Bulldogs set to start spring football on Monday

Bulldogs set to start spring football on Monday

3/8/2019 2:00:00 PM | Football

By: Matt Burkholder / Director of Communications

2019 Spring Football Prospectus (PDF)

FRESNO, Calif. – Like it never left, football is back at Fresno State. The reigning Mountain West champions begin their quest to repeat on Monday with the first of 15 spring practices. The 'Dogs will be on the field from March 11-April 13, which includes one week off, March 26-30. The April 13 practice, coined the Spring Preview, will be a free event at Bulldog Stadium that fans are encouraged to attend beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Quick Facts
• Fresno State will return 12 starters and 13 will be lost.
Offense: 3/8 | Defense: 6/5 | Special Teams: 3/0

• Fresno State will return 35 lettermen and 29 will be lost.
Offense: 16/16 | Defense: 16/13 | Special Teams: 3/0

(returned / lost)

New Faces
Offense (4):
• No. 29, RB Estevan Barragan – Fr. / Ceres, Calif. (Central Valley HS)
• No. 87, TE Raymond Pauwels Jr. – Jr. / Litchfield, Ariz. (Millennium HS / Glendale College)
• No. 80, TE Juan Rodriguez – Jr. / Portola, Calif. / Portola HS / Butte College
• No. 13, WR Rodney Wright III – Fr. / Fresno, Calif. (Clovis West HS)
Defense (2):
• No. 57, LB Tanner Rice – Jr. / Clovis, Calif. (Clovis HS)
• No. 22, DB Deshawn Ruffin – Fr. / Fresno, Calif. (Sunnyside HS)

New Faces, Coaches Edition
• Quarterbacks Coach Danny Langsdorf, via Oregon
• Defensive Line Coach Will Plemons, via Sacramento State
• Offensive Graduate Assistant Tyson Prince, via Michigan State
• Assistant Offensive Line Coach Roman Sapolu, via Idaho State

Where'd they go?
On top of 28 outgoing seniors, a select number of players that did not exhaust their eligibility will not appear on the 2019 spring roster, including:

• LB Jeff Allison (declared for NFL Draft)
• DB Mike Bell (declared for NFL Draft)
• K Shane Ciucci (transferred to Marshall)
• DE Damien DeGruy (announced entering transfer portal)
• DB Ka'Lonn Milton (transferred to Fort Lewis College)

Where'd they go? Coaches edition
• Defensive Line Coach Jamar Cain (Arizona State – Defensive Line Coach)
• Graduate Assistant Dylan Chmura (Iowa – Offensive Graduate Assistant)
• Offensive Coordinator Kalen DeBoer (Indiana – Offensive Coordinator)
• Graduate Assistant D.J. Hall (Hamilton Tiger Cats, CFL – Running Backs Coach)

Position Changes
• Matt Kjeldgaard moves to the offensive line from the defensive line.
• Mykal Walker moves to linebacker from defensive end.

Number swaps
• WR Patrick Elima-Jeune, No. 5 to No. 2
• DB Wylan Free, No. 8 to No. 4
• OL Jace Fuamatu, No. 57 to No. 51
• OL Matt Kjeldgaard, No. 92 to No. 62
• DT Matt Lawson, No. 60 to No. 91
• LB Kilifi Leaaetoa, No. 20 to No. 30
• DB Bryson Oglesby, No. 28 to No. 25
• QB Jorge Reyna, No. 10 to No. 11
• TE Cam Sutton, No. 36 to No. 15

Spring conditioning
Upon the spring semester's start on Jan. 17, the Bulldogs began spring conditioning and weighed in the week of March 4-8.

Those that logged double-digit gains and losses in weight are below (note these weights are calculated from the players' last weigh-in prior to the start of the 2018 season):

Biggest Gains
1. DL Leonard Payne, +27
2. DL Alex Dumais, +21
3. TE Austin Alexander, +17
4. LB Rian Fields, +16
5. OL Matt Kjeldgaard, +13
6. QB Hunter Raquet, +11
7. LB Arron Mosby, +11
8. WR Ricardo Arias, +10
9. DB Shawn Dourseau, +10

Biggest Losses
1. OL Joseph Bonner IV, -31
2. OL Jace Fuamatu, -24
3. OL Zelan Tupuola, -10

Academic Achievers
19 football players were named to the fall 2018 Academic All-Mountain West Team. To be eligible for selection, student-athletes must have completed at least one academic term at the member institution while maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better, and be a starter or significant contributor on their athletic team.

• Jeff Allison – Criminology
• Dontae Bull – Sociology
• Blake Cusick – Criminology
• Asa Fuller – Criminology
• Kenny Gagnon – Kinesiology
• Derrion Grim – Art
• George Helmuth – Agricultural Business
• Logan Hughes – Kinesiology
• Gunner Javernick – Communication
• Isaiah Johnson – Business Administration
• Kwami Jones – Pre-Business
• Jamire Jordan – Masters of Education
• Marcus McMaryion – Masters of Kinesiology
• Jordan Mims – Undeclared
• Kyle Riddering – Construction Management
• Ronnie Rivers – Computer Engineering
• Matt Smith – Business Administration
• Micah St. Andrew – Economics
• David Tangipa – Political Science

"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160

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