WSU adds former Weber State QB Jake Constantine

It appears the Washington State Cougars have added another QB option to their 2020 roster as former Weber State starter Jake Constantine announced via Twitter that he’s transferring to Pullman for his final season of eligibility.

Constantine had a fairly unremarkable statistical career in the Big Sky — in 24 games across two seasons as the starter for the Wildcats, he passed for 4,428 yards with 33 touchdowns and 22 interceptions — but Weber State did win a pair of Big Sky titles with him at the helm, reaching the FCS semifinals last season and the quarterfinals the year before.

Listed at 6-2/200, it’s unclear how Constantine — with just one season of eligibility — fits into the Cougs’ overall quarterback picture. It doesn’t appear he comes into the program with Run-N-Shoot experience, which is the sort of thing that might give him a leg up on the returning QBs. Cammon Cooper and Gunner Cruz each possess superior physical skills but lack experience. And then there’s touted incoming freshman Jayden de Laura, who did lead a Run-N-Shoot offense in high school. Walk-on John Bledsoe is also hanging around, coming off a knee injury.

That said, signing a quarterback in late July raises questions. Is this just adding someone to the pile for competition’s sake because a scholarship opened up somewhere? Is this just a player betting on himself as a walk-on? Did something happen — an injury, a voluntary opt-out because of COVID concerns, etc. — with one of the QBs I mentioned above? I’m sure we’ll find out at some point, but for now, it’s a bit of a mystery.

Constantine announced his intention to transfer as a graduate in January. He originally signed with Boise State out of high school and redshirted as a freshman before transferring to a junior college, and said, “I just think I wanted to get back to the FBS level. That was always my dream.” But by April he was still waiting around to see what might materialize. It appears Constantine might have been on Nick Rolovich’s radar back then, even as he waited to see how things would shake out:

“No worrying from me,” Constantine said. “There’s just some uncertainty, I guess, with what’s going to happen the next few months. Is there going to be a football season? A lot of schools need quarterbacks after they evaluate spring ball.”

But what if there isn’t spring ball? Constantine was planning to go up to Washington State to watch spring practice, before all schools canceled their spring practices.

“This whole virus thing, everyone is trying to figure out what they’re doing and where their depth charts are at,” Constantine said.

Constantine eventually settled on Towson University in Maryland as his destination, but then COVID threw another wrench at him — the Colonial Athletic Association decided last week to postpone the fall sports season until second semester. And now it appears he’s on his way to Pullman.

Here are some highlights!