MOBILE, Ala. (August 21, 2024) – Five Washington State players were named to the Reese's Senior Bowl Watch List, the Senior Bowl announced Wednesday.
 
Offensive lineman Fa'alili Fa'amoe, defensive back Kapena Gushiken, Edge Nusi Malani, Edge Syrus Webster and wide receiver Kyle Williams were each named to the watch list for The Reese's Senior Bowl, which is widely regarded as the preeminent college football all-star game and the first stage in the NFL Draft process. The longest continual-running all-star game has taken place in Mobile, Alabama the past 75 years. Brennan Jackson and Chau Smith-Wade both played in the 2024 game last year and both were drafted.
 
Fa'amoe, a redshirt-junior who was also named to watch lists for the Outland Trophy and Polynesian College Football Player of the Year, started all 12 games at right tackle last season after being named to the 2023 Preseason Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Watch List. Fa'amoe, of Polynesian Samoan decent and a native of Pago Pago, American Samoa switched from defensive line to offensive line prior to the 2022 season and has started 19 consecutive games, all at right tackle.
 
Gushiken, a senior from Pukalani, Hawaii, appeared in 12 games including five as a starter and finished his first season as a Coug with 36 tackles, five pass breakups and an 88-yard interception return for a touchdown. Gushiken played his first two seasons at Saddleback College in southern California where he earned all-league honors in 2022 and was rated the seventh-best junior college cornerback in the country by ESPN.com.
 
Malani, a senior from San Bruno, Calif. who was also named to the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Watch List, appeared in all 12 games last season including six as a starter where he made 24 tackles with four for loss, 1.5 sacks, one pass breakup and three quarterback hurries.
 
Webster is a senior transfer from Utah Tech where he was a two-time all-league selection including a 2023 season where he tallied 79 tackles with 12.3 for loss including seven sacks and four forced fumbles. In his three seasons at UTU, Webster tallied 161 tackles with 27.5 for loss including 14.5 sacks.
 
Williams is one of 50 pass catchers named to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List, the award given to the nation's most outstanding FBS receiver. The senior Inglewood, Calif. caught 61 passes for 843 yards and six touchdowns while starting all 12 games in his first season at WSU last season. Williams had a season-high 174 yards and a touchdown in the win over No. 14 Oregon State, had five catches for 102 yards at No. 9 Oregon and caught five passes for 85 yards and a touchdown in the Apple Cup at No. 4 Washington. Williams enters his senior season fourth in the country among active players with 2,411 career receiving yards, seventh with 178 career receptions and No. 15 with 15 career touchdowns.
 
This year's 12^th annual list is comprised of an all-time record 859 prospects.  This total number is up significantly from past years due to the new addition of specialists and underclassmen, as well as the inclusion of many fifth and sixth-year seniors opting to use their extra Covid year of eligibility.  All the prospects who made the cut were evaluated by our staff and tape-based grades were also logged on hundreds of other senior prospects who ultimately did not make the list.
 
Per last November's ruling by the National Football League, all college players three years removed from high school are now eligible to enter the NFL Draft and thus, for the first time ever, the Watchlist includes 81 underclassmen our staff has identified as potential early-out draft prospects.  Our longstanding relationships with college coaches is critical to us so we were intentionally very selective with what juniors were included on the list.  Rather than use this new rule as an easy excuse to cast a wide net, we tried our best to communicate with college coaching staffs about the underclassmen they realistically felt might have an opportunity to leave early.
 
It takes professional evaluators to identify future professional players and this year's Senior Bowl staff will be comprised of 11 regional scouts with over 200 years of NFL experience.  Our staff will rely on decades worth of relationships at the college and NFL levels to stay on top of all the risers, career backup late-bloomers, and transfers taking advantage of opportunities in their final seasons.
 
About Reese's Senior Bowl:
The Reese's Senior Bowl is widely regarded as the preeminent college football all-star game and the first stage in the NFL Draft process. The longest continual-running all-star game has taken place in Mobile, Alabama the past 75 years.  More than 900 NFL personnel, including key decision-makers from all 32 teams, and over 1100 media members from around the country were credentialed this year. This past April, the game produced 110 total picks, representing 43 percent of the entire NFL draft.