WSU picks up commitment from WR Joey Hobert

Joey Hobert, a three-star wide receiver out of San Juan Capistrano, California, became the fifth member of the Washington State Cougars’ 2020 recruiting class when he announced his commitment via Twitter yesterday.

The name should sound familiar: His dad is former Washington Huskies quarterback Billy Joe Hobert. Of course, that’s hardly the most important thing here; what really matters is if the younger Hobert can play. Standing 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, he’s a two-way star at San Juan Hills, and at least one of his other offers (from the Hawaii Warriors) was for him to play safety. He also held FBS offers from the BYU Cougars and most of the Mountain West Conference.

247Sports.com’s Greg Biggins described him thusly:

Hobert was our ‘Alpha Dog’ as the top performer of the day at the Under Armour All-American Combine back in March and we compared him to New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman because of his size, route running, quickness and hands. He was turning defenders around all day long and is one of the toughest covers in the region.

Here’s to guessing he’ll also be frequently compared to River Cracraft and Kyle Sweet and Billy Pospisil. You can see him in action for yourself here. You won’t get much of a sense of his ability to run routes, but you’ll definitely see the shiftiness and the hands that lead to big plays, even if he maybe lacks elite top-end speed:

Hobert — whom Biggins reports had 46 receptions for 643 receiving yards, 159 rushing yards, and 13 total touchdowns, including three on special teams — committed shortly after taking an unofficial visit on which Mike Leach apparently was absent (and we can guess where Leach probably was).

“I haven’t had a chance to meet coach Leach yet, he wasn’t there when I visited but I’ve heard great things and I know he’s a great coach,” said Hobert, who also had 65 tackles, four interceptions and three blocked field goals. “I have a really good relationship with coach Nichol, the inside WR coach. He’s my lead recruiter and the coach I committed to. I’ll call coach Leach tomorrow when he’s available but I’m very excited about my decision and excited to be a Coug.”

You can check out the full 2020 class here.