Vandal Football Preview - Edge Rushers

BREAKDOWN

The Idaho Vandal edge group lost a pair of All-Conference honorees to graduation in Juliano Falaniko and Leo Tamba and its leading sack leader in Kemari Bailey to transfer, but with a full year of development under the current football staff, work in weight room and the addition of a two key transfers, the edge rushers look to increase production in 2023. 

With a year in the defense and the new Vandal strength program, position coach Roy Asuega is confident that there will be improved production from the edge group in 2023. That improvement doesn’t come through osmosis. There is a lot of hard work to do in the next few weeks as we head into the season opener. 

“Schematically, we need to make sure that we are showing up every day for ourselves,” Asuega said. “We emphasis the things we can control, mainly attitude and effort. That is how you show up into this room, focus on what is front of us and leave the other stuff off the field and make sure you have the space on the field to receive the coaching in the scheme. From there, we will have the right mindset then to execute the calls.”

KEY RETURNERS

Redshirt sophomore Malakai Williams has turned heads with his work in the weight and film rooms this year. The hard work has translated to impressive gains on the field. 

“Malakai Williams has grown a lot off the field, and you can see athletically he has improved his body,” Asuega said. “He's improved his technique. His pass-rush is elite right now so he can make a lot of big plays this year.”

The other veteran returner is Sam Brown. In 2022, he floated between the defensive line and the edge, but is now settling into a role on the edge and continues to improve his strength and hard work.  

“We can talk about the King of Spokane, Mr. Sam Brown,” Asuega said. “Last year he did some split time between the d-tackle room and our edge room, but he's really taken the leadership role in our realm of being that beef as well as that speed-to-power guy in the pass rush game.”

The third returner is redshirt freshman Xavier Slayton who will look to get into the mix. His athleticism has always been obvious, but his understanding of the defense and scheme has improved, giving him an opportunity to work his way into the rotation.  

“I am really proud of Xavier’s growth and how confident he has become as a player,” Asuega said. “He is one of the smartest guys in my room in my room. He knows where he needs to be in scheme and has put himself in a position to succeed.”

TRANSFERS

The Vandals welcome a pair of lower-division transfers in the edge position group in Western New Mexico transfer Tylen Coleman and Montana Tech Transfer Keyshawn James-Newby. 

Coleman, a redshirt senior, played in 11 games for the Mustangs last season, recording 41 total tackles, 3.5 sacks and 7.5 TFLs. He transferred ahead of the spring semester, so he had the chance to work with the Vandals during spring ball. 

“Tylen is really twitchy, really explosive. His short area burst and just his pound-for-pound strength is impressive,” Asuega said. “He is literally the strongest pound-for-pound edge I have in my room. It's nice to see him just explode and lift humans. It doesn't matter who is in front of him. Lift him up the ground, put him back down violently, and impact the running back as well as the quarterback.”

James-Newby, a redshirt junior, led the NAIA Frontier Conference with nine sacks and finished the year with 61 total tackles and 14.5 TFLS. He also had five pass breakups, a forced fumble and a pair of fumble recoveries. At 6-foot-3, 250, he looks the part of a division I edge rusher. 

“We have our Montana Vandal Mr. Keyshawn Newby, who just came in the summer,” Asuega said. “Man, he's going to be a beast. I am so I'm excited about the people that are coming in as well as the guys are returning.”

INCOMING FRESHMEN

The freshman group has a very distinct local flavor, four of the five incoming freshmen air either from North Idaho or right across the border in far Eastern Washington. The group has brought energy and excitement as well as a lot of talent to build on. 

“Our north Idaho kids,” Asuega said. “We have Weston Benefield coming in from Sandpoint, Matyus McLain from Priest River, Trevor Miller from Post Falls, and Jaxon Grover from right over the border in Fremont. Deonte Lamaide, from Arizona is our only out of the area freshman, but he is from Saguaro HS in Chandler, a place where we have strong recruiting ties. Right now, all those guys just kind of are trying to gel as freshmen, trying to lead each other creating that chemistry of understanding the defense and what we are asking them to do and how fast and how slow they can play. There's been a lot of growth since day one to now, but it's been very encouraging.”