Author Archives: Andrew Long

by | August 9, 2012 · 1:04 am

Deontae Cooper Out For Season

News has broken tonight from Coach Sark that Deontae Cooper has torn his ACL, once again, and will miss this year.  At this point, I expect him to retire.  This is his third knee injury in as many years for the young man.  He came into U-Dub with all the promise in the world but it hasn’t worked out for him due to injuries.  Our thoughts and prayers are with him, as I’m sure this is a struggle for him.

As for what this means to the Huskies, not much.  Anyone expecting Cooper to make a significant impact this year was being unreasonable.  More than anything, this is just heartbreaking news.  Get well soon, Deontae!

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by | August 7, 2012 · 4:23 pm

Getting To Know Your Dawgs – Running Back

Fall camp started yesterday for the Huskies and the Good Guys will keep track of any major news that breaks.  At this point in time, the only news that would be of major significance is an injury so hopefully we won’t have to update on any of those.  I started a series about the Huskies position groups about a week ago, talking about the quarterbacks.  Today I’ll move on to the running backs.

The running back position has been filled over the last 3 years by one of the most successful backs in school history, Chris Polk.  He ended his career as the second leading rusher in school history and has since moved on to the NFL. This year brings us the first year of uncertainty at tailback in the Sark era.  There seems to be plenty of talent available but talent and proven talent are two different things.  I’ll order these guys in what I think the depth chart looks like right now.

Jesse Callier (Jr.)

Callier has been Polk’s backup for the last 2 years and has done pretty well in that role.  Sark made up ways to get him the ball (the fly sweep is the main way that comes to mind) and he usually succeeded with the ball.  The question about Callier is if he’d be able to handle running between the tackles and picking up the tough yards.  I tend to think that he can’t but I don’t have a ton of conviction in that thought.  Jesse did run in between the tackles in high school and was given an enormous amount of carries (43 in one game).  He doesn’t seem to have a huge history of injuries, so it’s not that I don’t think Callier couldn’t handle being the feature back.  He hasn’t shown that he can pick up yards after contact and that’s what Husky fans have grown used to.  Maybe he can but that’s yet to be seen.

Bishop Sankey (So.)

I’m a little higher on The Bishop.  He’s quick, strong and looks the part of a feature back to me.  Again, I don’t have a ton of evidence in these thoughts but it’s just what I lean-to.  Sankey played sparingly as a true freshman but showed flashes of potential.  Sark often put him in when the team ran a toss sweep play.  That speaks to Sankey’s speed.  He’s short, like Callier, and weighs about 200 pounds so the question of endurance comes up with Sankey.

Deontae Cooper (RS So.)

Matthew wrote about Cooper last night and I don’t have a lot to add.  I saw him before his two knee surgeries in almost every practice of the spring and he was every bit the legend that people have conjured up.  If he comes back and is that guy, the Huskies will have found their running back for this year and the next 2 years.  At this point, that would be close to a miracle.  But, it seems like the Huskies are due for a break as far as these things go.

Dezden Petty (RS Fr.)

Remember how the USC Trojans used  Lendale White back in their glory days?  This was the role Dezden Petty was billed to be in.  He’s a large back at 225 pounds and, if the Dawgs go with a running back by committee approach, will probably have some sort of role on this team.  I could see Petty coming in during goal line situations and he could also line up at fullback.

Erich Wilson (Fr.)

Wilson is the freshman of this group.  He didn’t come in with a bunch of hype and I don’t expect him to make an impact this year.  The depth in this group is lacking though, so who knows what could happen.  We probably won’t know much about Wilson for another year or two.

I left off Cole Sager and Willis Wilson but they are walk-ons who probably won’t be used outside of special teams and mop-up duty.  The group is young, talented and unproven.  It will be interesting to watch in camp and see if anyone claims the job.

Thanks for reading,

Andrew

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by | July 28, 2012 · 8:22 am

Flipping For The Gold

We’ve got a special surprise for you loyal readers!  As most of you know, the Good Guys generally stick to talking about the Mariners and Huskies.  Joe’s yearly NBA posts come up but otherwise we stick to what we know.  So, because the Olympics are the talk of the world we called in our gymnastics expert to give you the low-down on what to expect from team USA.  Our expert happens to be Matthew and my sister, Rachel Long.  She knows more about gymnastics than anyone I know and is just a big of fan of the sport than we are of the Huskies and M’s.  If you want a quick preview, this is the place to be.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Rachel Long.

I grew up in a sports family. Being the sister of Matthew and Andrew, I’ve spent more than my fair share of time at baseball fields, in the stands of bleachers, and yelling at the huskies from my couch believing that what I say will actually affect their performance.  And, I’ve loved every minute of all of it. Nothing is better than a fall Saturday at Husky Stadium with my family.

Well…. almost nothing, because as much as I love every other sport, my obsession with gymnastics out rules them all.  I have loved gymnastics for as long as I can remember. So much so that now it is my career. I spend the vast majority of my time coaching a gymnastics team. It is my job, my passion, and, most people would say, my life.

Most people go through years of their life not thinking a single thought about gymnastics. I can’t get my mind off of it. I over think it, analyze it, and drive friends crazy because I never shut up about it. My life is spent telling girls how to get better, how they can go higher, twist faster, and improve their scores. I analyze gymnastics videos trying to learn from the technique of the best gymnasts in the world.  So when I watch gymnastics, I pick it apart. I look for every error, comment on every deduction, and yell at gymnasts and coaches just as you do at the Mariners. Sometimes, because of my knowledge level and “expertise” I find myself wondering if I have lost a little of the joy and amazement that I has as a young girls watching the Magnificent Seven win gold at the 96 Olympics.

But, then the Olympics come around again.  Every four years, the world turns their eyes to gymnastics. A sport that is often forgotten is suddenly thrust into the spotlight and the world marvels at these seemingly impossible moves that these young girls make look easy. As I watch the games with my family and friends, their comments, questions and astonishment bring me back to why I love gym in the first place. No other sport is like it. It is exciting, terrifying, and beautiful all in one. The skill level, power and strength that these teenage girls have astounds you. The focus and heart that they compete with leaves you sitting on the edge of the couch wondering if in a single second all their dreams will fall apart.

I am okay with the fact that most people could care less about gymnastics. But, as you sit at home watching these Olympics, try to feel a little of the magic of gymnastics. Let yourself be pulled in. Root for these girls who have spent their whole lives working for this one moment. And then when the games end, you can go back to pretending like you don’t care.

So, from a gymnastics junkie to a four-year fan, here is your guide to the US Olympic Gymnastics team ….

Many would say that this is the best gymnastics team the US has ever had. Five girls, none over the age of 18, make up the squad who goes into the games as the favorite to win gold. Here are the girls

Jordyn Weiber–
Jordyn is the reigning world champion and a favorite to win All Around gold in London.  She is known for her power and athleticism and excels at floor and vault. Jordyn has won every major meet she has entered this year until three weeks ago when she lost for the first time at Olympic Trials to up and comer Gabby Douglas. Some would say that Gabby is peaking at the right time to give Jordyn a run for gold. In my opinion, sometimes people get tired of the old favorites. Weiber has been so good for so long that it can almost be a little boring. Though only 17 years old, Jordyn has been around and won every major meet in the World.  Many gymnastics fans have fallen in love with Gabby because she is young, new and different. However, in my opinion Jordyn is the one to watch. She has all the skills, focus, and mind-set to win it all. Jordyn is one of the toughest competitors I have ever seen in gymnastics. If she has a weakness, it is on bars. Though she can score well, she does not have the high-flying skills of Douglas or beautiful lines of Kyla Ross. Watch for Jordyn to consistently hit her routines with very few visible errors and with mental toughness beyond anyone. Maybe she doesn’t have the personality of Gabby Douglas but Jordyn does some pretty great gymnastics.

Gabby Douglas–
As I mentioned above, Gabby is the talk of gymnastics right now. After moving two years ago to be coached by Olympic champion Shawn Johnson’s coach, Gabby has been on the rise. She has continued to improve and astound the world, climaxing in her win at the Olympic Trials. Wait till you see her bar routine. This girl flies. I had the chance to watch her compete in person twice this year and her bars is unbelievable. I find myself holding my breath through it as she barely grabs onto the bar after each release move that seem to go ten feet into the air. She has been dubbed “the flying squirrel” by Olympic team coordinator Marta Karolyi because of the way she swings bars. Gabby can also be amazing on every other event especially floor. However the  operative word is “can.” For as amazing as Gabby can be, she can also be disastrous. She has been at times labeled as a head case and is very inconsistent, especially on beam. This is the main reason I have a hard time loving Gabby. As great as she can be, I am scared to see her put up on beam in team finals. I have nightmares of the United States losing out on gold because of a fall from Douglas on beam. Though I hope not, I expect Gabby to have a fall or major error at some point in time during the Olympic games. I just hope it doesn’t cost team USA or Gabby herself a medal.

Ally Raisman–
Ally fought her way onto this team by pure work, determination and guts. Ally doesn’t have some of the beauty of the other girls and doesn’t always have the same skill set. However what she does have is much-needed on this young inexperienced team- consistency. Ally can be counted on to go up and hit her routines with no major errors. She has proven this at meet after meet and is on this team to be the rock that the US needs. Ally, at the oh so old age of 18, is the team captain and the calming influence on the some of the very young girls. Ally has a big weakness on bars and that should keep her out of competing for the all around. But, on every other event she can put up some huge number that the US needs. Her vault is messy and I predict it will not score well at the Olympics. But her floor and beam are astounding and I hope to see her make it into finals on both these events. Her first tumbling pass on floor (round off 1 ½  twist step out to double Arabian immediate punch front layout, for anyone who cares!)  leaves you wondering how in the world any human can do that. I root for Ally because you can see that she has worked so hard for everything she has. I would love to see her have her own moment at the Olympics.

Kyla Ross–
Besides Weiber, Kyla has been my favorite gymnast to watch all year. She is the youngest on the team at 15 years old and many wonder if her inexperience will hurt her. I’m betting it won’t. Kyla has all the makings of a world class gymnast- clean lines, big skills, and focus that never seems to waver. She showed all through this season that she could be counted on to hit her routines over and over with great execution. I believe that the international judges will love Kyla’s look and gymnastics. Kyla is mainly on this team because she can be counted on to put up a huge bar score, which is the event team USA is weakest on. Kyla’s bars is beautiful. At some meets this year, her scores have even topped Douglas. Kyla can also shine on beam with a difficult set that she performs with perfect form. On floor and vault, Kyla can be counted on for clean performances with solid scores but will not bring in the numbers of some of the other girls. Kyla may not be the main star of these games but she will help the US to be close to that Gold medal and I expect to see Kyla around for a few more years after the  olympics.

Mckayla Maroney–
Maroney is on this team for one reason- Vault.  I have not read or heard anyone disagree that this 16-year-old girl from Long Beach, California is without question the best vaulter in the world. Her score on vault will give the United States a huge score advantage over any other country. I’ll try to summarize her vault in a way that a non-gymnastics person can understand. She sprints down the runway as fast as possible, does a round off so she hits the spring-board facing backwards, as she flies head first at top speed into a non moving extremely hard object she turns upside down and bounces off her hands on the vault table, and finally from here she flips off her hands and, while rotating with her body completely straight, completes two and a half twist before landing on her feet. And she does it in a way that makes it look easy. Other athletes can do this vault, including Weiber and Douglas. Nobody can do this vault the way Mckayla Maroney can.  Not only does this help the US during team finals, it almost guarantees the US another medal.  Maroney will make it to vault finals and she will win. (I’m knocking on wood as I write this because I don’t want to jinx her…. But really she’s that good!) We might not see Maroney compete any other events though I would love to see her floor routine. But like I said, Mckayla was put on this team to vault and she will do that well.

These five girls come in as the favored team. The US are the defending world champions and all of these girls except Kyla were on that winning team. They are very, very good. However, this can mean nothing in gymnastics. In the team finals, one fall can cost you a medal and many countries are biting the heels of the US team. Expect the fight to be between the historically top four countries in gymnastics- Russia, Romania, China, and The USA.

– Rachel Long

(Ed. note) I believe gymnastics starts tomorrow (Sunday) during prime time, if you are interested in watching.  

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by | July 23, 2012 · 11:32 pm

Thank You, Ichiro

Matthew just wrote a post about Ichiro below this.  It’s based more on facts and what it means for both sides.  This post is more of the emotional aspect and I just wanted to write a few words about the legend.

For the last month I’d been planning to write a post about Ichiro Suzuki.  I’ve been a defender of his this past year and I had grown frustrated with the media constantly bashing him while overlooking other faults in the organization.  Every time I tried to write the post though, I couldn’t get it out.  The truth is, Ichiro just has been very good in the last couple of years and I couldn’t write a strong enough piece to totally defend him.  I guess, more than anything it bothered me how Ichiro was treated.

I’ve never been one to truly care about how much a player talks to the media.  I didn’t like it when Chone Figgins repeatedly said, “Next question.” but that’s just because I don’t like Figgins.  Unfortunately, the media doesn’t like it when players don’t speak to them and where do fans get most of their information?  The media.  With that in mind, I think number 51’s career was tarnished a little bit.  Ichiro Suzuki was one of the Mariners most productive hitters this season.  He wasn’t good, in fact, he was bad, but there truly weren’t many better guys.  Yet, talk shows spent hour after hour debating his spot in the batting order.  National media members (Jon Heyman) tweet about the Mariners once a month and it’s usually to bash Ichiro.

For some reason, Ichiro has gotten the label of being a ‘selfish’ baseball player.  This stemmed from him not interacting with people and always hitting singles.  Think about how ridiculous this notion is now that he’s not here.  You had 2,533 hits for our organization and you are selfish.  What?  Former players didn’t understand Ichiro and then bashed him, because of that, after they’d left town.

Over the course of this year, there have been many things said about Ichiro that shouldn’t have been said.  Jay Buhner said recently said he would have vomited if Ichiro was signed to a good-sized extension.  We all understood the sentiment, but don’t you think he could have made it sound better?  A Mariner legend, who will never sniff the hall of fame, just insulted a future hall-of-famer, who played in Seattle longer than he did, in front of the whole city.  No one would have done this to Jr. in his last season even though he was producing at a much lower rate.

I think, over the past year, we’ve diminished the player Ichiro was.  He’s been the face of Japanese baseball and will continue to be long after he retires.  I ask you to forget all things that were said this past year about Ichiro.  He’s not selfish, he’s from another culture and just came here to play baseball the way that he knew how.  He was great at it.  He’ll be the 2nd player inducted into the Hall as a Mariner, right after Griffey, and he should be treated like that.  He’s a legend and we won’t see anyone else do what he did, ever.  2,533 hits in 11 and a half seasons.  Read that sentence again.

Remember Ichiro for his laser throw to gun down Terrance long.  Remember Ichiro for the day he broke Sisler’s hit record.  Remember him for the player he was as a Mariner, not the picture some of the media painted him as.

I’ve always hated the Yankees.  I’m like most people.  Now, I will root like crazy for them to win the World Series.  Ichiro truly deserves that.

I’m sorry if you ever felt under-appreciated here, Ichiro.  I hope you know that you are loved in this city and you’re a legend.  Go hit .320, win a ring, wear it to spring training and punch Jon Heyman in the face with it on.

Andrew

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by | July 22, 2012 · 9:35 pm

Getting To Know Your Dawgs – Quarterback

Matthew has recently been working on his series about the Mariners prospects at different positions.  This seems like a good idea.  I mean, Matthew does have his Masters Degree so that means he has some good ideas once in a while.  You never knew that the amount of good ideas you had were a direct correlate to the amount of education you have, did you?  That’s why 7 year old’s ideas are so dumb.  This is a tiny bit true although I’m mocking it.

Anyway, as Matthew finishes up his series about the M’s, college football season approaches!  Husky football is vastly more interesting than the Mariners these days so my series, which is on each of the 2012 Huskies positions, should be way better than Matthew’s.  This really wasn’t a competition until I started writing this.  Read his stuff too because he’s a better writer and, if you’re interested in the Mariners farm system, it’s much more revealing.

There’s a little over a month before the Huskies kick off against San Diego State on September 1st and only about 10 days until the Huskies fall camp starts.  It will be an exciting time, as this might be Steve Sarkisian’s best Husky team so far.  We’ll have more previews on the team as the season draws.  Today, I’ll just be talking about the quarterback and will move down the list of positions over the next month (content may continue to be light for the next few weeks because of vacations and such, it’s a busy time.  Sorry!).

The quarterback position will probably always be in good hands as long as Sark is here.  There were concerns about Keith Price last season but then he turned in one of the most amazing seasons in Husky history.  While that was going on, our coach brought in two 4-star recruits to sure up the future.  This  might be the most cheerful position preview you read, so enjoy it!

Keith Price (RS JR.)

Over the next couple of seasons, Keith Price could become my favorite Husky of all time (it’s a tie between Chris Polk and Tui, at the moment).  He has a great story, he’s a great player, and, most of all, he’s just happy to be on the field, playing some ball.  His smile has won over Husky nation and I’m not sure that anyone (even opposing fans) can really root against the guy.  Oh yeah, the numbers are pretty amazing too.  Last year he passed for 33 touchdowns, over 3,000 yards and had a 67% completion percentage to boot.  He did most of that on one good leg.  I do wonder if he’ll be able to stay healthy for an entire season but we saw what he could do in the Alamo Bowl with a healthy body.

Without Chris Polk around, some have questioned if Price will be as effective.  It’s an interesting argument that has some legs but I don’t have many concerns as far as that goes.  His numbers may not be quite as efficient but the yards may go up even farther and the Dawgs should be able to muster some sort of rushing attack.

Derrick Brown (RS FR.)

Brown will enter the fall as Price’s backup, if that stays the same for the season remains to be seen.  Brown could quickly become a forgotten man on this team because of the talented kids below him and the star above him.  With that being said, if Brown performs well he’ll play as Sark has shown a willingness to play the best player.  As a quick aside, remember when that wasn’t the case?  When Tyrone Willingham was coach I had no idea if the best player at the position was playing.  I know expectation are growing for this program, as they should,  but let’s be thankful that we made the right decision on this coaching hire.  Sark may not be the guy who coaches this team in the next golden age of Husky football but he has truly done an incredible job of getting us out of a deep, dark hole.

Back to Brown, he’s a 6-3, 230 lb. guy who is a fairly mobile guy.  He’s from California and was ranked around the number 20 quarterback prospect in the nation by recruiting services.  He’ll battle it out for the backup job during camp and I expect that he’ll be listed as the backup quarterback going in to this season.  Beyond that, I really have no idea.

Jeff Lindquist (FR.)

Lindquist is from Mercer Island and is a guy that I look forward to seeing over the next few years.  I know a few people over on the island and they all raved about Lindquist.  Not so much as a football player (although he was surely great in high school) but more as a person.  He seems to truly have his head on straight (which is another thing that Sark has done well, bringing in players with good character and running a pretty clean ship).  He’s around 6-4, 220 and reminded me of a Jake Locker type style when I watched him live a few times.  He runs pretty well, although not as fast as Locker, and has a strong-arm.  He was rated in the top 10 quarterbacks by most recruiting services.

Cyler Miles (FR.)

Miles is from Colorado and had an interesting recruiting experience.  He committed to the Huskies and then almost flipped to USC at the last second before announcing he was a Dawg.  I remember signing day well since I woke up at 6:30 for it…. Anyway, Miles has the best mobility of any U-Dub quarterback.  He’s a quick guy.  His passing might not be as strong in the passing game as Lindquist but he’s faster.  The recruiting services rank these guys very evenly and they’re usually ranked around number 10.  I have no idea who will turn out to play more.  There is no consensus on who’s better but Sark is working with some good kids and I have a lot of faith that one of them will turn out.

This position is probably the best on the team right now.  You can make an argument for the secondary but I don’t think it has more talent than this one.  I hope that Price is able to stay healthy and the young guys can redshirt.  Also, any of the backups playing this year might be a bit too soon.  Sark knows what he’s doing with them though and this position is the least of my worries.  That’s a blessing, considering that it’s probably the most important position.

Thanks for reading!

Andrew

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by | July 5, 2012 · 7:00 pm

A Recruiting Explosion!

I hope everyone enjoyed your holiday, ate lots of food and shot off some fireworks.  Speaking of fireworks, the Dawgs have had an explosion in the football recruiting world.  Since last Friday, the Huskies have picked up 8 verbal commitments.

Seven of those commits came last Friday during Washington’s Rising Stars camp.  Many recruiting experts expected the Huskies to pick up at least a few commits but no one thought the Dawgs would pick up 7.  Since the news broke, there hasn’t been a ton of information written about these new commits so I’ll review each of the guys with as much information as I can find (it won’t be a ton).  I used Scout for their rankings, although those rankings may be updated sometime soon as they enter the football season.

RB Lavon Coleman (Lompoc, CA) – 5-11, 210

Coleman is a 4-star recruit and ranked number 26 in the country at the position.  As a junior, Coleman ran for 2,038 yards and 28 touchdowns.  I don’t know if you put any stock in this but his team went undefeated and won the state championship.  Coleman is obviously well thought of, being ranked that high.  He had offers from almost all of the Pac-12 as well as Boise State.  From his video, he doesn’t seem to be afraid of contact and bounces off tacklers.

WR Demorea Stringfellow (Moreno Valley, CA) – 6-3, 195

Stringfellow is also a 4-star recruit and ranked number 11 overall at his position.  With this commit, the Huskies have wrapped up two of the biggest wide receivers on the west coast (the other being Darrell Daniels).  Demorea pulled in some offers from big name schools like Florida, Nebraska, USC, Michigan and most of the rest of the Pac-12.  He’s another tall receiver that is the kind we expect Sark to go after.

OG Andrew Kirkland (Portland, OR) – 6-5, 290

Kirkland didn’t commit with the rest of these guys but he did give his verbal 4 days later.  He’s rated as a 3-star recruit and number 43 overall at the offensive guard position.  He plays tackle in high school but the recruiting services see him moving inside because he moves well for his size.  Kirkland had a few offers out there and it was nice to take him away from the Oregon schools.

OT Poasi Moala (Moreno Valley, CA) – 6-5, 265

Moala is from the same school as Stringfellow.  He’s a 3-star commit and ranked 50th overall as an offensive tackle.  He has received an offer from about half of the Pac-12.  Moala doesn’t have the weight some of these guys do but he moves well and held his own against some big defensive linemen during the camp.

DT Andrew Basham (Lynnwood, WA) – 6-4, 305

Basham is listed as both an offensive and defensive tackle but it sounds like he was recruited on the defensive side.  He’s a big guy and is rated as a 3-star recruit and number 72 overall at his position.  Basham had received offers from Oregon State and Arizona State and I wouldn’t be surprised if more were to come.

DT Elijah Qualls (Petaluma, CA) – 6-2, 279

Qualls was a guy many had hoped would commit last week and, sure enough, he did!  He’s rated as a 4-star recruit and 16th overall at the defensive tackle position.  He seems to be a little raw but has all the physical gifts you could want.  He plays running back in high school so that lets you know how athletic he is.  Qualls seems like he could go play just about anywhere he wants, as his offer list is quite impressive.

DE Daeshon Hall (Lancaster, TX) – 6-6, 220

Hall was committed to Texas before deciding to look around.  Anytime you pull a guy away from Texas, you’re doing something right.  Hall did go to school in Seattle until a few years ago and may be moving back here for his senior year of high school.  He’s a 4-star recruit and ranked 18th overall at the defensive end position.  Hall is extremely athletic and profiles to be in the ‘rush end’ position (like Josh Shirley now.

OLB Caleb Tucker (Monroe, LA) – 6-2, 225

Tucker was the biggest surprise out of this group and is still kind of unheard of.  We don’t know much about him, as he comes from Louisiana.  I’d like to see how many Husky players have come from Louisiana.  Anyway, he’s a 2-star recruit (for now) and ranked 137th at the outside linebacker position.

Previously, the Huskies have received commitments from 8 other guys, including a 4-star quarterback and a 4-star wide receiver.  The team has 16 known verbal commits.  They will probably not keep all of those players committed, which is just the way it goes in this day and age.  They are off to a good start though and are in on some big names.  They’ll probably take about 25 guys in this recruiting class.

Thanks for reading,

Andrew

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by | July 2, 2012 · 12:10 am

Danny Hultzen and Other Tacoma Notes

It was a fairly busy sports weekend in the Seattle area, and I spent the weekend going to a few baseball games.  Sandwiched in between the Rainiers on Thursday and Mariners on Saturday was one of the biggest recruiting days in Husky football history.  I’ll hopefully get to that tomorrow.  The Mariners don’t have much to talk about aside from Munenori Kawasaki being extremely awesome, so I’ll start off recapping the weekend by writing about how my weekend started.

On Thursday, Matthew, our cousin (and loyal blog reader) Tyler, and I made the trek down to Tacoma to see the Danny Hultzen-Jamie Moyer match-up.  A trek it was.  It took us two and a half hours to get from Bellevue to Tacoma but that’s beside the point, this isn’t a traffic blog, it’s a sports blog!  Although, a traffic blog may be more entertaining than talking about the Mariners sometimes.  Anyway, we missed one of Hultzen’s innings because of traffic but caught his other 3 innings.

The future Mariner has a hunched over windup, kind of like his shoulders are slouching.  Other than that, the rest of his windup was pretty standard.  His right foot starts a little bit in front of the rubber and steps to the side, more than it steps backwards.  There’s a fairly normal leg kick and his arm comes a little higher than the 3/4’s slot.  His follow-through is fairly normal (more on that later) as well.  Here’s some video of the start.  His fastball sat at about 93 and he flashed 96 twice up on the radar gun (I don’t think the radar gun was hot or anything because Moyer was about where he has been all season and even below that at times).  We didn’t see much of his change-up because he didn’t seem to have a lot of control of it.  Maybe it was just an off night for that pitch, as it’s usually a plus pitch for him.  His slider had tons of movement, although he didn’t have plus control on that either.  It was a great strikeout pitch though.

Hultzen walked 4 guys in 4 innings during the game.  All of the walks came when Hultzen was pitching out of the stretch.  Hultzen often switched his between a slide-step and a high leg kick when runners were on first base.  Based on the video, I think he’s a little better when he’s not using the slide-step.  Maybe he doesn’t have a good pick-off move (he didn’t use one, that I recall) but a good amount of lefties get away with not using a slide-step.  His control was definitely a problem out of the stretch.

Another problem Hultzen seemed to have was finishing his pitches.  Matthew picked up on it right away, and after watching the video I have to agree with him.  In the second inning, when Danny got into some trouble, he seemed to really struggle with this.  By not finishing his pitch, I mean to say that his leg and arm didn’t follow through as much as they usually do.  To use the famous phrase, he was trying to “aim it and not throw it.”  It was especially apparent on off-speed pitches (this gave the pitch away to some hitters) but there were a few fastballs where it seemed to be a problem as well.

All in all, Danny was good.  There weren’t many hard hit balls, the issue was strictly control.  He has great stuff and will succeed.  He does have to work through this control issue.  I don’t know if the mechanical things I mentioned are a constant problem or just an abnormality.  If anyone goes to see him in Tacoma again (he’ll pitch again on Tuesday) look for what I mentioned and let us know.

I’ve got a few more thoughts on Nick Franklin, Triunfel, and Peguero after the jump.  Continue reading →

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by | June 27, 2012 · 8:24 pm

Reasonable Expectations

We’ve recently had a flurry of Mariners activity on the blog, which is surprising considering how boring the Mariners’ activity has been.  Matthew has been on a posting roll though, and I’m not about to stop him.  With that being said, I’m going to change pace for the night and talk about some Husky football.  What’s that, football?  You thought we forgot about you?  Sorry that you feel that way and that you felt neglected.  The Good Guys recognize your that you are only about a month and seven days from camp starting and we will proceed to talk about you more often.

There’s a reason I don’t write about college football much from spring football to the start of the fall camp.  All that’s happening in the college football world is endless speculation and I don’t care much about what national ‘experts’ have to say about the Huskies because it usually contains 3 topics, “Keith Price, ASJ, and a terrible defense.”  They aren’t usually wrong but they aren’t giving me any new information.  But, today I wandered down to the store and picked up my first college football magazine of the season.  I do enjoy reading those because it marks the start of the college football period to me and the part about local teams is generally written by local writers who know what they’re talking about.

Anyway, I was struck by how well thought of Shaq Thompson is.  I was stoked when he committed but, with the crazy amount of activity that goes on during signing week, the true excitement never really sunk in.  That got me thinking, what can we reasonably expect from Shaq Thompson this year?

I’ll start off (because the last three paragraphs were for the benefit of getting my brain working and didn’t actually count as part of this post.  Tricked you!) by saying the Huskies have never had an incoming freshman as highly ranked as this.  Old news, right?  Well, yes but it’s easy to forget and something we have to think about to do research on past players of this magnitude.  Recruiting ranking services have only grown in the last few years but have been around for a long time.  I’ll take my research back until 2002 because that’s how far Rival.com and Scout.com have their data going back to.  Since 2002, the Huskies have only had one defensive 5-star recruit.  So, this is kind of unprecedented territory for the Dawgs.  Here is the names and the amount of success the Huskies 5-star commits have had since 2002 (all rankings were from Scout because I like their local scouting more than Rivals).

Donny Mateaki (DE) 2002 – Mateaki was ranked 4th overall at his position and 44th in the top 100.  Mateaki was a starter throughout most of his career but never was at an all-conference level.

Jon Lyon (TE) 2003 – Lyon was ranked at 40th overall and 4th at his position.  He was at a JC though  Lyon was also a starter but wasn’t close to a star.

Kavario Middleton (TE) 2008 – Middleton was ranked 3rd at his position and 29th overall, as well.  We know the story here, Middleton was clearly talented but didn’t mesh well with coaching staffs and left UW without making much of a mark.

Kasen Williams (WR) 2011 – Williams was ranked 2nd at his position and 22nd overall.  That makes him the highest on this list.  Obviously, he’s only played one year and started in the latter half of the year.  He has a promising future.

Austin-Seferian Jenkins (TE) 2011 – ASJ was also second at his position and 32nd overall.  The same goes as above, promising but not proven.

Wow, what a terrible list.  Sure, Kasen and ASJ look good thus far but the rest of this list is not much to write home about.  None of them had a significant NFL career, although I’d be shocked if that didn’t change with ASJ and Kasen.  This doesn’t bode well for Shaq but, then again, those guys weren’t ranked in the same league he is as far as the ratings go and this is just some bad luck.  It does go to show that 5-star guys aren’t always sure things.  All 5 of these guys did contribute in their true freshman season though.  The next list is the top rated safeties (what Thompson was) dating back to 2002.

2002 – Pat Watkins, FSU – Watkins didn’t play until his sophomore year in college but then did go on to have a pretty successful career.  He was drafted in the 5th round and played for about 5 years in the NFL.  Watkins wasn’t at the highest college level but he was a very good player.

2003 – Brandon Owens, Minnesota – Owens was injured his junior year and didn’t return from the injury.  He played as a true freshman and was good but not a star.

2004 – Drew Kelson, Texas – Kelson played 4 years in Texas and played as a true freshman.  He was a draft prospect but didn’t have much of an NFL career.

2005 – Kenny Phillips, Miami – Phillips played his true freshman year and had the most successful career of any guy so far on this list.  He was drafted 31st overall in 2008 and has been successful in the NFL.

2006 – Myron Rolle, FSU – Rolle played right away as well and a very successful college player (although probably not to the level of Phillips) and was drafted in the 5th round.  He was great but I think the guy behind him was probably more well thought of.  That guy is Taylor Mays.

2007 – Chad Jones, LSU – Jones was very successful and played on offense and defense.  We could see some of that from Thompson.  He was drafted in the 3rd round.

2008 – Will Hill, Florida – That’s a cool name!  Hill played right away for Florida and was named to the All-SEC freshman team.  He had a successful career but wasn’t at an all-conference level.  He was signed as an undrafted free agent after playing arena football and is now with the New York Giants (the last 4 guys have all played for the Giants at one point or another.  Weird).

2009 – Craig Loston, LSU – Loston’s career at LSU will probably last until 2014 and he’s been injured in the past 3 seasons.  There still seems to be some promise in him.

2010 – Keenan Allen, Cal -Allen is a wide receiver at Cal and I debated whether I should move him to the number 2 ranked safety.  I decided no, obviously, because Allen has been so successful at Cal.  He started right away and has been awesome for them and for Matthew who is his Pac-12 fantasy football league owner.

2011 – Ha’Sean Clinton-Dix, Alabama – Clinton-Dix (which is a hilarious name when you think about it) seems to have red-shirted last year, but at a place like Alabama that’s not so surprising.

So, that was a list of 10 guys.  There weren’t any huge superstars (aside from maybe Allen and Phillips) but only 2 of the 10 red-shirted their freshman year.  Most of them made the NFL and several played on both sides of the ball.  This list is a lot more promising than the Huskies group of 5-star guys.

For the last list, I compiled all of Scout’s recruits (since 2002) that were ranked number 3 overall.  I’m not going to provide any analysis on them until the end.  In 2003 and 2004, Scout didn’t rank the top 300.

  • 2002 – Devin Hester
  • 2005 – Eugene Monroe
  • 2006 – Sam Young
  • 2007 – Marvin Austin
  • 2008 – Julio Jones
  • 2009 – Jacobbi McDaniel
  • 2010 – Robert Woods
  • 2011 – De’Anthony Thomas

I didn’t include analysis because the only thing I can really add is that these guys are really good.  Sam Young may be the worst of the group and he was on the freshman All-American team and has had a decent NFL career.

All of that information and partial analyzing leads me to believe that Shaq Thompson is likely to play this year.  In all of the players that I listed, all but 6 played in their true freshman year.  I don’t think we can expect him to be a star right away though.  Even De’Anthony Thomas went through growing pains in his first year.  With that being said, Thompson is likely going to be the best defensive talent we’ve seen on the Huskies since the 90’s.  Sure, sometimes these guys flop but looking through the history of recruits ranked this high shows that most have a high success rate.

Don’t expect the Huskies defense to be great because Shaq Thompson is on the field.  It takes 11 guys and even Shaq will have a few problems but the Huskies are a lot better with Thompson than they are without him.  Keep your expectations reasonable but be excited, especially when you read those pre-season magazines.

Thanks for reading,

Andrew

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