WSU notebook: QB Julian Dugger posts scrimmage to remember, TE depth in question and other notes

Aug. 16—PULLMAN — In his time at Washington State, Julian Dugger has become something of an enigma. As he enters his second season with the Cougars, the lefty quarterback has been one of the best athletes on both teams he's been on. He's also been one of the fastest. He's athletic and strong, elusive and shifty, a Division I athlete if there ever was one. Still, this question has always followed him around: Can he get on the field as a quarterback? Eight practices into this fall camp, that answer has yet to materialize, but Dugger turned in a convincing case on Saturday. In the Cougars' first scrimmage of fall camp, Dugger delivered five scoring drives, including two touchdowns: an 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cash Landau and a 21-yard scramble, turning pressure in the pocket into an easy jaunt into the end zone. In an unofficial tally of statistics, Dugger completed 6 of 10 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown, plus six rushes for 33 yards and another score. He also led drives that ended in field goals from kicker Jack Stevens, who has quietly submitted a sterling fall camp en route to his second season as the Cougs' placekicker. All told, it added up to Dugger's best outing in his second fall camp on the Palouse. What does that mean for WSU's three-man QB race, the competition between Dugger, Caden Pinnick and Owen Eshelman? Pinnick has been at the top of the Cougs' QB rotations in each of the last several practices, the clearest sign yet that he may be beginning to separate himself, but at least for one scrimmage, Dugger looked like a solid second option. "I thought at times all three made their plays. I also thought at times all three did not make their plays and left some things out there," WSU offensive coordinator Matt Miller said, "whether it was a decision here, decision there, operating in the presnap, things like that. So it'll be really good for our staff to go through and really look at it with all the details. Obviously celebrate the good things too. But obviously, we've got things that we need to correct." Has Dugger had a flawless fall camp? Far from it. He has struggled with accuracy at times in each of the last two seasons, the main reason he hasn't won meaningful snaps at QB. He has a strong arm, and he's plenty versatile, but some throws have eluded him. On one red-zone play in Saturday's scrimmage, receiver Tank Hawkins broke open over the middle, but Dugger threw a bit behind Hawkins, missing what would have been an easy touchdown pass. And on another snap, he slung a throw too far ahead of a receiver running a corner route. Another trend to monitor in Dugger's progress: How does his pocket presence look? In recent practices, he's been too quick to bail from the pocket. At other times, he's been too slow to do so, resulting in simulated sacks. In Saturday's scrimmage, he took one from Vanderbilt transfer defensive end Linus Zunk, who picked up two sacks in total. Still, from a 30,000-foot view, Dugger submitted a sparkling first scrimmage. It's unclear if he can catch Pinnick in the race for the QB1 job, but a QB2 role may not be out of the question. TE depth being tested WSU is enjoying significant depth in a few position groups. Tight end is not one of them. In Saturday's scrimmage, veteran tight end Hudson Cedarland was carted off the field with what appeared to be a leg/knee injury, threatening to derail another season of Cedarland's injury-laden career. After the scrimmage, WSU coach Kirby Moore said he didn't know the status of Cedarland's injury. If Cedarland misses any time, it could be bad news for the Cougs, whose tight end corps looks like this: UCLA transfer Jack Pedersen is the likely starter, playing only a few snaps in Saturday's scrimmage in an effort to limit chances for injury. His backup appears to be redshirt sophomore Beau Baker, who has missed the past four practices with what Moore called a "minor foot sprain." For WSU, the good news is that in this first scrimmage, redshirt freshman Peyton Read looked solid. He reeled in six catches for 31 yards, and at 6-foot-6 and 237 pounds, Read has the potential to make an impact in the blocking game too. The only question: Will his services be required? "He's gotten a lot of reps, and I think he's a little more confident with the scheme, like where to line up," Miller said. We ask the tight ends to do a lot. I mean, other than the quarterbacks, tight end is probably the next most complicated position to play on our offense, and he's done a nice job growing from the spring to summer, summer to fall. And you see his confidence growing with where even to line up, the motion, how to set up a route, how to set up a block, how to go win with your hands inside, and obviously he's made the plays that are available for him to go make." DBs not shying away During one third-team series in Saturday's scrimmage, transfer cornerback Elmo Wartson came surging toward the sideline and laid a hit stick on walk-on running back Ryan Salcedo. A few moments later, safety Jeremiah Bernard made a similar tackle for a loss, coming down from the secondary to make that play. By the end of the scrimmage, Wartson had made three big hits. Bernard had delivered two. A likely starter at safety, Bernard has shown a real willingness to lay some vicious hits. In addition to some highlight pass break-ups he's recorded in fall camp, you can add huge tackles to his resume through eight practices. "If anything, in the actual practice where we're thud or tag, we have to kinda pull him back," WSU defensive coordinator Trent Bray said of Bernard. "So today was good to let him just unleash and go out and hit, and he did."