Weber State football signs 3 FBS transfers, 1 All-American
Photo supplied, Weber State Athletics
Weber State football signees Andrew Carter (78) and Keahnist Thompson pose for a photo in an undated recruiting visit.Weber State football announced the signing of four incoming transfers for the 2023 season, formalizing the group of players to have previously committed to join the team -- three FBS transfers and an NAIA All-American. All are linemen.
The most highly touted might be Keahnist Thompson, a 6-foot-3 defensive end transferring from UCF who could be a difference-maker for the defense. He held offers from Alabama, USC, Florida, Auburn and Miami coming out of Lakeland High School in Florida before ultimately choosing Central Florida. Thompson appeared in one game at UCF, recording one tackle, as a redshirt and has four seasons left to play.
The most experienced in the group is Andrew Carter, a center from Carroll College in Montana. The 6-foot-3, 300-pound Idaho native is a two-time All-American and won the Rimington Trophy's "Rimington Award" as the best center in NAIA in 2022. Carter is a graduate transfer with one season left to play.
The other two arrive in Ogden from BYU, both are offensive linemen and both have four seasons to play.
Vae Soifua, a 6-foot-4 offensive lineman, may end up being a solid return from the Cougars after several Wildcats transferred in the other direction. Soifua was a three-star recruit from Orem High School and redshirted in 2022. He's seemingly somewhat of a recruiting casualty in BYU's call-up to the Big 12. He should, at some point, be a mainstay on the line after being recruited by Boise State, Utah State, Virginia, Arizona and others out of high school.
Zoom Esplin is a 6-foot-8, rangy California native who originally signed to BYU as a defensive end and sat in 2022 as a redshirt. He played offensive and defensive line in high school.
Elsewhere in the program, progress continues on the Stewart Stadium renovation that includes a reconstruction of the entire east side. The old artificial turf field is now gone as of Wednesday and the new surface will soon be installed, though fall camp is expected to be hosted mostly on the lower campus fields.
Fall camp begins in the first week of August and the season opens Aug. 31 when WSU hosts Central Washington.