Top 5 Defensive Players Washington State Football Will Face in 2025

In 2025 Washington State's offense will have the tough task of reshaping its identity following the John Mateer era.

That job, too, will be made all the harder by the fact that the defenses they will face this year will be no cakewalk.

Superstar talent will be littered about the opposite side of the field for Zevi Eckhaus and company this year.

Which players in specific, though, will have the Cougs' offense on red alert this fall? 5.

Ayden Hector (DB) - Colorado State One of the more dangerous defensive backs that the Cougars will see this year will be in Fort Collins in Week 5 when CSU plays host.

Grad senior Ayden Hector will be patrolling the Rams secondary and he's one that can change the game in a hurry.

In 2024 he led the Mountain West with three forced fumbles and batted away six passes.

Hector is a speedster that can cover anywhere on the field and do so in a hurry.

He gets into the backfield with the best of them, as is evident by his three career sacks and 12 tackles for loss.

Washington State's receiving corps will have their collective hands full when September 27 rolls around.

4.

Nikko Taylor (LB) - Oregon State Linebacker Nikko Taylor has been a problem for opposing offenses and, unfortunately for WSU, they'll have to face him not once but twice in 2025.

Oregon State's star middle man rose onto the scene in a big way last year, authoring 46 stops (eight for loss), forced two fumbles and got in on 2.5 sacks.

Taylor flies all over the field and his nose for the ball makes him as effective as any.

Neither the passing game nor the running one comes easy against him.

#25 in orange and black has got to be near the top of WSU's list going into this season.

3.

Avery Smith (DB) - Toledo Arguably the best defensive player in the entire MAC, Toledo corner Avery Smith will line up against Washington State on October 25 and the Cougs will need to know where he is at all times.

Smith batted down an impressive 14 passes last year and intercepted two more.

Throwing his way is usually not the wise choice and there's no room for error when doing so.

Smith is just as dangerous after the ball has been caught, though, as he made 40 solo tackles a season ago.

He'll surely be the best secondary player that faces the Cougars this fall and a healthy amount of film study on him will need to go into the offensive game play leading into that contest.

2.

Suntarine Perkins (LB) - Ole Miss Suntarine Perkins was a name that kept SEC offensive coordinators up last season and this year the Cougs will come to know that stress in Week 7.

The star linebacker is coming off a tremendous sophomore campaign that saw him log 60 tackles and 10.5 sacks.

He was a huge reason why the Ole Miss defense held its opposition to under 15 points per contest in 2024.

He alone was responsible for three takeaways last year, too.

Now coming into his junior year, Perkins' numbers should only improve and he could really be hitting his stride by the time WSU meets him in the middle of the season.

1.

Trey White (DE) - San Diego State No opposing defensive player will pose a greater challenge to the Cougars this season than San Diego State edge rusher Trey White.

White has been an absolute terror off the end for opposing quarterbacks his entire career but last year in particular he was on another level.

The then-sophomore led the Mountain West in tackles behind the line (19) and sacks (12.5).

Offensive lines could seldom contain him and he's showing no signs of letting up heading into his fourth season.

White might just end up being the MW Defensive Player of the Year when all is said and done and he lookst to make for a matchup headache against a WSU O line that will probably still be trying gel in Week 2..

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