Sixth-year edge rushers Ron Stone Jr., Brennan Jackson look to leave WSU in style
Scott HansonAug. 30, 2023 at 6:00 am Updated Aug. 30, 2023 at 6:00 am
By
Seattle Times staff reporter
PULLMAN — It seems only fitting that Brennan Jackson and Ron Stone Jr. are going out as Cougars together.
The two sixth-year edge rushers for Washington State are two of the best defensive players in the Pac-12, great friends, excellent students and the leaders of the WSU defense.
“They came here as underdeveloped skinny kids, and they’ve developed into some of the best men you’d ever want to be around,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said. “Both have their degrees; both are going to be wildly successful when football’s over and they also are some of our hardest workers. It sets a culture within your program, and you’re just so fired up to have those guys with you.”
Not only are they very good friends, they also live together. But here is something that most Cougar fans probably don’t know:
“We actually butted heads a lot when we first got here,” Jackson said.
Jackson, from Temecula, Calif., got off to a rough start at WSU, playing in just two games his first two seasons after redshirting his first season, then getting injured.
Stone, whose father played 12 years in the NFL as an offensive tackle, made an impact in his second season, playing in all 13 games and starting in two of them.
Washington State edge rusher Ron Stone Jr. (Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times)
“In the beginning, he was playing and I was hurt so there was a little bit of hidden animosity there,” Jackson said. “But after we’ve had hardships together, gone through coaches together and have been here the longest, you start to understand, you see eye to eye on things. It’s awesome to see that relationship unfold the way it has, and I feel like he’s a great friend.”
Stone said his father, who coached him until college, was the reason he started playing football growing up in San Jose, Calif. He said it was important for him, as the only boy in the family, to continue his father’s legacy.
Stone, who weighs 79 pounds less than his father’s playing weight of 325, said he still gets football advice from his father.
“He’s big on setting up things with power, playing the physical game before you play the finesse game and understanding what the offensive linemen are trying to do in their schemes,” Stone said.
Stone plays with power and quickness, and became a star in 2021, earning All-Pac-12 honors after making 63 tackles, including 11.5 for loss of yards and five sacks.
He was named second-team All-Pac-12 last year after finishing second in the conference in quarterback hits, but his tackles (34), tackles for loss (four) and sacks (two) were down, so he decided to come back for a sixth and final season.
“I think there was just a lot of expectations for myself, and I was dealing with other things and I wasn’t playing to the best of my ability,” Stone said. “I really like where I’m at [this season]. I like where this team is. I like the people that are around me. I’m really thankful to be in the position that I am in.”
Jackson was ready to leave after his second year in Pullman, having played so little.
“I thought I was going be done,” he said. “I was really questioning if I wanted to keep going with it because obviously it is very hard when you have two years like that. But something kept me here.”
Washington State edge rusher Brennan Jackson. (Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times)
That something was his mother, Amy.
“Every time I’ve gone through any hard thing in my life, my mom has always been there to keep me on the right path,” Jackson said. “We had a lot of hard conversations. It’s tough being far from home, but she knew this was the place for me. And when I was going through those hard times, she just kept me straight.”
Jackson said he is happy he stuck it out, and the Cougars are, too. He became a starter in 2020 during the COVID-shortened season. He was honorable mention all-Pac-12 in 2021 after having 46 tackles including six tackles for loss and four sacks.
Jackson, who at 6 feet 4 and 264 pounds is easy to spot on the field, took another step forward last season. He was named second-team all-conference after tying for fifth in the Pac-12 in tackles for loss (12) and sacks (six).
He has also excelled in school. After getting his bachelor’s degree in business administration, he is on track to get his MBA in the spring.
“The education for me is the coolest thing because that was the main focus when I got here,” said Jackson, who was a 4.0 student in high school.
Stone received his degree in communications and would like to get into broadcasting when his playing days are over.
Both have aspirations of playing in the NFL, but they are laser focused now on making the most of their final college season.
“I think there’s a newfound focus, because there’s not going to be a next year,” Jackson said. “On the appreciation front, I definitely have a lot more gratitude for the people in this building who don’t get the credit they deserve, from the custodial people who come in every night to make sure this place is flawless to the media department that sets up all this, to the coaches putting in long hours.
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“There’s just so much that goes into making this all possible and now having done it for six years, I’m really just appreciating all that goes into it.”
Dickert is very appreciative that the two came back for a sixth season and said he will use them as examples for others for many years.
“They get a chance to finish what they started,” Dickert said. “They have goals and dreams and aspirations. So we’ve got to make sure we’re taking care of them, so they also trust us that we’re putting them in the best positions to have one heck of a senior year.”
Scott Hanson: shanson@seattletimes.com; on Twitter: @shansonseatimes.
