CHENEY — Jaylon Jenkins and Othello native Isaiah Perez have garnered preseason recognition by Stats Perform as part of their preseason All-American team ahead of the 2026 season for Eastern Washington football, according to a statement by EWU Athletics. While it's great to be recognized nationally, Perez is also drawing motivation from it.  

"It feels good to see that we are getting recognition for some of the work we're putting in," Perez said. "It's pretty exciting to see your name on one of those lists, but we know that we have a lot of work to do, and it's a preseason list, and we want to have our names on that list at the end of the season as well." 

Ahead of the 2025 football season, Perez earned the opportunity to wear number four on his jersey, an Eagles tradition given to the player who most embodies the characteristics of defense at Eastern, according to EWU Athletics. Grit, toughness, effort, leadership and academic success are those characteristics Head Coach Aaron Best felt Perez embodied. 

He went on to assert his dominance not only on the defensive side of the ball, but on special teams, too. Perez blocked four kicks last season, breaking the Eastern record and tying for the FCS lead, according to EWU Athletics. In the trenches, he led the Eagles with 4.0 sacks, tying for 15th in the Big Sky. The redshirt-senior tallied 51 tackles in 2025 — 19 solo — placing him fifth on the team. He added five tackles for loss, three quarterback hurries, and two pass breakups. 

His standout season earned him a spot on the All-American third team, according to Stats Perform.  

Getting some shine on the second team was Jenkins, who broke out in 2025 and earned first team All-Conference honors in the Big Sky conference, according to EWU Athletics. He recorded five interceptions at safety. His interception total ranked fifth in the FCS and tied for second in the Big Sky. The redshirt-junior had 13 passes defended — eight pass breakups — in 2025, placing him 16th in the nation and tying for second in the conference. Starting all 12 games last season, Jenkins finished fourth on Eastern with 52 total tackles, making 39 solo and two for a loss.  

All-American status is not the only way Jenkins is being recognized, as he was recently named to the 2026 Buck Buchanan award preseason watchlist, EWU Athletics wrote in a statement. After the conclusion of each football season, the Buck Buchanan award is given to the best defensive player in the FCS. 

"It's exciting to see him on all these lists," Perez said. "Jalen's an amazing athlete. I couldn't say enough good things about Jalen and the abilities that he has, and he's got a ton of potential, and he's going to have another great season, and I'm extremely proud of him as well." 

Jenkins is one of five players representing the Big Sky Conference on the watch list. The list includes defensive backs Caden Dowler (Montana State) and Rex Conners (UC Davis), along with linebackers Mikey D'Amato (Cal Poly) and Peyton Wing (Montana).  

Eastern finished 2025 4-4 in conference and 5-7 overall. The team was seventh in the Big Sky final standings. Though Perez feels their record doesn't entirely reflect what the team was able to do on the gridiron last season.  

After a shaky 0-3 start to the season, the Eagles climbed back to a 4-4 overall record and started conference play strong at 3-1. Despite finishing the season at 5-7 overall, Perez is pleased that the Eagles are still being recognized. 

"I feel like our record didn't show exactly how our season went last year, and we definitely had a lot of highlights that kind of get put down by the record," Perez said. "Obviously, winning is going to be what's most important, but it is nice to be able to feel some of the successes that we did have." 

Including Jenkins, Eastern's defense returns seven starters from last season, EWU Athletics wrote. EWU ranked seventh in the FCS with 15 interceptions and third in the Big Sky, while ranking 12th in turnovers gained (22). 

Perez will represent the Eagles at the Big Sky conferences media kick off weekend July 25 alongside teammate Malik Dotson and Coach Best. A few weeks later, they will kick off their season on the road against conference opponent Northern Arizona University on Aug. 29 at 2 p.m. 

    The Eagles' Jaylon Jenkins (31) rocks the turnover chain after recording an interception last season. Jenkins was named to the Buck Buchanan award preseason watchlist, making him a contender for the nation's best defender award in the FCS.