Ten Cougars Earn Athlon Preseason All-Pac-12 Honors
2020 Preseason All-Pac-12 Teams
PULLMAN, Wash. (June 4, 2020) – Ten Washington State Cougars were named to the 2020 Preseason All-Pac-12 Conference Teams, Athlon Magazine announced Thursday.
Right tackle Abraham Lucas, running back Max Borghi, as an all-purpose player, and kicker Blake Mazza were all named to the first team while linebacker Jahad Woods was named to the second team. Five players were named to the third team in wideout Tay Martin, left tackle Liam Ryan, safety Skyler Thomas, punter Oscar Draguicevich III and kick returner Travell Harris while defensive lineman Will Rodgers III was named to the fourth team.
Borghi earned All-Pac-12 Conference honorable mention in 2019 after tallying 16 total touchdowns, second-most in the Pac-12, while rushing for 817 yards and 11 touchdowns and caught a team-high 86 passes for 597 yards and five scores. The junior-to-be was the only Power 5 players to record 800+ rush yards, 550+ rec yards and scored 16 touchdowns. Borghi led all running backs nationally with 86 receptions and 26 missed tackles forced after the catch while also pacing all Pac-12 backs averaging 6.4 yards-per-carry.
Lucas is a two-time All-Pac-12 second-team selection and as a redshirt-sophomore last season, was rated the best pass-blocking offensive tackle in the country and fourth-best overall tackle in the country by ProFootballFocus College. The redshirt-junior to-be started all 13 games at right tackle in 2019 and earned Pac-12 Offensive Lineman of the Week accolades following the win over Oregon State where he did not allow a sack while WSU passed for 606 yards and six touchdowns.
Mazza produced a record-setting 2019 campaign as a redshirt-sophomore, becoming WSU's first Lou Groza Award Finalist, given to the nation's top kicker. Mazza was named to the Midseason All-America Second Team by The Athletic and later to the All-Pac-12 First Team after going 20-of-21 on field goal attempts, a WSU record for field goal percentage and opened the season by making his first 18 attempts, the longest made FG streak in program history most by any kicker in the country in 2019. Mazza added 55 PAT and finished the season with a Pac-12 best 115 points, second-most in WSU history.
Woods was one of the country's top tackles as a redshirt-junior in 2019, finishing fourth in the nation with 141 tackles, second-most in the Pac-12 and fifth-most in WSU history. The redshirt-senior's 141 stops were the first 100-tackle season since 2015 and most by any Cougar since 1991. Woods also tallied a team-best 10 tackles-for-loss, added three sacks, three pass breakups, two forced fumbles and one interception.
Draguicevich III, a 2019 Ray Guy Award Watch List (Top Punter) selection, was second in the Pac-12 with a 45.1 net average, recorded ten 50+yards, put 12 inside the 20 and had a long of 62.
Harris, a 2019 Paul Hornung Award Watch List (Most Versatile Player) selection, was rated the top kick returner in the Pac-12 and second-best in the country by PFF College last season. The redshirt-junior to-be averaged 23.4 yards-per-return and recorded five returns of 30+ yards including a long of 83. Harris also caught 47 passes for 536 yards and five touchdowns and averaged 102.5 all-purpose yards-per-game.
Martin, entering his senior campaign, caught 43 passes for 564 yards and four touchdowns last season. Martin was rated the Pac-12 third-best blocking wide receiver by PFF College and averaged 13.1 yards-per-catch.
Ryan started all 13 games at left tackle as a redshirt-junior in 2019 and was rated the third-best screen-blocking offensive tackle in the country by PFF College. Ryan earned Pac-12 Offensive Lineman of the Week after pass-protecting for six touchdowns passes and blocking for a 100-yard rusher in the win over New Mexico State.
Thomas appeared in all 13 games last season as a redshirt-junior and finished on the team with 72 tackles while picking off a team-high four passes. Thomas also recovered two fumbles and recorded three pass breakups.
Rodgers III appeared in 12 games as junior in 2019 and tallied 27 tackles including six for loss with a team-high four sacks.