Signing Week Thread

Update 2/5 10:30 a.m.

In the previous update, Matthew asked me (Andrew) the question, ” who’s your favorite player or position group in this class?”  Normally I have a hard time with this question.  How can you pick out a favorite player in the class when you have only seen highlight films?  With that being said, Elijah Qualls is easily my favorite player in this class.

Qualls is a defensive tackle out of California.  He’s 6’2″ and 280 and ranked the number 11 DT in the nation by Scout.  People really like his athleticism, as he also lined up at running back and fullback in high school.  If he doesn’t redshirt next year, I would expect to see him in on some goal-line formations on offense.  He’s got a great motor and as he adds some weight, I think he’ll be a difference maker.  I imagine he’ll play in the tackle spot that’s opposite of Danny Shelton (so, a little farther away from nose tackle than a defensive tackle usually is).  As well as being a high ranked recruit, Qualls has been a recruiter in this process.  He was one of the ring leaders in getting seven players to commit to the Huskies one day last summer.  Judging by his Tweets, he’s very excited to move up to Seattle and put on the purple and gold.

My favorite position group of this class is between wide-receiver and defensive line.  I tend to get a little more excited about the wide-receivers as a group because I think they’re easier to project.  As Matthew wrote a few weeks ago, it’s hard to know which of the incoming freshmen will be the best.  Demorea Stringfellow, Darrell Daniels, and John Ross should have the Dawgs loaded at receiver for the next few years.  After watching last year, I think that’s not something we should take for granted.  Stringfellow and Daniels are both big guys that are athletic but Ross is the burner.  Stringfellow is probably my favorite out of the group but I can’t say without hesitation that he’s any better than the other three.  These guys are all 4-star recruits.

As we move closer to the big day, here’s another question to bounce around (mainly for Matthew to answer but if you have an answer or a question, leave it in the comments), who is a commit that you like that is flying under the radar a little bit?

There’s a lot to choose from in that question.  For some reason, Troy Williams (a highly-ranked quarterback who has already enrolled) hasn’t gotten a lot of hype even though he’s one of the best QB’s on the West Coast.  A true under the radar guy I like is Coleman Shelton.  He’s the offensive tackle that committed this weekend.  While offering a kid this late in the season may point to him being a back-up plan, Shelton has a very impressive highlight tape and is a big guy.  He also seems to be an actual offensive tackle, which differs from past years where the Dawgs have recruited offensive linemen and then put them where they saw best.  Sure, he may end up at guard but Coleman seems to have the body for tackle.  What do you say, Matthew?

Update 2/4 7:30

I’m sitting watching Twitter, waiting for MLB Reuben Foster to pick a school.  Such is the life of recruiting-watchers.  Foster, if you remember, is one of the top few players in the country and made the surprising trek from Alabama to visit Washington twice in the last year.  The Huskies are reportedly in his top three, with Alabama and Auburn.  I expect there is next to no chance he becomes a Husky, but we’ll see.  He should announce before I finish writing this, so keep reading!

The week of signing day is crazy, but this year the Huskies’ craziness is mostly behind the coaches doors.  Rumors leak out if you follow this stuff, but there’s not a lot of solid news.  Really, there’s no solid news, other than the commit Andrew talks about below and an offer going out to LB Keishawn Bierria while he was on campus this weekend.

Last year, things were much more exciting right now.  Shaq Thompson had just committed, rumors were all over about a number of guys, Jordan Payton still had five schools to commit too, and the Huskies still had holes to fill in their class.  This year, they are still in on a lot of guys, but it’s not a whirlwind like last year.  There are a couple of reasons.  Last year, the Huskies had a mediocre class until they hired half of a new staff.  Once Lupoi, Wilcox and the rest came aboard, everything picked up, and the Dawgs ended with a solid class.  This year, the class has been excellent for a long time and keeps getting better.  They currently have 22 commits, with DE Daeshon Hall looking like the only one who they could possibly lose.  More on him later.  The class doesn’t have major holes.  It could use another offensive lineman and a safety, but if they signed the exact class that is currently publicly committed, it would be one of the best in the country and probably the best for UW since Neuheisel signed Reggie Williams, Charles Frederick and friends.

That’s not to say they’re not in on some major players.  The most likely appear to be twins and current Oregon recruits Tyrell and Tyree Robinson.  They were on campus this weekend and are reportedly torn between the two schools.  Both are phenomenal athletes.  One would likely play LB, the other receiver or in the secondary, and both would also play basketball, where they legitimate prospects.  Rumors are that one of them favors UW, and one Oregon, so we’ll see.  OL Nico Falah still has a chance to be a Dawg.  He’s announcing Wednesday.  Same for DT Eddie Vanderdoes, maybe the best player in the west.  There are some others, and there might be surprises, but there’s not a lot to say right now.  We just have to wait and see.

By the way, Reuben Foster just picked Alabama.  Oh well.

Before I sign off, I’ll throw a question to Andrew, the other Good Guys, or anyone who wants to comment.  We’ll start with an easy one: who’s your favorite player or position group in this class?

I like a lot of these players, which is what makes this class excellent.  It’s loaded with potential playmakers and elite athletes.  If I’m picking a single player, it might be CB Jermaine Kelly.  I think he might have the best chance of being a star.  He’s tall, fast, with instincts and athleticism to make him one of the top receivers in the west, as well.  What I really like about this class, however, is the defensive line, especially the defensive ends.  They need to keep Hall, but that looks likely.  He’s a 6’6″ edge rusher with potential to be the best pass-rusher UW has had in years.  Jo-Jo Mathis is bigger, with potential to shift inside at times.  He’s big, mean, athletic and talented.  Marcus Farria has great size and supposedly would be one of the top few defensive players in the west if not for some off the field issues.  It sounds like those are getting cleared up, leaving only the academics as a barrier between him and Husky Stadium sacks.  Mathis has some grade issues as well, so keep your fingers crossed.

Most years, the Huskies would be happy to have any one of these three.  This year they have all of them, hopefully.  A pass rush might finally be on its way.  Who’s your pick, Andrew?

-Matthew

If you have been a follower of the Good Guys for a while you know that Signing Day for college football is one of our favorite times of year.  I will be doing my annual ‘Live-Blogging Extravaganza’ on Wednesday starting around 6:30 AM.  I’ll be cooking up some chorizo in Maple Valley and then sitting at my laptop for around 8 straight hours, trying to stay awake.  If that sounds appealing to anyone, you’re welcome to join me.  I’m looking into doing a live chat sort of things so then we can get all of the Good Guys involved, but we’ll see.

For now, we’ll have this thread.  The 2 days leading up to Signing Day can bring a good amount of excitement so Matthew and I will be on this thread updating whatever comes our way.  There are a few big fish left that the Huskies have been trying to catch and news could break before signing day about who’s going where.  I’ll leave you with some bullet points for now, but we’ll update this thread over the next 2 days.  Stay tuned!

• We might as well start with the real news, instead of the mass rumors.  The real news is that the Huskies picked up a commitment from OL Coleman Shelton.  He’s rated a 3-star recruit by Rivals and is a nice pickup for the Dawgs, who were short on lineman.  Shelton comes from the same school as Sean Parker, Troy Williams, Dashon Goldson and a few other former Dawgs.  Shelton is termed as a late-bloomer (think along the lines of James Atoe) but offensive linemen are so hard to project that if the Husky coaches think he’s worth a scholarship than they are probably right.  He’s said to have an offer to Colorado, Nevada and a few other lower-conference schools.  This is a really down year for West-Coast offensive linemen but it looks like the Huskies have picked up 3 decent ones, thus far.
• Nico Falah is another offensive lineman that the Huskies are recruiting.  He’ll announce where he’s going on Signing Day but things seem to be looking up for the Dawgs.  Falah is highly touted and had verbally committed to USC before opening his recruitment again.  This would be a great pickup for the Dawgs.
• There are a few other higher profile recruits who the Dawgs have offered but they are far less likely to get them than Falah.  These include Myles Jack, Reuben Foster, the Robinson twins and Eddie Vanderdoes.  Out of those five, I’d Foster is the only one who the Huskies don’t really have a shot at.  The Robinson twins visited this weekend and rumors are that one could go to Oregon and the other to U-Dub.  Vanderdoes is probably the most likely at this point.  I’ll leave you with some predictions of where a few players that the Huskies are recruiting will end up.  I don’t really have any inside information, I just read a lot so take that into account.  I will try to get Matthew to add his in later.  I’ll probably get all of these wrong but here it goes:
• Reuben Foster LB (announcing tonight):  Auburn
  Myles Jack LB:  UCLA
  Eddie Vanderdoes DT:  USC
  Nico Falah OT:  Washington
  Tyrell Robinson Ath:  Oregon
  Tyree Robinson Ath:  Oregon
  Keishawn Bierra LB:  Washington

That’s all for now, folks.  We’ll keep you updated as much as possible!  Go Dawgs!

Andrew