Boise State Has a Nasty Secondary and a Wide Receiver Problem

Boise State returns ninety-two percent of its production and still projects as a middle-of-the-pack team, finishing 7-5. The story is a split roster: a veteran secondary and a competent run game carrying a group that is thin at wide receiver and dangerously light at linebacker. This is a team built to win the games it should and lose the ones it shouldn't, with almost no margin for an unbeaten run.

The back end of the defense is the anchor

Boise State's defensive backfield is a genuine strength, one of the stronger units it will face all year. Safeties Taebron Bennie-Powell and Roman Tillmon give the secondary experience and playmaking at the back of the defense, and the staff added Notre Dame transfer Jaden Mickey to deepen the room further. Up front, the defensive line is solid, with Dion Washington and Mikaio Edward joined by Arizona transfer Keanu Mailoto. On offense, the run game is a middle-of-the-pack asset that can be relied upon, led by Dylan Riley and Kansas transfer Harry Stewart III, with an offensive line in Zach Holmes, Tyler Ethridge, and Zander Esty that grades as solid, not spectacular, but capable of opening lanes.

Wide receiver and linebacker are the fault lines

The problems are specific and severe. The wide receiver room grades near the bottom of the sport, leaving quarterback Maddux Madsen and backup Max Cutforth without much to throw to on the perimeter. That thin skill-position group caps what the passing game can become, no matter how the quarterback play develops. The bigger issue might be at linebacker, which grades near the bottom of the country. A defense can survive a shaky secondary if the front seven tackles well and fills gaps; Boise State has it backwards, with a strong secondary trying to cover for a linebacker corps that struggles to hold up against the run. Quarterback play itself grades below average as well, which puts real pressure on the run game and the defense to be the difference in close games.

A schedule that mostly plays to the roster's level

Boise State is an underdog in just two games on paper: at Oregon, where the gap is wide, and at home against Texas State, a closer spot but still a projected uphill climb. Everywhere else, the Broncos are favored, though not comfortably. Four road trips sit right in the neighborhood of a coin flip: at Western Michigan, at Fresno State, at Colorado State, and at Utah State. Those are the games that will decide whether this team finishes closer to nine wins or closer to six. With a roster that ranks in the bottom half nationally, the record here leans more on a manageable schedule than on top-end talent, and the four close road games are where that gap could show up.

Bottom line

Boise State projects to 7-5 in its third season under the current staff, with a strong secondary and a reliable run game holding up its floor while wide receiver and linebacker depth cap the ceiling. The nonconference test at Oregon is a clear loss on paper, but the four toss-up road trips will determine whether Boise State settles at seven wins or finds a couple more. Fixing either skill-position group beyond a mid-tier grade would be the fastest way to push this team higher next year.