Welcome to a fun off-season series that Michael, Hunter (both of FKWG), Zach, and Mike (both of MWCConnection) are rolling out for your viewing enjoyment (hopefully). Back in February, excitement was at an all-time high for fans and coaches alike as the 2024 class was officially signed. Like every year, fans often tout a class as potentially one of the best on paper. However, once players get on campus and actually on the field, the true story begins to reveal itself. It can often take years for a class to truly be judged as the impact of many players won’t be seen for a few seasons. That being said, this series will aim to revisit and evaluate Boise State’s 2020 class. There has now been enough time that many members of the class have either left or are entering their final seasons, which means players are able to be looked at for their production (or lack thereof) rather than projection and hype.
Anyway, each week, the four of us will look at a different position group or two from the class. While we will contribute two posts each week over the next month, the location of the posts will change. The start of the week will feature a post on FKWG while the end of the week will see a post up on MWCConnection, that way readers of both sites can follow along. This year, we are changing up the format a bit on how we discuss each player. The old way of assessing a recruit by categorizing them (exceeded, met, or failed to meet expectations) grew stale, as players basically were a bust, pleasant surprise, or lived up to the hype. Instead, our analysis will be more straightforward. The four of us will each share our thoughts when the player signed, and then share our thoughts over the past four years. The hope is that allows for more freedom in our descriptions rather than trying to fit everything into a pre-designed box. Hopefully, it will still be a worthwhile trip down memory lane, even if it is not always enjoyable.
This year features the 2020 class, which was the last full class with Bryan Harsin as the coach. It had to follow up the Broncos’ greatest recruiting class ever, but managed to hold its own by bringing in a number of talented players. There seemed to be an emphasis on the defensive line and secondary this time around. Also, Boise State began to lean more into the transfer portal during this cycle. Relive it all while we dive into this series.
The Broncos focused on the secondary so much in this class that we divided the position into two parts. For the first three defensive backs in the 2020 cycle, size was not the priority. Instead, the emphasis was on playmaking ability on the field. Out of the three players, two ended up starting multiple games over the years, while the other one didn’t see the field.
DB Rodney Robinson
Thoughts when he signed:
Michael: I don’t actually recall thinking much of anything when Rodney signed. A lot of DBs came in with this class and he didn’t particularly stand out to me at the time.
Hunter: Didn’t really have exceptional size or speed from what I could tell, so I wasn’t sure what to think. I hadn’t followed him much during the recruiting cycle, but he seemed like a solid addition.
Zach: Robinson was one of the later signees to the 2020 recruiting class. I thought he would come in and contend at the Nickel spot. I figured he would need a year in the weight room before he would be ready to contribute, but he was a quality late addition.
Mike: Robinson was a signing day surprise in December I believe. He seemed like an energetic defender who found ways to make an impact despite his physical shortcomings, such as his height. Boise State had done a pretty good job of maximizing the talent of these kinds of players so I figured the same would happen here and Rodney would become a quality player.
Thoughts over the past four years:
Michael: Robinson was somewhat of a surprise starter at the beginning of 2022, because it always seemed like he was playing out of position. 5’8” just isn’t typically an ideal height for a safety, on paper. To his credit, though, he’s been pretty solid. Especially in 2022. It seemed as though he had a few more rough moments in 2023, but there was also a fair amount of tumult with the team overall last year, especially on the defensive side, and especially late in games. It will be interesting to see how the competition works out at safety in the fall because there’s no shortage of bodies back there now. May the cream rise to the top!
Hunter: I’ve been pretty happy with what I’ve seen from Robinson, especially his debut season in 2022. I don’t know how much I can ascribe secondary woes to him, since I think some of that is more scheme-based than anything, but I think he has done a solid job with his playing time. This past season was more of a struggle, and I wonder how the departure of JL Skinner affected that. Regardless, I think he’s had a pretty good run thus far.
Zach: Robinson has had a fairly inconsistent career. He seemed like a natural fit at nickel, but has spent his entire career at safety. He is a decent tackler, but has really struggled in downfield coverage. I think his spot as a starter is in danger in his final season on “the Blue.” Maybe the coaches will surprise us and move him to nickel and put Seyi Oladipo back at safety.
Mike: Robinson has had an up and down career at Boise State so far. After initially redshirting, he played in every games and even started a few. It appeared he was on a good trajectory, but things kind of leveled out for him in 2022, even though he played a lot more. Rodney came up with some big plays, but was exposed in other ones. 2023 was more of the same. It always seemed like he was playing out of position a bit and would do better at nickel than at safety.
DB Isaiah Bradford
Thoughts when he signed:
Michael: Looked like he was going to be a decent add, but not necessarily an all-star.
Hunter: With the influx of DBs in 2020, it was hard to pick him out from the crowd specifically, but he seemed like a nice add. Both Colorado schools wanted him and he had good size, the kinda guy that puts it together after a year or two.
Zach: Bradford had decent size and quality tape coming out of high school. It was pretty clear that he would need time to develop, but I thought he would become a contributor at some point in his career.
Mike: Isaiah was the first commit in this recruiting class, although he ended up grayshirting due to an injury he sustained his senior season. He seemed to me like a recruit that could go either way, although I did think he was a bit overshadowed in this class with the other talent the staff brought in.
Thoughts over the past four years:
Michael: Turns out, I wasn’t wrong to not get too invested. He portaled away without seeing much action as a Bronco.
Hunter: His last entry on the team page says “Did not see action”. Unfortunately, his career never took off in Boise, I think in part due to an injury.
Zach: Bradford never saw the field and entered the transfer portal. A promising career never materialized.
Mike: After two seasons of little or no action on the field, Bradford entered the transfer portal. In December, he committed to a junior college. Hopefully he can begin to see the field.
DB Kaonohi Kaniho
Thoughts when he signed:
Michael: Kekaula Kaniho was one of the best all around players and team members to come through the Boise State secondary in awhile. So, I was very excited when I heard we landed another Kaniho, but one with a bit more of the one thing the elder version had a shortage of: Size.
Hunter: It’s hard not to be excited about a brother of an impact player. Kekaula had been impressive since his Freshman season, so I was ready to believe Kaonohi would do the same, as naive as it probably was.
Zach: I was hoping we were getting a clone of his older brother. I thought for sure he was going to play safety and was surprised to see he was slotted as a corner. I had high hopes for Kaniho’s career in Boise.
Mike: After the older Kaniho had a stellar Boise State career, getting his brother to commit seemed like both an easy thing and a beneficial thing for the program. I figured he’d be a very similar player during his years as a Bronco.
Thoughts over the past four years:
Michael: If I recall correctly, Kaniho The Younger first started getting playing time, in a pinch, as a true freshman. It happened when Boise State went on the road and toppled #10 BYU with a deeeeeply depleted secondary. Aside from being the most satisfying win of Avalos’s tenure (beating the crap out of Fresno and now-Alabama head coach, Kalen DeBoer, was a close second), the game itself was officially sealed when Kaonohi snagged an errant pass and ran off the field, celebrating with his brother. It was an awesome moment and so cool to see them get to play together and pray together before each game. After 2021 though, it seemed like Kaonohi went from being a certain future star to “We’ll see how 2024 goes”. As I mentioned in Rodney Robinson’s section, the last season and a half have been pretty up and down for the Broncos. The secondary has been a big part of the “down”. Personally, I’m hoping that the sheer volume of experience in the DB group and a little stability with the coaching staff enables Kaniho (and Rodney Robinson, for that matter) to reclaim and reproduce their best days.
Hunter: Kanohi was fantastic his freshman year. His first career pick sealed the win over BYU on national TV, and he and his brother both had picks in that blowout win at Fresno. Usually, it’s pretty hard to break the first impression I have of a player, but Kanohi has really struggled since that first season. Like with Rodney, I wonder if the change in defensive scheme or players has something to do with it, but it’s hard to say he’s at where I thought he’d be in 2021.
Zach: Kaniho has been wildly inconsistent. After his true freshman season, he seemed like he had the potential to become the next great Bronco cornerback. Since his freshman season, he has struggled to find consistent playing time and is now listed as a nickel heading into his final season at Boise State.
Mike: Kaonohi played in a few games his true freshman season and ended up taking over a starting spot during his redshirt freshman year. He did a good job getting his hands on the ball and coming down with big plays. But things started to go the wrong way for him during the second half of his career. He lost his starting role last year due to effectiveness. Perhaps it’s been injury or perhaps he just plateaued. His value seems best as a slot corner or nickelback at this point.
Any thoughts you’d like to share about the first three DBs of the 2020 class? Let us know in the comments!
It seems like no matter what class or how good the DBs are rated, the Broncos always have trouble giving up the bomb or long runs. Indeed it’s not all their fault but it ain’t mine either.