2011 Washington Huskies Discussion

[12]

Here we go.

I love the team this year and really think they can build off of last year. Sarkisian had perhaps his best recruiting class, hauling in all five of the state's blue chip recruits, headlined by Kasen Williams (Parade Magazine's National POY) and Austin Seferian-Jenkins, a highly touted TE who was being heavily recruited by Texas. Bishop Sankey, a four-star RB out of Spokane, is also in the mix, as is Danny Shelton, Marcus Peters and a few other incoming freshman. Washington is the youngest team in the Pac-12. All of the above mentioned players will most likely get solid playing time.

The quarterback battle between Keith Price and Nick Montana is obviously led by Price at this point. He has one more year in the system, has a bit more game experience (@ Oregon last year) and gives Washington a mobile QB behind a young line. From what I've heard though, both have been neck and neck at camp, with both guys having good days. It's Price's job to lose at this point, but we all know that Sark will choose the best guy. Freshman Derrick Brown should redshirt, but this three-star recruit out of Cali has great size (6'3" 236) and has the strongest arm of all the QB's, but he's raw.

Grade: C+

Running back is a huge strength. Hopefully Polk recovers nicely from getting his knee scoped, but if he doesn't, we're covered with Jesse Callier, Bishop Sankey and Johri Fogerson. I am actually hoping that Polk sits out until the Nebraska game, but that puts a huge hit on his Heisman hopes (as slim as they may be). I'm not saying the first two games will be easy wins, but U-Dub should be 2-0 when they make the trek to Lincoln to play my other favorite team, the Cornhuskers. Our fullbacks are Jonathan Amosa and Nick Holt, but let's hope both won't need to be used for much more than blocking. Neither one will probably get a carry all season.

Grade: A-

Receiver is another position of depth. Returning are starters Jermaine Kearse and Devin Aguilar. We have Kevin Smith, Kasen Williams and Cody Bruns in the mix for some serious playing time as well. I've heard that Williams might push Aguilar for the #2 spot behind Kearse, but I don't think that really matters. Smith is a playmaker and is probably our fastest receiver, while Bruns is the classic possession type who runs very solid routes. After these guys, it gets a little thin, but hopefully James Johnson bounces back and some of the youngsters make their mark.

Grade: B+

Tight end is the youngest position on the team. Austin Seferian-Jenkins and Michael Hartvigson are battling it out for the starting role, but both will play a lot in some double tight sets that Sark will implement. The potential with these two is huge. I've heard that ASJ has impressed a great deal with his hands and athletic ability, though he is behind Hartvigson as far as blocking is concerned. Rounding out the tight ends are Evan Hudson (RS-FR) and Marlion Barnett (RS-SO). Barnett is undersized at 6'2" 224 and probably won't see much of the field. He might move to fullback.

Grade: C- (youth really brings this grade down, but the potential is there for a B at season's end)

Offensive line is an area of weakness. We're young on the line, but there is some definite talent there. Senio Kelemete should be better this year. Colin Porter has NFL lineman written all over him, and hopefully Erik Kohler makes some big strides this season. It's an unimpressive group at this point, but that is not due to performance, but rather a lack of experience.

Grade: C

Our defensive line is probably our biggest strength on defense. Alameda Ta'amu should find himself on the Pac-12 first team if he plays up to his potential. Everrette Thompson provides some leadership and experience at one of the DE spots, though he will play DT as well. Semisi Tokalahi is talented, but has to come back from a horrible broken ankle suffered last season. Again, a lot of youth here, with Sione Potoae, Danny Shelton, Josh Shirley (rush end) and a couple other youngsters. There's a lot of recruiting stars on the DL, but we'll have to see if they translate that to the field.

Grade: B

The linebacker core, just like the tight end position, is loaded with youth. We have Cort Dennison who will captain the defense at MLB. While not extremely talented, he seems to be a smart, instinctive football player who could find himself getting some recognition on one of the postseason Pac-12 teams. The rest of the guys here are extremely young and inexperienced. Again, a lot of potential, but not a lot of college football experience. I am really excited to see John Timu (true freshman) and Thomas Tutogi in action this year.

Grade: C-

Washington's secondary is led by junior cornerback Desmond Trufant. Expectations for this kid are sky high this year, and he has to step up. He had a bit of a sophomore slump last year, so it will be interesting to see if he can bounce back. By all accounts, he has had a great fall camp. At the other corner spots, incumbent starter Quinton Richardson is currently hurt. Anthony Gobern and Greg Ducre are fighting to see who will get more looks if Richardson is out for an extended period of time. Marcus Peters, a true freshman, is impressing in camp and will definitely see the field this year. At safety, Sean Parker is the most talented, while Nate Fellner brings some experience to the fold. James Sample, a true freshman, looks good, as does some older veterans, such as Justin Glenn.

Grade: C

Special teams... PK Erik Folk had a bit of a rough year last season, but has been pretty good over his UW career. He's one of the five best kickers in the conference and should have a bounce back season. Will Mahan and Kiel Rasp are battling for the punting job. For the return game, well, we don't know who's returning kicks yet. This group is a tough one to judge.

Grade: C

Overall, Husky fans have reason to be excited, but this team won't make a whole lot of noise this season. A repeat of seven wins and a bowl game would be a success considering how young this team is, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a five or eight win season. It's just tough to know what to expect here with all of the youth. If one of the QB's steps up, the offense has a chance to put up A LOT of points, but the defense will give up a lot, too.

It's going to be a fun year for Washington football.

[spit_bubble]

It'll be interesting to see how this team and program grow. New QB is a big question mark, but a solid ground game and capable WRs should help with that. If they can get the young TEs going I think their offense could be on par or even better than last year.

On defense I like the two corners they have in Trufant and Richardson. They're gonna miss Mason Foster, but if their defensive line can set the tone like they did in last year's bowl game I think they'll be better than last year. Of course, that's not really much of an accomplishment considering where they were last year.

I also like how their schedule is set up. Conceding Oregon and Stanford, they have two big road games at the end of the year at USC and at Oregon State. Then they got Cal at home after the Nebraska game, and Arizona at home wedged in between the Stanford and Oregon games.

I think we're looking at a 7-5 team here, though youth might take away one of those wins and put them at 6-6. If guys start to emerge ahead of schedule you might see them push it up to 8 wins, though I'd be surprised to see that happen.

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Quote: Originally Posted by spit_bubble

It'll be interesting to see how this team and program grow. New QB is a big question mark, but a solid ground game and capable WRs should help with that. If they can get the young TEs going I think their offense could be on par or even better than last year. On defense I like the two corners they have in Trufant and Richardson. They're gonna miss Mason Foster, but if their defensive line can set the tone like they did in last year's bowl game I think they'll be better than last year. Of course, that's not really much of an accomplishment considering where they were last year. I also like how their schedule is set up. Conceding Oregon and Stanford, they have two big road games at the end of the year at USC and at Oregon State. Then they got Cal at home after the Nebraska game, and Arizona at home wedged in between the Stanford and Oregon games. I think we're looking at a 7-5 team here, though youth might take away one of those wins and put them at 6-6. If guys start to emerge ahead of schedule you might see them push it up to 8 wins, though I'd be surprised to see that happen.

Man... I'm telling you, Washington is on their way back in a BIG way.

I think Keith Price will end up being the real deal. Probably not a very good NFL prospect, but I think Sark will use him to perfection. He is mobile, but I don't necessarily see him as a running quarterback. If he falters, I do like Montana a lot, though I think he needs another year in the system.

Running back... We're loaded. Loaded. Polk, Callier, Sankey. Fogerson is this team's fourth back and that speaks volumes to the depth. We get Cooper back next year, hopefully, and we have a decent shot of landing KeiVarae Russell from Mariner.

All of the young talent blows me away. Kasen Williams, Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Danny Shelton, Bishop Sankey, Josh Shirley, John Timu, Sean Parker...

If we can land Garnett and Banner? Wow.

Lindquist and Miles are two huge gets. I can foresee Miles bailing, though. He'll have Price, Montana and possibly Lindquist in front of him. We'll see.

It's a damn good time to be a Dawg fan.

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Game prediction time:

Washington 42
Eastern 20

I fear the game will be closer than the score says, but I see the Huskies winning this one by at least three touchdowns.

Keith Price will throw for 200+ and rush for another 50.

Jesse Callier rushes for 125+ and Bishop Sankey picks up 75+ on the ground.

Kasen Williams hauls in a touchdown pass. ASJ gets five receptions for 60+ yards.

The defense will get a big day from the defensive line, though Bo Levi Mitchell will throw for 250+. Eastern's running game will be a non-factor as Demitrius Bronson will have a rocky return to Seattle.

Sean Parker and Desmond Trufant both get a pick, and Cort Dennison has at least 10 tackles. Ta'amu and Shelton each get a sack and Jamora gets two. Josh Shirley gets one.

Go Dawgs.

[12]

1-0. That's all that matters.

My prediction was pretty far off, but I'm glad that the Dawgs got the win. EWU was a great opponent and rather than making excuses on why we didn't win by more, I'll just go ahead and give Eastern their props. They threw the ball all over the field and should repeat as FCS champs.

One thing that really disheartened me was our defensive line play. With the exception of Jamora (7 tackes, 2.5 TFL, 1 sack), our line was underwhelming in a big way. Our secondary was left out there to dry due to the poor pass rush.

Keith Price... Man, he played awesome. 17 of 25 and 3 TD's. Yeah, the 102 passing yards are not impressive, but he had six of his passes dropped. If Kevin Smith hauls in that 50-yard TD strike, he has 4 TD's. If the drops were taken away, he finishes 23-25 for 200+ yards. He also sprained his knee in the game and kept playing through it. He showed a lot of grit.

Lots of things to work on, but the first game is always a rough one. We'll get better.

[spit_bubble]

Quote: Originally Posted by Apostle

...our line was underwhelming in a big way. Our secondary was left out there to dry due to the poor pass rush...

When the EWU QB is getting rid of the ball so quick I don't think you can blame the pass rush.

The Eagles had a great gameplan. They neutralized UW's defensive strength, their defensive line, by throwing quick routes nearly the whole game. Then they exploited the match up advantage they had by utilizing their height at the WR position against UW's small secondary. There was nothing the Dawgs could do. In fact if that last pass play was thrown a little bit higher and more to the outside the Dawgs would be right there with Oregon State right now.

It's tough to judge the LBs when a team passes so much, so the jury is still out on them. The safeties on the other hand, where were they? I don't think I heard Parker's name called all day. The secondary overall just looked like they were on their heels, slow to react with little to no adjustments made. I know Richardson was out, but still someone's gotta step up and make a play. Fortunately at the end someone did.

Offense looked solid. Price knows what he's doing out there. However, they need to squash the dropped passes right now. Can't have that carry on throughout the season. No excuse for it with the talent they have at that position, and no excuse for it with the touch Price puts on the ball. This isn't Locker out there zipping the ball in on a slant. Dropped passes are going to kill this offense if they don't deal with it right away. I don't know, make the team run a mile for every dropped pass, in practice or a game. Somethin'. Gotta get it in their heads that dropped passes are just not acceptable.

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Quote: Originally Posted by spit_bubble

When the EWU QB is getting rid of the ball so quick I don't think you can blame the pass rush. The Eagles had a great gameplan. They neutralized UW's defensive strength, their defensive line, by throwing quick routes nearly the whole game. Then they exploited the match up advantage they had by utilizing their height at the WR position against UW's small secondary. There was nothing the Dawgs could do. In fact if that last pass play was thrown a little bit higher and more to the outside the Dawgs would be right there with Oregon State right now. It's tough to judge the LBs when a team passes so much, so the jury is still out on them. The safeties on the other hand, where were they? I don't think I heard Parker's name called all day. The secondary overall just looked like they were on their heels, slow to react with little to no adjustments made. I know Richardson was out, but still someone's gotta step up and make a play. Fortunately at the end someone did. Offense looked solid. Price knows what he's doing out there. However, they need to squash the dropped passes right now. Can't have that carry on throughout the season. No excuse for it with the talent they have at that position, and no excuse for it with the touch Price puts on the ball. This isn't Locker out there zipping the ball in on a slant. Dropped passes are going to kill this offense if they don't deal with it right away. I don't know, make the team run a mile for every dropped pass, in practice or a game. Somethin'. Gotta get it in their heads that dropped passes are just not acceptable.

Great analysis... I went back and watched the game and you are 100 percent correct. The defensive line did not play that bad. Mitchell had the ball out within two to three seconds on most of his throws. There were multiple plays where he literally caught the ball from the shotgun and got rid of the ball immediately.

That's just a tough offense to defend against. I don't care if it's an FCS team or not. Eastern has some NFL talent on that roster.

Holt needs to figure it out a bit though...

[spit_bubble]

Quote: Originally Posted by Apostle

...Holt needs to figure it out a bit though...

Yeah he really didn't seem to do much to mix it up and try to confuse the quarter back. I think they rushed four pretty much the entire game, maybe with a blitz mixed in here and there. Then they just dropped everyone else back into coverage, maybe hoping the QB would make a mistake on his own. They did manage to get that one pick early on with that strategy, but EWU seemed pretty well tuned for what they were trying to do, and throwing some different looks at them might have worked a little better.

Well, Hawaii next week. I don't know what type of offense they are running, but know they've been pass heavy in the recent past. It would not bode well to get upset at home before the Nebraska game.