as he keeps heading in that direction we’ll be in good shape. The confidence just has to keep building up, building up. He’ll get that. The more calls he makes, when he gets a couple of games under his belt, it will keep happening.”

This story was originally published August 13, 2018 at 9:49 AM.