POCATELLO, Idaho - Idaho State football hit the ICCU Practice Field for its fourth practice of spring ball 2026 on Wednesday, and inside receivers coach Buddy Blevins said the new-look receiving corps is already making strides.
"They're good, man. Lots of new people, lots of new faces. They're making plays, they're learning the offense and really they're just really trying to get in sync with the quarterbacks," Blevins said.
The Bengals' receiver room underwent significant turnover following a strong finish to the 2025 season, when Idaho State closed on a four-game winning streak in November. Two receivers transferred up to FBS programs and two more graduated with NFL aspirations. Despite the departures, Blevins said the new group is adjusting well and the offensive approach may evolve as a result.
"It's just gonna be a completely new receiver group. The strategy there will probably change here. With the new faces could be more orientation towards the insides, but there's a lot of outsides that are showing a lot of promise," Blevins said.
On the inside, the Bengals return Adam Watts, Josh Ball, and Dominic Ruiz. Watts, a converted quarterback, serves as the veteran of the group, while Ball and Ruiz are younger players who bring schematic knowledge that helps accelerate the development of newcomers.
"Those guys just really bring a wealth of knowledge of what we want schematically going on and that allows us to kind of help the new guys," Blevins said.
Chedon James, who previously spent time with the program before departing, is back with the Bengals and already making an impact. Blevins described James as a hybrid between a returner and a transfer given his prior familiarity with the offense.
"Chedon James is semi new, but he is explosive. He has some great plays today," Blevins said. "He also has a really good insight into the offense. There's some new layers that he's also trying to learn too that those other guys help him out with."
James said it feels good to be back with the team. "Just trying to get back into it, learning, same offense, but just trying to perfect it. I'm just grateful to be back and back with the guys," James said.
Among the newcomers drawing attention, Jimmy Triller has been a consistent playmaker. "He's been making plays every day. He just shows up. He finds a way to show up. He's doing a great job understanding the offense and really trying to hone in on the details," Blevins said.
Owen Tomich has also turned heads after recently moving from outside receiver to inside. "This is only his third practice at inside. So he's got a little bit of learning curve, but he's made some great plays downfield," Blevins said.
Watts, one of the returning insides, said the integration of transfers has been noticeably smoother than in years past. "These transfers are a lot more social. People are doing stuff outside of football and definitely the transfers that we have are really good players, but they're also really good people too," Watts said. "Starting better integration in spring, we're gonna be a much closer team in the fall."
Both Watts and James credited the detail-oriented coaching of Blevins as a driving force behind the group's development. "Coach Buddy Blevins really emphasizes the details and even the littlest things. We're just gonna be detailed, disciplined," James said.
Watts echoed the sentiment. "Coach Buddy is super technical and you can see the strides that people are already making. It's definitely incredible. The more we can fine tune those details, I think that'll really help us out towards the end of Spring Bowl," Watts said.
Blevins said the key for the rest of spring is getting the entire receiver group — insides and outsides alike — aligned on the same standard of detail. "A lot of these guys have the skill, but it's the detail within the skill, the scheme plus the skill and that being definitive over the whole group, outsides and insides all together," Blevins said.
The Bengals also welcomed a new outside receivers coach this offseason in Josh Thompson. Blevins, who previously worked with Thompson at UC Davis, said the partnership has been seamless.
"Josh is awesome. As far as our receiver play goes, our hotbed of recruiting has been Southern California. He's been coaching JUCO and high school ball there, obviously time at UC Davis. He kind of gets what we're doing here," Blevins said. "He is just a great dude. He is a great teammate. Us working together, communicating, making sure our guys are on the right page, we're on the same page, and that's really what you want in a staff is just that teamwork and camaraderie."
For both the players and staff, the remainder of spring ball is about continuing to build chemistry and sharpen the details. Blevins said he and Thompson are still working toward full alignment on coaching points and practice looks within the run and shoot offense.
"Josh is still new to an extent to the run and shoot and us just getting on the same wavelength, how the looks we give in practice, the coaching points we give for the read routes and that's just something that takes a little bit of time," Blevins said.
Idaho State's next spring practice is scheduled for Friday, April 3, All practices are open to the public and held in the morning unless otherwise noted.
2026 Spring Practice Schedule
All practices are open to the public and held in the morning unless otherwise noted.
Apr 3, Friday
Apr 4, Saturday
Apr 7, Tuesday
Apr 9, Thursday
Apr 11, Saturday - Spring Game / Junior Day, 2 p.m.
Apr 14, Tuesday
Apr 15, Wednesday
Apr 17, Friday
Apr 18, Saturday - HS Coaches Clinic, 4 p.m.
Apr 21, Tuesday
Apr 23, Thursday
