Fresno State football (and its next coach) gets good news about who will be back in spring
The Fresno State Bulldogs’ next football coach is expected to go through spring practices with wideout Jalen Cropper back out on the field.
The Bulldogs are taking it slow with Cropper, who ripped through opposing defenses before suffering a season-ending knee injury in a loss at San Diego State in the 10th game of a 4-8 season. But he is expected to be a full go when they start off-season conditioning Jan. 20 and then into the spring.
“He’s mostly doing rehab stuff with (Ryan Juarez, director of football medical services), but name it and he’s doing it, basically,” strength and conditioning coach Andy Ward said. “He hasn’t run on the grass yet. We’ve just been having him run on the AlterG (anti-gravity) and underwater treadmill and that kind of stuff. But he’s squatting, doing step-ups, lunges.
“He’s doing everything but running on the ground and the only reason for that is we’re going slow. I expect him to be a full go.”
Cropper, who started his prep career at Sanger High and finished it at Buchanan, ended up as the Bulldogs’ second-leading rusher despite playing in only 10 of 12 games and carrying the football 20 times.
He had an 82-yard run against UNLV and a 79-yard touchdown run at New Mexico State, which are the longest and fourth-longest rushing plays in the Mountain West Conference.
Cropper also had a 53-yard touchdown run at Hawaii, a 48-yard pass play at Hawaii and a 45-yard pass play against Utah State.
He accounted for five of the Bulldogs’ 10 longest plays from scrimmage, finishing with 343 rushing yards and 196 receiving yards.
Others missing
However, Fresno State will be without other key players in the spring as they work back from injury or off-season surgery.
Left guard Netane Muti and center Matt Smith are out with foot and leg injuries suffered during the season. Offensive linemen Tyrone Sampson, Quireo Woodley, Zack Geig and Elijah Carson will be held out of the spring.
Guard Marc-David Bien-Amie remains sidelined with a knee injury and wideout Emorryie Edwards, who missed the first three games of the season as he worked back from a foot injury, also will be held out.