Category Archives: Huskies Football

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by | August 23, 2010 · 9:26 pm

Who Are These Guys: Jesse Callier

“Who Are These Guys?” is a series the Good Guys are doing on the Husky football freshman class.  We’ll be telling you a little more about the guys who we think will play this year in this series.

Jesse Callier is a little different from all the guys that I’ve featured in this series because he came in early for spring football (more on his spring in a second) and therefore has been in the program longer.  Callier came to U-Dub by way of California where he led the state in rushing yards.  He had 3,010 yards last year.  That stat never ceases to amaze me.  Another fun stat: Callier ran for 447 yards in one game.  In high school he was very durable and got a ridiculous amount of carries over the season.  He’s a shorter guy, 5-10, who has added about 15 pounds since spring ball to get up to 205.  Obviously he won’t need to be as durable this year but it’s nice to know that he has that in him.

The Huskies are closer but still not back to their rich, powerful running tradition.  They have had 2 players rush for over 1,000 yards in the last 3 seasons but it’s hardly been like the days of Napoleon Kaufman and Corey Dillon.  More of this has to do with the offensive line than the running backs but it’s not like the running back has been a position of strength in the last decade.  But, the times are changing.  With the emergence of the underrated Chris Polk, a very capable backup in Johri Fogerson, exciting freshmen in Deontae Cooper and Callier, the running back position appears to have a strong present and a bright future.

When Chris Polk was out in the spring, the backups showed that they are quality depth.  Fogerson looked solid but wasn’t talked about a ton because of the great showing by the freshman.  Through 2 weeks the Cooper and Callier were neck and neck with each other.  One day Coop would have the better day, then Callier would come right back.  They were the highlight of the spring but then Callier got hurt and couldn’t participate in the last week of practice.  He also missed the spring game so fans didn’t become so familiar with him.

Now, with Cooper out for the season Callier is thrown into the spotlight.  In my opinion, Callier will take the backup position with Fogerson being ta 3rd down back.  I don’t think the injury to Cooper hurts the Huskies a ton.  Cooper will be a really good running back but I think Callier will be just fine in the backup spot.  Cooper is a downhill running back, a lot like Polk, while Callier has more of that lightning type style.  He makes guys miss and has the breakaway speed.  I think he’ll add the lightning to Chris Polk’s thunder and who knows if we’d gotten to see that if Cooper was healthy.

Now, I could be way off.  Playing running back as a true freshman is not an easy task.  Playing as a true freshman at any position is not an easy task.  But having been here for the spring should help Callier and bringing a change of pace to the running game when he spells Polk should help too.  Hopefully, he is one of the best backups in the Pac-10 so we don’t have to hear about all the Ducks’ backups all season.  12 more days until gameday!

Andrew


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by | August 21, 2010 · 12:11 pm

Who Are These Guys: Sean Parker

“Who Are These Guys?” is a series the Good Guys are doing on the Husky football freshman class.  We’ll be telling you a little more about the guys who we think will play this year in this series.

Sean Parker was the surprise of the recruiting class.  On signing day, Parker chose UW over USC on ESPN.  The strong safety was the cherry on top of the recruiting class and may be the most decorated player in the class.  Parker has been getting quite a few looks in practice and will certainly play in some capacity this season, although it may be mostly on special teams.  Parker could play both safety positions but he’s starting out at strong safety.  He’s listed at 5-10, 200 lbs.  That is a little bit shorter than some safeties but his weight is right where it needs to be.

After years on ineptitude, the Huskies secondary finally looks to be a strength of the defense.  There is a lot of depth at the corner position with Trufant, Richardson, Long, McDowell, and fellow true freshman Greg Ducre.  The safety spots also have depth although it’s not completely clear if the talent is great at those positions.  The strong safety position is held down by Nate Williams who could turn into an all Pac-10 caliber player.  The free safety position was a revolving door last year but it appears to have come down to Will Shamburger and Nate Fellner.  Justin Glenn and Greg Walker also add depth at both positions.

With all these guys returning you’d think it’d be hard for a true freshman to see the field but Parker currently sits as Nate Williams backup.  Nate Williams is also taking quite a few days off in camp (because of past injuries and the coaches wanting him to stay fresh) so that gives Parker some valuable time with the first team defense.  Parker is definitely being groomed to take over once Williams graduates next year.

But, where does that leave our young safety this year?  We could see Parker on the field in 3rd down situations and on special teams.  He’d been mentioned by Sark as a returner but I haven’t heard anything more on that in about a week.  If Williams gets injured (pray that this doesn’t happen), we’ll obviously see Parker quite a bit.

If Sean was at a weaker position I think we could see him start right away but now we’ll see him get eased in.  This is a good thing.  I look forward to watching Parker roam around the secondary for the next four years.  He is mentioned by the coaches in just about every practice report I read.  He could be something special.

Andrew

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by | August 20, 2010 · 6:06 pm

Who Are These Guys: Jake Locker

Sorry, you’re on your own on this one.  I think he plays quarterback.

-Matthew

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by | August 17, 2010 · 7:57 pm

Who Are These Guys: Sione Potoa’e

“Who Are These Guys?” is a series the Good Guys are doing on the Husky football freshman class.  We’ll be telling you a little more about the guys who we think will play this year in this series.

Sione Potoa’e was one of the biggest names in last years recruiting class.  He was also one of the biggest bodies.  Usually rated as the second best prospect in Washington (Jake Heaps was first), Potoa’e is big, explosive defensive tackle.  This big guy was rated as a four-star by both recruiting services.

If you’ve followed the Huskies over the last couple years, you probably know about the defensive line’s problems.  Opponents ran over our team at will most of the time and there wasn’t much of a pass rush to speak of.  We did have Teo-Neshiem, but one guy can’t save an entire unit.  Willingham didn’t recruit lineman very well.  I would argue he didn’t recruit anything very well but that’s for another time.  Sione is one of the guys who we hope can turn around the defensive line.

Potoa’e (6-2, 285) does have a few bodies in front of him on the depth chart.  Alameda Ta’amu is the best player at this position and has a firm hold on the job.  According to Sark, he looks like a new man is apparently playing like one.  I sure hope so.  Cameron Elisara will most likely be the starter at the other spot.  He’s played quite a bit the last two years and should be pretty strong at the other tackle position.  Semisi Tokolahi is also in front of Potoa’e.  Tokolahi is a true sophomore who played sparingly last year.  He lost a ton of weight and has been playing pretty well in camp so far.  He’s played some with the first unit.

So where does that leave Sione?  At the moment it leaves him on the second unit and the 4th overall tackle (two tackles are on the field at once generally), obviously.  But, he could move up pretty quickly.  He had one of the best first weeks of camp for any freshman, getting great reports from Sark a couple of times.  Why should we be excited about him?  Sark said he has the most explosive hands of any defensive lineman he’s seen here.  He’s already up to size and doesn’t look much like a freshman right now.

Should he red-shirt?  Maybe, but I think he could help this team right away and therefore should not red-shirt.  Defensive tackle is a good place to have depth and he adds that to this team.  Those big guys get tired, you know?

That’s all for now.  Here’s today’s scrimmage report from Condotta.  I wish I could have been there but I suppose surfing at the beach is a nice consolation prize.

Andrew

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by | August 16, 2010 · 5:44 pm

Jenkins Picks Washington!

Five star tight end, Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, just committed to the Huskies.  He’s from Gig Harbor and is the biggest name so far in this Husky class.  This is the first five-star recruit who has committed in quite a while!  If the Cooper news made you sad, let this cheer you up!  Go Dawgs!  Now, on to Kasen!

Andrew

Update:  Here’s a quote from ASJ to get us all fired up.  I usually don’t get too excited about quote but it was hard not to here:

“I committed to UW because it was the right fit. I think it is the number one program in the country and is rising. There are great coaches, people and players.”

“It was to build hype for UW, said Seferian-Jenkins. No matter what school I went to, no matter what they did or how they did it, it didn’t change how I felt. Washington is the best school in the country. I chose them over everyone in the country. I’m ready to get some roses for Washington and UW fans.”

“I have been talking to a lot of the guys I met over the summer…I have a lot of them lined up. This is going to be a great class.”

“I feel Washington has the best coaching staff in the country, no doubt about it,” said Seferian-Jenkins. “That’s why great players are coming and more players are there already.”

Scout

“I have a lot of them lined up” makes me wonder what’s to come.  This could be the best recruiting class in Husky history.  We’ll see!

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by | August 15, 2010 · 10:22 pm

Cooper Lost for the Season

Freshman running back, Deontae Cooper, had an MRI today on a knee injury that he suffered in Saturday nights practice.  Unfortunately, Cooper was met with the worst news possible.  The freshman tore his ACL and will not be available for the entire season.  This is the first bit of bad news the Huskies have suffered this camp.

There are a couple of ways to look at this.  Of course, this is bad news.  Cooper would have played right away and would have done pretty well in most people’s opinion.  After seeing him a ton this spring and reading about what he was doing during camp, I thought he was the second best running back the Huskies had available.  To have him taken away hurts because you obviously want to put the best talent on the field.

With that being said, there are two thoughts that make this injury a little easier to take:

  1. The running back position is still pretty solid.  The Huskies return everyone who had playing time last year along with Jesse Callier.  Chris Polk is better than anyone gives him credit for and will have a great year if he stays healthy, in my opinion.  Johri Fogerson is not amazing at one thing but is very solid at everything.  He fills the receiving back role.  Bronson is the big back if he gets rid of his fumbling problems.  Callier is flashy and is the long distance threat.  The depth is there, it’s not as good as it was a few days ago, but it’s still there.  If a few more injuries creep up then I’ll start to really worry.
  2. Cooper can red-shirt!  Of course, it would have been nice to have him this year but now there’s two years in between him and Polk’s eligibility.  This is a lot similar to what happened to Polk his first year.

Maybe that made you feel a little better.  To recap, this sucks but it’s not as sucky as it could get.  Now, lets keep everyone else healthy and get ready for some football!

Andrew

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by | August 13, 2010 · 6:29 pm

Who Are These Guys: Kevin Smith

A few days ago, Matthew went over which freshman might play this year for the Huskies (you can find it here).  He gave a little info on each of the freshman but I thought we’d take a closer look at some of the ones who will most likely play.  Over the next few weeks, I (and maybe the other good guys) will be doing a series called “Who Are These Guys?”

Today, we’ll start with a guy who’s really turning heads this first week of camp, Kevin Smith.  Kevin is from Compton, California.  Smith has been compared to Terrell Owens several times.  Unfortunately, he probably won’t have quite as cool touchdown celebrations.  This guy is a very good athlete who also played basketball in high school.  Smith was rated a 4-star recruit by Scout coming out of high school.  He just started playing football in the last couple years and if he had played earlier he might have been rated even higher by recruiting services.

Smith is listed at 6-0, 197.  For some reason I thought he was a little bit bigger.  Maybe this is because all the reports I’ve heard on him say that he plays big.  Jake recently said that every time the ball is thrown to him, Smith thinks he’s going to come down with it.  He usually does.  That is what makes Jermaine Kearse so good.  Being a receiver who can go up and catch the jump ball is important in our pro-style offense.

So, where does this guy fit in?  The Huskies are set in their top 3 receivers, Kearse, Aguilar, and Johnson, but the fourth spot is up for grabs at the moment.  Goodwin is good when he’s healthy, but he hasn’t been healthy in a year and a half.  Jordan Polk has the speed and the play-making capability but I don’t know if he can be counted on as a consistent, every-down receiver.  Cody Bruns is supposed to be fast and have excellent route-running abilities but he’s never seen the field except for trick plays.  He’s also been bogged down by injuries.  These were the problems that let James Johnson see the field last year and show what he was capable of.  I’m betting the same thing happens with Smith.  Of course, I want Goodwin to be healthy because he’s shown what he can do and if he’s healthy the Huskies have the best receivers in the Pac-10 but I think Smith might be just as good of an option as the other two.

It’s hard to judge how Smith will do.  As we saw last year with Johnson, a full college football season can be a little tough for a true freshman.  To see how much muscle and weight Johnson has put on this off-season makes me wonder if Smith will be a little underweight.  But, is the Johnson-Smith comparison a fair one?  That question can’t be answered yet.  Johnson wasn’t as heralded of a recruit as Kevin was so maybe we should expect more.  It’s safe to assume that Smith will play.  I would bet that he’ll be the 5th option at receiver and could move up.

I’m thinking Kevin Smith will continue the ‘exciting freshman receiver’ role that Johnson had last year.  I’m also thinking that Kasen Williams will fit that role nicely next year (cross your fingers).

Andrew

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by | August 12, 2010 · 2:14 pm

Kasen and ASJ

I don’t have much to report but every day gets us closer to the two biggest recruits in Washington committing.  With these days, I’m becoming more and more confident that Kasen and ASJ are going to be Huskies.  I don’t have any inside information, other than what I’ve read, but I’m a lot more confident now than I was last week.

To review, Kasen Williams is a receiver from Skyline who is rated as the top receiver in the nation by a few sources.  Austin Sefarian-Jenkins is rated the #2 tight-end by most recruiting services, although rumors are flying around that he could change positions once he gets to college.  Both of these guys would be huge gets, arguably the most important commits the Dawgs could get.

ASJ is making his announcement on the 16th and Williams is on the 27th.  We’ll keep you updated!  This could turn into a fun month for the Huskies even if they don’t have any football games.

Andrew

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