KALAMAZOO, Mich. — After going 8-5 in 2021, Tim Lester and his staff didn't think they had to worry about filling a quarterback spot. Soon after though, Caleb elegy declared for the NFL draft which now leaves a starting spot open for the Broncos.
"Jack was out backup all last year. Got in one drive against Pitt, did a great job. Went 4 for 4, took us down the field. Had a great spring, great summer so I've told everybody, 'the race just began today' but he's in the pull position. He got most of the reps with the 1's," said Western Head Coach Tim Lester.
RS-FR Jack Salopek will compete against Mareyohn Hrabowski and Stone Hollenbach, a transfer from Alabama.
"I thought Stone threw pretty good, Mareyohn threw pretty good. The young guys are swimming, they look like young guys right now but they both can throw it," said Lester.
In that game against Pitt, Salopek went 3 for 3 for 20 yards that ended up putting Western in scoring position.
"He's in the lead and he's doing a good job and he's gotta go and try to extend that lead. But those other guys are going to try to chase him, that's part of the deal he had a good day, day 1," said Lester.
The Broncos brought in some more offensive weapons too. From the transfer portal they picked up Jehlani Galloway from Boston College and AJ Abbott from Wisconsin.
"We didn't have a lot of size and that was one thing that Coach Thorne, we really put an emphasis on in the transfer portal was bringing some length to the receivers room. They fit the roles we need around Corey Crooms. Now they still gotta compete with the other guys to fill those roles but I think we hit home runs with those two guys," said Lester.
On the opposite side of the ball, Lester says that the defense is the most experienced he's ever seen during his time in Kalamazoo. That includes senior linebacker Zaire Barnes.
"I think the depth on this team is awesome. I heard this phrase defense is in depth and I agree. I feel like a lot of our veteran guys do a great job of bring those young guys along. Teaching them the defense and them buying in. It's a two way street, ya know," said Zaire Barnes.
"8 plays, 9 plays, we got to get bodies out there. We're big guys, you know, that's the best thing about what we have right now is that we have enough guys to rotate in that we can get off the field for four plays and get right back in. We've got a lot of depth and we like who we have out there and we like what we're able to do out there," said junior lineman Braden Fiske.
Western will kick off their 2022 season on the road against Michigan state on Friday Sept. 2nd.
