BIG SKY FOOTBALL KICKOFF: Experience ... and togetherness: Since spring ball, Vandals added depth at wide receiver, quarterback, defensive back as fall camp nears

By MARK NELKE 

Sports editor 

AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. — Entering last year, Idaho's returning wide receivers all had 100 or less snaps in game action. 

By the end of the season, they had 500 to 600 snaps under their belt. 

Still, as second-year Idaho head football coach Thomas Ford Jr. said Monday, "I've never seen any coach in America say they have too many dynamic receivers." 

So, following the completion of spring ball, the Vandals signed three wide receivers, all transfers — Zach Card (Oregon State), Jackson Weng (Mt. San Jacinto in Texas) and Markel Taylor (Sacramento City College).  

"Wide receiver was an area we really wanted to improve," Ford said at the Big Sky Football Kickoff media day at the Northern Quest Resort & Casino.  

"We had so many guys that were just banged up in the spring, and when you get banged up, there's going to be some guys on the field that aren't quite ready, so we wanted to bring some more guys in that have a lot of playing experience, guys that have a lot of experience with actual game reps — catching the football on meaningful snaps." 

Ford coached Card at Oregon State in 2024, when Ford was the Beavers' receivers coach. After redshirting in 2023, Card played in all 12 games in each of the past two seasons at OSU. As a redshirt freshman he returned 15 kickoffs. In 2025, the Pittsburg (Calif.) High grad caught 10 passes for 83 yards. Three of those catches came in the season finale at Washington State. 

Weng caught 50 passes in each of his two seasons at Mt. San Jacinto, 12 for touchdowns — including eight TDs as a freshman.  

Taylor had 25 catches, three for touchdowns, last year at Sacramento City College.  

"Adding three guys that have experience on their own, that room just becomes deeper, and can withstand some bumps and bruises along the way," Ford said. "Getting more targets for Joshua (Wood, QB1) to throw to was huge." 

After Wood, who started 10 games last year, there was an experience gap at quarterback. 

Ford attempted to bridge that gap by signing Israel Carter, who played two seasons at South Florida before playing for Michael Vick at Norfolk State last year. 

"Joshua is our quarterback," Ford said. "Joshua has done nothing but improve from a year ago, especially from a leadership standpoint. Bringing in Izzy ... you can never be too good at that position either. Obviously we lost Josh for a couple of games last year (due to injury), and so if Josh has to be on the sideline to tie his shoe, or his helmet comes off, we wanted to bring in somebody who has game experience, and obviously has a high level of talent, and Izzy is certainly one of those guys. 

Carter, a rising junior, threw 33 passes last year and rushed for 40 yards. At South Florida in 2024, he threw for 195 yards and four touchdowns, and ran 10 times for 46 yards. 

"Extremely talented arm strength, very good with his feet, and someone that can create explosive plays in the run game and pass game," Ford said of Carter. "You never know; you might see both of those guys on the field at the same time. We have a guy we believe can help us, regardless of whether Joshua is healthy or not. He's someone that can provide a spark in a lot of different areas, especially in the quarterback run game, where we can take some of the tread off No. 3 (Wood). Izzy can really provide that." 

Sawyer Teeney, Idaho's backup QB last year who saw action in two games as a true freshman, returns. Jack Wagner, who saw action each of the past three seasons, including 11 games, 1,389 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2024, is no longer on the roster. 

In the secondary, Ford brought in transfers Deion Gunn (UAB, Ellsworth Community College), Sha'Heem Taylor (Riverside City College) and Daemon Fagan (NC State). 

"We felt pretty good about our secondary after spring practice, but depth was still an issue," Ford said. "We wanted to make sure we had competition everywhere, and again, if we had bumps and bruises along the way throughout the season, we had some guys with experience that could come in and help us."  

LOCAL WATCH 

Owen Forsmann, a lefty kicker from Lakeland High, has 65 kickoffs in his career, including 49 last year, where he made nine extra points and all four of his field goals. 

He'll again be in the mix for place-kicking and/or kickoff duties, along with another returner, Owen Adams, and Tyler Kinsman, who originally signed with Oregon out of Skyview High in Nampa. 

Ford said Kinsman (6-4, 240) could compete for the kicking and punting job. 

Ford said Alex Green, a redshirt junior from Lake City High, is in the mix for a starting spot on the offensive line, where the Vandals return four starters. 

"Regardless of whether Alex becomes a starter or not, I see him playing a significant role," Ford said. "He's had an awesome offseason; obviously he's a huge individual – a mammoth dude in general, he's well over 300 pounds, he's moving really well, and he's physical. He wants to put his face mask on someone." 

SEASON OUTLOOK 

Ford said Idaho, coming off a 4-8 season last year, will be better this year because of two things — experience and togetherness. 

"This is a group that spends time outside the facility together," Ford said. "I think they truly like being with each other.  

"I actually had an event in Lewiston last week, and somebody told me there were like 40 or 50 guys from the Vandals. And when those guys are truly spending time together, not just small groups of 7 or 8, but groups of 40, that tells you they are truly together, and want to play hard for one another." 

Idaho was picked to finish sixth in the 13-team Big Sky Conference by the media, and seventh by the coaches. 

"Really for us, we're more concerned where we are at the end of the season," Ford said. "I think our guys are motivated. I think they thought we were better than seventh, where the coaches picked us, but at the end of the day, none of that matters. We've got to go execute at a high level, and do it consistently over 12 games."