Previewing Washington State’s 2019 defense: This should be interesting

This is the latest in our series of stories previewing the 2019 Washington State Cougars football season. For other installments, click here.

The Washington State Cougars are without two of their vocal and playmaking leaders on defense from 2018 — one by graduation, the other by illegal supplements.

The loss of Jalen Thompson because of his use of a banned substance this summer was a blow to the WSU secondary and the defense as a whole. Replacing a guy like Thompson with little time before the season isn’t ideal, but WSU is left with no choice.

In the trenches, the Cougs suddenly have all sorts of options on the defensive line. They also return experience at the linebacker and rush positions.…