Eastern Washington signing class features wide receivers

(STATS) - The production that Eastern Washington lost at wide receiver after last season is incredible:

The senior trio of four-time FCS first-team All-American Cooper Kupp, Kendrick Bourne and Shaq Hill combined to catch 817 passes for 12,412 yards and 132 touchdowns in their careers.

New Eastern coach Aaron Best made it a priority to fill some of the holes on Wednesday, signing three wide receivers in a 19-player recruiting class.

Johnny Edwards IV (Pasadena, California) and Marques Hampton Jr. (DuPont, Washington) may have been the most coveted of the new Eagles, and Andrew Boston (Puyallup, Washington) hopes to soar in the passing offense as well.

Eastern finished 12-2 this past season, sharing the Big Sky Conference title with North Dakota and reaching the FCS semifinals before bowing out against Youngstown State on a last-second touchdown.

Beau Baldwin stepped down as head coach last month after nine seasons, but Best had already been playing a big role in the recruiting class. He was an assistant coach in 16 of the last 17 seasons.

The new class, which included 15 players from the state of Washington, also featured cornerback Darreon Moore (Pasco, Washington) and offensive lineman Wyatt Musser (Kennewick, Washington). Quarterback Nick Moore (Newhall, California) is the younger brother of 10-year NFL signal caller Matt Moore.

"When we set out we are looking for the total package - Eastern kind of guys who are good people, good students and good players," Best said about the signing class. "When you mix those things together we've coined the phrase EKG. Every one of them fits that mold based on what we've seen thus far."

Eastern Washington 2017 Signing Class

Xavier Banner, LB, 6-0, 200, Tacoma, Wash. (Lakes)

Andrew Boston, WR, 6-3, 180, Puyallup, Wash. (Emerald Ridge)

Ira Branch, CB, 6-1, 170, Tacoma, Wash. (Mount Tahoma)

Johnny Edwards IV, WR, 5-11, 175, Pasadena, Calif. (Bishop Alemany)

Anfernee Gurley, DB, 5-10, 180, Everett, Wash. (Archbishop Murphy)

Marques Hampton Jr., WR, 6-1, 180, DuPont, Wash. (Steilacoom)

Dylan Ingram, TE, 6-5, 235, Camas, Wash. (Camas)

Mitchell Johnson, DE, 6-3, 225, West Linn, Ore. (West Linn)

A. Pasesa Leiato, S, 6-0, 180, Steilacoom, Wash. (Steilacoom)

Cale Lindsay, LB, 6-1, 220, Tacoma, Wash. (Lakes)

Amir Matheney, DT, 6-2, 300, Olympia, Wash. (Olympia)

Debore'ae McClain, DE, 6-3, 210, Bremerton, Wash. (Peninsula)

Darreon Moore, CB, 5-11, 165, Pasco, Wash. (Kamiakin)

Nick Moore, QB, 6-0, 180, Newhall, Calif. (Hart)

Wyatt Musser, OL, 6-5, 275, Kennewick, Wash. (Kamiakin)

Chris Ojoh, LB, 6-1, 215, Sunland, Calif. (Bishop Alemany)

Matt Shook, OL, 6-4, 270, Graham, Wash. (Graham-Kapowsin)

Matthew Simpson, DE, 6-3, 235, Spokane, Wash. (Gonzaga Prep)

Gunner Talkington, QB, 5-10, 180, Battle Ground, Wash. (Battle Ground)