Washington State Football: Top 5 remaining 2019 National Signing Day targets

5. Dean Janikowski (K/San Diego, CA) – not rated

No, he’s somehow not related to Sebastian Janikowski, the NFL kicker, but any time you have the opportunity to land a big-legged kicker with that last name, you have to jump at the opportunity.

The San Diego, California kicker has long been thought to be a part of Washington State’s signing class as a preferred walk-on, but he has yet to put the pen to paper. He has seemingly been holding out hope for a scholarship offer from somewhere, but unless something changes in the 11th hour, expect Janikowski to sign with the Cougars.

It might be a couple of years or more before he ever factors in to the kicking game as current Cougars kicker Blake Mazza just finished up his freshman season in Pullman. Mazza was far from perfect in 2018, however, so adding some competition will do him some good.

The freshman kicker was 10-of-15 on field goal tries and missed a pair of extra points on his 62 attempts. He figures to still have the inside track at the starting job regardless of Janikowski’s decision, but it only takes a couple of misses to lose the confidence of your head coach.