Devin Ellison is no longer on the WSU football roster. Ellison played in two games for the Cougs, his first game was the Apple Cup where he had three catches, 52 yards and one touchdown. He played only seven snaps the following week against Colorado State. 

All season Ellison’s availability and soft benching had made no sense. In early September, Jimmy Rogers mentioned a heel injury was why Ellison had not played yet. After playing Ole Miss, a game where the offense performed well, Ellison did not play the following week against Virginia even though Rogers said he was healthy. Rogers has stressed the importance of practice and not making errors in regards to Ellison. 

“You gotta know what you’re doing when you’re out there. And we’ve gotten into a rhythm right now, where players that are at practice, that are going through practice, that get the reps. And then when you get reps, you can’t make mental mistakes. You gotta be able to execute. You gotta do the little things right,” Rogers said. 

In 2021 and 2022, Ellison played at Southern University but never saw the field due to academic issues. When he transferred to Monterey Peninsula he was not eligible for the 2023 season because of academics again, due to his transcripts not being sent over in time. 

The loss of Ellison this season is unfortunate for the Cougs, while academics was not his strong suit, he opened up the field for fellow receivers Josh Meredith and Tony Freeman. The Apple Cup was the first and last time we saw what Zevi Eckhaus and the passing offense could be. They were explosive and created big plays. With the run game being mostly ineffective for the majority of the season, being able to stretch the field would have allowed for Kirby Vorhees and Angel Johnson to get going. 

With Ellison only playing two games, (19 snaps total) this season should qualify him for a red-shirt year and give him an extra year of eligibility for his next team.