Folks, we are Lionel Messi days from (American) football now. Request those two hours off for next Thursday now!

#10, Boise State Roster Countdown 2025: Day 10, Derek Ganter Jr, RS Sophomore, DB

Stats

Height: 6–0

Weight: 212

High school: Arcadia HS (Pasadena, CA)—Transfer from Eastern Washington

How’d he get to The Blue™?

There’s less info out there from FCS transfers, but it appears that Ganter only got one offer out of high school. He took his talents over to Cheney, Washington —starting his career at Eastern Washington. He played a few games his redshirt year before having his breakout season in 2024. After that, Ganter hit the portal and the Broncos came callin’.

Nickname

“Goose”

To “take a gander” is to take a look, probably because geese are ganders and they crane their necks to look around. But what is it to “take a Ganter”? Unclear. It could make sense that it’s something like how people say Messi is good at scanning the pitch, which would make sense for a safety, ya know, scanning the field. So you could maybe he’s taking a Ganter by reading the QB well? On the other hand, have you guys seen Top Gun? One of the guys is nicknamed “Goose”. That’s something too.

Look-alike

Sometimes the lookalike machine doesn’t just match face, but demeanor. I’d like to imagine Black Panther star Winston Duke could also be a hard-hitting safety.

Career Highlights

Ganter took him FCS freshman All-American honors in his first full season where he was a tackling machine—once forcing 8 tackles in 3-straight games, notching 11 tackles, a sack, 2 TFLs, 1 forced fumble against Tim Plough’s UC Davis and racking up 15 tackles against some university in Moscow, Idaho.

2025 Prospectus

Reports from camp noted a bit of a slow start to camp for Ganter, but that rust appears to have shaken off. He was reported to have an interception in the 1st fall camp scrimmage, and has been generating a bit of noise. Team won’t make his depth chart placement known quite yet, but it’s possible he takes on the Teubner role if things go well for him.

Is he on Twi/X?

Yep. You can follow him over at @DjGanter. Some retweets and a bible verse every few months.

Completely made up fact

When it came to the portal, Ganter had one requirement—colored turf. Eastern Michigan and Coastal Carolina plead their case, but in the end, the winner was always gonna be Boise.