WSU football recruiting: Top safety prospect Josh Talbott picks Wazzu

Washington State, in the midst of an eight game winning streak and atop the Pac-12 North standings, added a major piece to their 2017 recruiting class Tuesday evening as Josh Talbott, a safety prospect from Long Beach, Calif., announced his pledge to WSU.

Talbott, who hails from prep powerhouse Long Beach Poly, the same school that produced WSU running back Gerard Wicks, committed to area recruiter Roy Manning and the Cougars over offers from Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Oklahoma, Florida, Texas A&M, UCLA and several others.

The 6-foot, 178-pounder is rated a three-star prospect and ranked the No. 42 safety prospect in the country, according to the 24/7 Sports Composite rankings. Scout ranks Talbott the No. 7 safety in the West and the No. 3 safety in the state of California.

Talbott is an extremely athletic defensive back, and can likely fit in at either safety or cornerback for the Washington State. What’s most impressive is Talbott’s speed; he’s able to easily keep pace on deep throws, but also crash on shorter throws to the sideline with relative ease.

Through 10 games this season, Talbott has played primarily on defense, tallying two interceptions, six passes defended, a forced fumble and 35 tackles.

Talbott becomes verbal commitment No. 14 for Washington State in the 2017 recruiting class and the third defensive back joining George Hicks and Zaire Webb.

The Cougs’ newest pledge is expected to take an official visit to Pullman next weekend for the Apple Cup, which is expected to be the Cougars’ first huge recruiting weekend of the cycle. We’ll have full coverage at CougCenter throughout the week.