Ball says two freshmen defenders to redshirt

WSU CO-DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR said today LB Andre Barrington and CB Nolan Washington will redshirt this season. Coming into fall camp, Washington State was looking strongly at Washington's prospects at corner for '09 but with Daniel Simmons assuming the starting spot opposite Brandon Jones, and the performance of the players behind them, the Cougs look to have the luxury of building depth there.

Chris Ball made the comments on KJR-AM in an interview with Ian Furness.

Nolan Washington is a true freshman out of Burien, Andre Barrington comes to WSU for his first season with the Cougs from Federal Way.

Barrington is more physically developed than your average freshman and some thought heading into camp, he might play his way into a special teams/backup linebacker role. The Cougs, however, look to have the luxury of redshirting him as well.

At corner, Brandon Jones and Daniel Simmons have been running with the 1's most often this fall camp, with Aire Justin, Terrance Hayward and converted receiver Anthony Houston all in the mix.

"He's going to be a great one," said Ball of Washington.

Ball did not mention Anthony Carpenter in the radio interview, another true freshman, though it had been expected that he would be a redshirt candidate as well.

The WSU linebackers running drills with the 1's have been a mix and match much of camp, with players out injured and others getting looks with the starting unit. On the pre-fall camp depth chart, the starters were SLB Andy Mattingly, MLB Alex Hoffman-Ellis and WLB Louis Bland. Among the young faces who have gotten some face time, true freshman Darren Markle, who has played both inside and out.

For the audio interview, click HERE.