Wyoming Loses Another Edge Rusher to the Open Market

LARAMIE -- Wyoming has lost its eighth player this spring to the NCAA Transfer portal.

Adrian Onyiego is the latest departure.

The redshirt freshman was penciled in at defensive end during camp, making the move from linebacker, the position he was initially brought here to play. The Rogers, Minn., product has four years of eligibility remaining.

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Onyiego is now on the market, joining running back Harrison Waylee, nickelback Wrook Brown, quarterback Deyon Batiste and cornerbacks Keany Parks (who announced Thursday he has signed with the University of Houston) and Charles Williams. Edge rusher Dawan Martin is also in search of a new home. Fellow defensive end Sabastian Harsh, a graduate transfer, has already inked with North Carolina State.

Wyoming has now lost a total of 21 players to college football's version of free agency.

Jay Sawvel and Co. have also brought in 17 new faces this offseason. That number is expected to increase soon. Five players -- a defensive end, punter, wide receiver, running back and a linebacker -- will be in attendance Saturday inside War Memorial Stadium for the Cowboys' annual Brown and Gold Spring game, according to a source familiar with the situation.

The second-year head coach is also seeking a defensive back or two. He also has his eyes peeled for a "best available" at any position.

Onyiego has been doing a lot of "learning through failure" during spring camp, defensive ends coach Brian Hendricks said in early April.

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The focus was on footwork, hand placement and learning the nuances of the pass rush. Admittedly, the former three-star recruit was struggling at times with the transition.

"There are times where things aren't going his way, but at least he can come up to you and tell you what he did wrong," Hendricks said. "We're able to talk football to one another, but again, you can't truly understand it until you do it. When you're close to the football as a defensive end, you blink and you're going to be wrong."

Onyiego, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs in at 230 -- 50 pounds heavier than his prep days at Rogers High School -- said he came to Wyoming because of the development aspect of the program, turning down offers from Power-5 programs like Minnesota and Iowa State.

"They really like my motor," he said earlier this month. "Even though I'm underweight right now, I'm handling it strength wise with the O-linemen. So, I just really need to continue to grind to get game ready."

Wyoming's defensive end room will look much different this fall.

Braden Siders (West Virginia) and Ethan Day (North Texas) both bolted after the season. Harsh waited a few months to make his ultimate decision and DeVonne Harris exhausted his eligibility after six years in the program.

Martin, who spent the previous four seasons at his hometown university, Youngstown State, was signed in February. He is no longer on the roster for undisclosed reasons.

Sawvel and Co. did add five edge rushers to the mix this offseason: Transfers Esaia Bogar (Riverside City College) and Brayden Wilson (Weber State), along with rookies Jason Handy (Cedar Park, Texas), Axel Ramazani (Des Moines, Iowa) and Cade Brook (Aurora, Colo.).

Tyce Westland, a guy who Sawvel said was the team's most efficient edge rusher in 2024, is back in the mix. So is Kevin Sjogren, who missed all of last season with a knee injury.

That unit also features redshirt freshmen Eltoum Murgus, Tell Wade and Jordan Turnbull. The latter will be sidelined until at least October with an Achilles injury. Ramazani was an early enrollee, but has missed camp with a hip issue.

"When it comes to production, production pays the bills," Hendricks said. "Clearly we are wanting everything to be really sexy on a stat sheet -- tackles for loss and sacks -- but the No. 1 key we've got to understand is, before you can even do that right now, we've got to start from scratch.

"We've got to get the basics down."

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