Category Archives: UW Football Recruiting

by | February 10, 2014 · 9:42 pm

Who Are These Dawgs? (Defense)

2014 signing day has come and gone and went surprisingly according to plan for the Washington Huskies.  Coach Petersen had about 2 months to put together a class (although almost a whole month of that was a quiet period).  In those 2 months, Coach Pete brought in 24 players.  All but 3 of those were not committed under the old staff.

The 2014 class was ranked 35 by Scout.com and 7th in the Pac-12.  As far as transitioning from coach to coach goes, this was a very strong class.  It addressed needs in the secondary and provided quality depth to an already talented team.

Later in the week, Matthew is going to look at the recruits who will be on the offensive side of the ball but we’re going to start off by looking at the defense.

Before I get into specific players, I’ll try to break it down by positions.  On the defensive line the Huskies signed 5 guys who will start there.  There are 3 guys who will definitely start as ends (maybe 4) and 1 that is destined to be a tackle.  After signing 4 linebackers last year, the Huskies only added 1 this year.  The secondary is really where the Huskies added guys.  They signed 7 guys who will be in the secondary, 3 at safety and 4 at corner (probably).  The secondary class was ranked in the top 5 in the country.  The Huskies could run a 4-2-5 (5 secondary guys) in the future, and this class lends itself to that.  It also fills a huge hole in what was a position group that lacked depth.

I’ll take a quick look at each player on the defensive side.  If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I will get to them.  I’ll list the players by position group.  Along with a short profile of the commit, I’ll give a percentage chance that he plays as a true freshman.  This is my guess.  I don’t know that much.  Please don’t take it too seriously, I just thought it’d be a fun exercise to add.  Here we go!

DT Greg Gaines – Gaines is a big 300 pounder out of California.  While he’s 300 pounds, he’s only 6’1″ so he’s very large.  I’ve often wondered if a huge defensive guy like that may benefit from being shorter because the offensive linemen have a harder time getting under their pads.  The old staff was recruiting taller guys, and really seemed to push for that type of body type.  The new staff may do the same, but there wasn’t quite the emphasis on it this time.  Gaines was rated as a 3-star prospect and had offers from Colorado, Iowa State, Boise State, and Fresno State (as well as some smaller schools) according to Scout.  Gaines has a chance to play right away because there aren’t a ton of guys similar to him on the roster.   Chance he plays as a true freshman:  40%

DE Jaylen Johnson – Johnson also comes from California and is a defensive end.  Jaylen was long committed to Boise State but is one of the players Coach Petersen persuaded to come to Washington.  Johnson may have been one of the most hotly recruited prospects that decommitted from Boise.  Johnson is listed at 6’3″, 240 lbs.  He is reported to have offers from most Pac-12 schools including Oregon and ASU, as well as TCU Vanderbilt and Northwestern.  Johnson may be the furthest along of any of the defensive ends.  That alone may be reason why he plays this coming season.  Chance he plays as a true freshman:  40%

DE Kaleb McGary – McGary is 1 of 4 four-star recruits to sign with UW.  As last as 2 weeks ago, it didn’t look good for the Huskies but the allure of being close to home proved to be a huge factor for McGary, as he lives in Fife.  McGary is full of potential.  At 6’8″, 280 lbs., McGary could easily become a left tackle.  He’s going to start out on the defensive side of the ball, per his own request.  McGary obviously has the type of body you want on your football team.  He’s a great athlete and, if coached up, could become a star.  While he is fairly raw right now, McGary was a huge get for Coach Pete and staff.  He chose UW over Wisconsin, WSU, and OSU but could have gone anywhere in the Pac-12 (Nebraska also offered).  Because of his body type, he could play right away.  He could really develop during a redshirt season though, especially if he switches to the offensive line.  Chance he plays as a true freshman:  60%

DE  Shane Bowman – Upon his arrival, Coach Petersen made Bellevue High School a priority.  Most Husky fans couldn’t agree more with this decision.  Bowman was a commit to Oregon State before he flipped to UW.  He was one of Bellevue’s most important players on their state championship team.  Bowman has a high motor and comes in at 6-4, 240.  He will probably add some weight to that but may be more of rush-end than the others mentioned thus far.  Because he isn’t that big, Bowman will probably need a season to redshirt.  The hope is that he turns into the next Scott Chrichton.  Chance he plays as a true freshman:  15%

DE Will Dissly – The last of the defensive ends comes from Bozeman, Montana.  Dissly is an under the radar kid, but he dominated in his High School league and has some impressive film.  He was named as an honorable mention on the Parade All-American team.  Dissly could possibly see time as tight end, but I imagine that he’ll stick on the defensive side of the ball.  Dissly is seen as a project but, then again, so was Mason Foster.  Dissly lives in a portion of America where there isn’t a lot of scouting so it’s harder to know what you have.  From what I know, I would guess that he needs a year of seasoning before he breaks on to the field.  Never underestimate Montanians though.  Chance he plays as a true freshman:  10%

LB Drew Lewis – Drew is another one of the Washington prospects that signed, in what was a down year for in-state talent.  Lewis played safety in high school but will start out as a linebacker at UW.  He played as Eastlake High School (and has a little brother who could be just as good, if not better).  Lewis was listed as a three-star prospect with offers from ASU, Pittsburg and Oregon State.  Lewis visited USC a few weeks before Signing Day but never received an offer.  The old staff loved him but couldn’t find a way to work around their limits at USC to offer him.  While Lewis looks like an exciting prospect, he is pretty raw, as well.  The team has lots of depth at linebacker so I don’t think Lewis will probably see the field this year, despite being a very good athlete.  Chance he plays as a true freshman:  15%

S Budda Baker – I think most people know the story of Budda.  I was entirely serious when I wrote that sentence and read it again and laughed.  Budda was the top-rated prospect in Washington and is an incredible talent.  He’s explosive and strong.  His frame is often compared to Earl Thomas, as he is 5-10, 180.  He is a sure tackler and his speed plays really well at the safety position.  We will probably also see him on the field on offense from time to time.  When he committed to UW (after decomitting from Oregon) he said the coaches had talked to him about having an offensive package for him.  Offensive package is another one of those terms that could have a very strange meaning.  Budda is the crown jewel of this class and is the highest profile recruit the Huskies have landed since Shaq Thompson.  He could have gone anywhere in the country.  Budda is likely to play as a true freshman, as the team is low on safeties and Budda is a top-end talent.  Chance he plays as a true freshman: 95%

S Jojo McIntosh – Jojo is another one of the DB’s who could play right away.  He’s from California and was a commit to the UCLA before the two sides parted ways.  McIntosh didn’t waste much time before committing to the Dawgs there after.  He’s a 3-star prospect and is projected to be a safety.  He had offers from Boise and Wazzu, as well.  I’m excited to see what Jojo will bring to the team.  He’s also the second player named Jojo on this team.  That’s pretty exciting.  I think he stands a pretty good chance of playing right away because of the depth at his position.  The same goes with all of the safety prospects.  Chance he plays as a true freshman:  45%

S Lavon Washington – Washington is the lowest rated safety of all the prospects (again, according to Scout) but he may have the most impressive offer sheet with offers from ASU, Cal, Fresno, and OSU. aside from Budda.  Lavon committed to the old staff at UW but seems to be one of those rare kids who actually commits to the school.  Washington is 5-11, 180 and was also a receiver in high school.  Chance he plays as a true freshman:  40%

CB Darren Gardenhire – Like McIntosh, Gardenhire was a long-time commit to a school before turning to UW.  Gardenhire was committed to WSU for about a month before changing his mind.  He was also offered by Boise State and Utah.  He’s 6-1, 190 and from Long Beach, California.  He’s not quite as high-profile recruit as the other secondary commits but still one to be excited about.  He’s pretty funny on Twitter too.  Gardenhire was a safety in high school and is listed as that on recruiting services but UW announced him as a CB so that’s what we’ll put him as.  Chance he plays as a true freshman:  35%

CB Naijel Hale – Naijel is the son of the late, legendary rapper, Nate Dogg.  He was a surprise late in the process as a long time commit to Arizona before tripping to UW and changing his decision to Washington.  Hale is another of the four-star commits.  He had offers from all up and down the west coast and is a physical corner.  He likes to hit people and that shows in his film.  Hale has a chance to play right away, especially as a nickel corner.  He is currently 5-11, 170.  He comes from California.  Chance he plays as a true freshman: 70%

CB Brandon Lewis – Brandon Lewis committed to Boise State last April and was seen as an up and coming prospect.  He then struggled with injuries in his last year of High School (after doing the same his junior year).  He was still committed to Boise State when offered by Coach Pete and then shortly switched.  If Lewis comes back healthy, he could be a steal for UW.  He’s 5-10, 170 and also played some running back in High School.  With the injury history, I would expect Lewis to redshirt so that he is healthy when he sees the field.  Chance he plays as a true freshman:  15%

CB Sidney Jones – Add one more to the list of guys who flipped to UW.  Jones was committed to Utah for about a month before flipping to UW.  He also had an offer from Colorado and some offers from lower conference schools.  Jones is an intriguing prospect.  We in Seattle love tall corners and Jones fits that bill at 6-1.  He may have to put on some weight but his film was very impressive.  He is my 3rd favorite player in this secondary (in this class) and I think he is a pretty strong contender to play early.  Chance he plays as a true freshman:  60%

Well, that’s all of them!  A pretty interesting group of players who could see the field fairly soon.  I think the class filled holes, added some potential stars, and stayed away from JC players.  That’s a good check list to follow, especially for a transition class.  I’m excited by the future of this team, and specifically the recruiting.  Next year’s in-state class is phenomenal and this staff has made in-state a priority.  Everything seems to be happening at the right time and I’m excited to see what happens.  We’ll have a post on the offensive guys from this class pretty soon.  Go Dawgs!

Andrew

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by | February 5, 2014 · 6:46 am

Happy National Signing Day!

Finishing Off The Day – I’m back at home and have thawed out my frozen body parts.  What a great day it was for Seattle.  I will never forget it.

Nothing unpredictable happened to the Huskies.  All of the verbal commits heading into the day ended up signing with the Dawgs and they had two players sign who announced their commitment today.  Those two are Devin Burleson, who is a 6’8″ offensive lineman, and Brayden Lenius, a 6’5″ receiver.

All in all, the class ended up ranked 36th in the nation by Scout (that doesn’t include commit Jamie Bryant, that would have had minimal impact though) and 7th in the Pac-12.  A great accomplishment for a transition class.

We’ll have more on all of the commits over the next week.  As for now, know that it’s a very impressive class for the short amount of time Coach Petersen had to put it together.  Go Dawgs!

Hale’s in! – I’m out the door.  But, Naijel Hale is officially in.  A 4-star corner.

Off to the parade – Alright, everybody!  I’m off to the parade.  Again, we’re waiting on 6 more letters.  Lenius announces at 1 P.M.  Hale and Turner should be announced by Washington anytime and I don’t have a time table for the other three.  Coach Petersen’s press conference is at 3 P.M. and I’ll have updates from that and more tonight.  Have a great day, everyone!

Two Bellevue Offensive Linemen to Walk-On – Morgan Richey and Max Richmond, two linemen from Bellevue high school, have decided to walk-on at U-Dub.  They both turned down scholarship offers to come play here.  Petersen has done an outstanding job at Bellevue in such a short time.  Let’s hope it stays that way for years to come.

Turner and Hale should be Dawgs – From the things I see on Twitter, it looks like it’s only a matter of time before the school announces that Hale and Turner will be Huskies.  That leaves the Huskies at 20.  I would guess Dissly would be the last of the verbals to send in his papers and Lavon Washington might not sign with the Huskies.  I don’t have any facts to support this, just a few insights and a guess.  It might be the other way around.  That would put the Huskies at 21 and then there are three surprises left to fill out the class.  Again, I’m counting on Lenius and Burleson to be Huskies.  I’m still unclear on the last one.  Kalen Ballage would be another name to look out for but that would be a huge surprise and seems unlikely at this point.

Headed off – I’m off to get ready for the parade.  I’ll try to update one more time before I actually leave.  Go Dawgs and go Hawks!

Who we’re waiting on – From what I can tell the guys that have verbally committed and not been announced yet are CB Naijel Hale, DE Will Dissly, S Lavon Washington and OL John Turner.  I’m not sure who here wouldn’t sign but we’ll wait and see.  This doesn’t include a few surprises.

CB Brandon Lewis – I believe Lewis is the 3rd corner to have signed today.  He’s from California and comes in at 5’11” 185 lbs.  Lewis played some receiver in high school and has some good coverage skills.  This DB class will really pay dividends down the road.

17/24 – We’ve got 17 players who have signed thus far.  There haven’t been any surprises and everything has gone to plan.  I’m going to stick around for a few more minutes but then I have to get ready to brave the cold and head over to Seattle.  We’ll see if anyone else trickles through here in the next few minutes.

DL Kaleb McGary – Here’s another big name.  I’m still pretty surprised the Huskies got Kaleb.  He is 6’7″ 285 lbs. and currently lives in Fife, Washington.  He is the 3rd (of 4) 4-star players to sign with the Huskies.  McGary projects really well as an offensive tackle but he’s starting out as a defensive end.  I’m hoping he turns out to be like one of those tall Stanford defensive ends that they have had over the last few years.  Although we won’t see him faking injuries.  This kid oozes potential.

OL Jesse Sosebee – Another large person.  Sosebee is the second offensive linemen (still a few to come) in the class.  He is 6’6″ 300 lbs. and will probably play guard.  Sosebee may be more of a project than James but Strausser (the offensive line coach) has done great work with some of these ‘project’ guys before.

OL Matt James – Somehow they snuck in Matt James in between posts about Budda.  Sorry I skipped over you big fella.  James is the first of the offensive linemen to get his papers in.  He is from Idaho and is 6’5″ 270 lbs.  He’ll probably end up a guard but does have some potential as a tackle.

Budda’s In! – It’s finally official!  Budda Baker is a Husky.  Budda is the top rated player in the state of Washington (by a fairly large margin) and was committed to Oregon before rethinking things and coming to UW.  He is the recruit everyone is most excited about.  He will play free safety for the Dawgs and maybe a little bit on offense as well.  He’s 5’10” 180 lbs.  and from Bellevue High School.

WR Dante Pettis – Pettis is a 6’1″ 175 lb. receiver out of California.  His dad is a former major league baseball player and his cousin is Austin, an NFL receiver who played under Coach Pete at Boise.  Pettis is one of the better athletes in this class.

A 4-star confirmed – The school hasn’t announced it but Naijel Hale has confirmed that he will be a Husky.  He’s one of the big names who hasn’t been announced by the school yet along with Budda Baker and Kaleb McGary.

Not Many Rumors – There’s not many rumors floating around of who is decommitting or committing today.  Usually these things start to leak out but I haven’t seen anything about that yet.  I’ll let you know if I do.

Halfway There – If Gregg Bell is correct (he usually is because he’s a UW employee) the Huskies have received half of the letters that they’ll receive today.  So far, 12 are in and they are expecting 24.

CB Darren Gardenhire – Gardenhire is another one of the DB’s in this class.  He’s a funny guy on Twitter and had a good time with the process, trying to recruit other prospects to UW.  Gardenhire is 6 foot, 180 lbs. from Long Beach, California.  Gardenhire listed as a corner is a surprise, as he played safety in high school.  The coaches must have seen something they liked in his coverage skills.

K Tristan Vizcaino – Well, it wasn’t the big name I was thinking but this is a great get.  Getting a kicker in this class was a huge need and was accomplished when the staff flipped Vizcaino from WSU in January.  Vizcaino is generally rated in the top 10 kickers in the nation as far as recruits go.  He may punt, as well.  He’s 6’2″ 195 lbs.  Big kicker.

Questions – If you have any questions about a player or the process, leave them in the comments and I’ll get to them by the end of the day.

DE Shane Bowman – Bowman is a defensive end out Bellevue High School.  He flipped to UW after being committed to Oregon State for quite a while.  Bowman is 6’4″ and 250 lbs.  He may have to put on some weight but he’s got a great motor.  Coach Pete seemed to really make Bellevue a priority upon his arrival and that’s a great thing.  I’m guessing that we’ve got a big name coming up next.

Who’s from where?  So far there are 3 guys from Washington state and 6 guys from California in the class.  This is pretty normal.  I’ll keep updating on location throughout the day because I find that pretty interesting.

CB Sidney Jones – Sidney Jones is a 6’1″ 170 lb. corner out of California.  He also played receiver in high school.  The UW flipped him from Utah, and he had several other Pac-12 offers.  I like to see tall corners like this and I’ll be interested if the coaches go after that body type at corner.  I’m glad to see Jones is officially in because Utah was recruiting him hard to flip back to their side.  This guy is one of my favorite players of this class.

Eight Players In – So far we’ve got 3 defensive linemen, 1 running back, 1 quarterback, 1 tight end, 1 linebacker and 1 safety.

DL Jamie Bryant – Jamie Bryant was a member of last year’s class and was asked to grayshirt, meaning he delayed his enrollment until this year.  It’s great that the new coaches honored this commitment.  Bryant is a big guy, coming in at 6’5″ 300 lbs.  He is from Tumwater High School.  He is listed as a defensive lineman but it’s thought that he could be on the offensive line at UW, as well.  With them listing him on the defensive side of things, I imagine that’s where he’ll start.

Moving Pretty Quickly – We’re seven guys into the class.  All 7 have come in the last 20 minutes.  Expect there to be a few more in the next half an hour and then for news to come a little slower throughout the day.  As far as what I’m seeing in Twitter, the Bellevue guys have all done their paperwork and it should be in soon.

S Jojo McIntosh – Jojo is one of (at least) 3 safeties in this class.  He is from Chaminade High School in California and followed Coach Pete from Boise.  Jojo is 6’1″ 195 and the second player on the UW roster named Jojo.  What are the chances?  He’s also a part of this DB recruiting class that is rated 2nd in the country by Scout (behind Tennessee, who somehow had 34 commits as of yesterday).

QB K.J. Carta-Samuels – The first of the four star prospects to get their paperwork in is the quarterback of the class.  Carta-Samuels was a long time Vanderbilt commit but when James Franklin left he ended up choosing UW over Vandy, Penn State, and Boise.  He’s 6’2″ 225 and the 4th straight 4 star quarterback recruit to come to UW.

TE James Sample – James Sample’s papers are in.  He’s the first of the Washington high school players to be announced (they expect 5 on scholarship).  Sample is from Newport High School and is a 6’5″ tight end, weighing in at 245 pounds.  He was a 3 star prospect in most places.

DE Jaylen Johnson – Jaylen is a 6’3″ 245 lb. defensive end out of California.  He is another guy the coaches beat out BSU for.  He was also considering several Pac-12 schools.  He is one of the defensive linemen I am most excited about in this class.

DT Greg Gaines is in – You want beef?  You got beef!  Greg Gaines is a bulky man.  He is a 6’1″  305 lb. defensive tackle out of California.  He is one of the guys that followed Coach Pete from Boise to UW.  Again, just a large human.  Most services ranked him as a three-star player.

Commit #2 – The second player to sign with the Huskies is Jomon Dotson.  He is listed at 5’11” 175 (this is probably generous from the coaching staff) and is a running back out of California.  He chose the UW over Colorado.  A very small but quick running back.  He also played corner in high school but is listed as a RB for UW.

More on Lewis – Lewis will need to add a little bit of weight to play linebacker in the Pac-12.  He was a safety in college but it’s thought that he’ll be moved to outside linebacker once he’s on campus.  The UW is announcing him as a linebacker.

Our First Husky of 2014 – The first player to send in his papers to the University of Washington is Drew Lewis.  He is a linebacker out of Eastlake High School (Sammmamish) and 6’2″ 200.  He had committed under Sark, looked around once he left and then ended up back at U-Dub.

How big will this class be?  Expect this class to be about 24 players big.  During the season it looked like this would be a smaller class but because of the roster attrition involved in a coaching change the size of this incoming class grew a little bit.

More on the surprises – Gregg Bell just said in a live chat that 1 or 2 players who verbally committed to UW may sign elsewhere and expect 3 surprises today.  So, there you go.  I don’t know who the third surprise is but I have a good idea on the first two.

Any Surprises?  The original idea of doing this live blog was to cover any Signing Day surprises.  There are usually some guys who will commit (or more often decommit) to the Huskies on Signing Day.  Today the Huskies are still waiting on a few players who could become Dawgs.  OL Devin Burleson and WR Brayden Lenius are expected to be Dawgs by the end of today.  Both are somewhat exciting prospects with a lot of potential but not the most polished players.  Others that could become Huskies are Dejuan Butler, a JC cornerback, and Khalil Oliver, a safety deciding between Oregon and UW.  Other than that, it would be a real surprise.

Opening Thoughts – When Steve Sarkisian announced that he was taking the USC job, this Husky class was never going to be great.  Even if Sark had stayed, this class probably wasn’t going to be great.  There wasn’t a very deep class in the state of Washington and while the Huskies were in on some very good players, it seemed unlikely that they would end up at U-Dub.  Chris Petersen and staff have done a great job at salvaging this class.  There were two people committed to the Huskies when Coach Pete took over (some had decommitted after Sark left), now there are 21 verbally committed and probably 1-3 more who could end up signing with the Dawgs today.  The coaching staff have done a great job getting Washington prospects, something Sark didn’t do as well, and filling needs.  While there isn’t as much star power as the last few recruiting classes, this class looks very solid and capable of moving the program along.  There’s a lot of good depth and a few names to look out for.

When Do Things Start Happening?  Right now, no faxes are coming in to any west coast school because a recruit isn’t allowed to send in the LOI until 7 AM.  Once that comes around, some papers will start to come in and the Huskies will have people officially signed to play for their football team.  The faxes will come in all day, so there might not be very many before I take off for the parade.  I’ll try to keep up until then.  The Good Guys will have a recap post or two on all the recruits that sign sometime over the next week.

Good morning, Dawg fans!  Happy National Signing Day!  We’re getting this thing started and I’m rubbing sleep from my eyes.  Apparently downtown is getting packed already for this afternoons parade and the whole town is ready to party.  I’ll be updating this blog fairly often this morning, depending on how much information that is being let out.  I will be back tonight, after the parade to give a recap of everything happened.  Enjoy!

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by | February 4, 2014 · 10:05 pm

Let The Good Times Roll!

I don’t have long here but I wanted to throw up a post really quickly to give you a few details of what’s going on.

Today, Budda Baker committed to the University of Washington to play football.  He was the top rated player in the state, a free safety who may play some offense, and has been a fantastic player for Bellevue High School in the last few years.

On Monday, Kaleb McGary committed to the University of Washington to play football.  He was the second highest rated player in the state and will play defensive end to start but may be on the offensive line by the end of his college career.  He’s a huge 17-year-old who has all kinds of potential.

Needless to say, things are going well in Seattle.  The Good Guys will have more on these players in the coming days.  Tomorrow is Nationals Signing Day and, as usual, I’ll have a running blog.  I plan to start at about 6:30 in the morning and go up until 8:30.  I’m going to the parade, so I’ll take a long break and come back tomorrow evening with some closing thoughts and recapping any surprises.  If you’re a loyal reader of the blog you know that this is one of my favorite sports days of the year but nothing would stop me from this parade.

In the days following signing day, Matthew and I will have posts recapping the players the Huskies signed.  So, check back in the following days if you’re out all day tomorrow.  I hope you all get to experience tomorrow but if you don’t I plan to take lots of pictures and put them up in a post here.

This is truly an amazing time to be a Seattle sports fan.  Maybe the best it’s ever been.  We hope you feel the magic and we hope to share it with you if you can’t be here!  I’ll be back tomorrow morning bright and early!  Go Hawks, go Dawgs, and go Seattle!

Andrew

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by | February 6, 2013 · 6:51 am

Live Signing Day Thread

A Class Review By Positions –  No real news coming out of the press conference.  Here is the number of players at each position.  I may sign off for the day after this, so thanks for sticking around.  As always, if something happens we’ll let you know.
QB – 1, RB -1, WR – 3, TE – 1, OL – 3, DL – 4, LB – 4, DB – 4, K – 1, Total – 22

Notes From Sark – One of the points of emphasis was that this class is about quality over quantity in the press conference.  This is probably the first time in Sark’s tenure that he could say that.
Lavon Coleman (RB) is now 220 lbs. fitting the bill of a bigger running back.
Length was a point of emphasis for the class, as it has been for the last year or two.  The staff likes tall players.
Cameron Van Winkle (K) will enroll early and will participate in Spring practice.
Sark says that he would like to red-shirt more players this year.
Sark says, “We have room to expand” in talking about the class.

We’re Back – I’m awake from my nap and am ready to roll now.  Sean Constantine did get his papers in.  Jack went to UCLA.  Falah signed with USC, in a bit of surprising news.  The Huskies weren’t able to swing him but he had been committed to the Trojans all along.  The press conference starts soon so I’ll pass along anything that’s really interesting.  I’ll leave most of that to the professional writers though.  Also, if there’s any more commits I’ll pass that along as well.

Break Time – With that, I’m going to take a bit of a break.  If anything significant happens one of us will update the blog but I don’t expect anything out of the ordinary.  Constantine will go to U-Dub and Jack will probably go to UCLA.  After Constantine, that should put the Huskies at 22 for the day.  The press conference is at 2, if you’re wondering.

Kelly’s Officially A Dawg – Jermaine Kelly just sent in his LOI and is now officially a Dawg.  I wrote a little snippet about him below so check that out.  A good pickup for the Dawgs.

Kelly Announcing Soon – We should hear on Jermaine Kelly any minute and it’s all but confirmed that he’s going to be a Dawg.  From what I’ve read, USC had been talking to Kelly for about the last month and offered him a scholarship yesterday.  This is big for the Dawgs to hold on to him.  He’s a 4-star corner out of California.

11 A.M. Update – Sorry, I had to make Matthew breakfast.  He’s so lazy.  Anyway, nothing has really happened as of late.  Here are a few bits of information.  Jamie Bryant will grayshirt next season.  It’s unclear if he’ll sign today.  Joe Sanders will not be signing with UW, he is signing with a junior college.  It sounds like academics played a part.  The Bellevue guys (Jack and Constantine) will announce at 1 P.M. but don’t expect any surprises.  Jermaine Kelly will announce in about half an hour.  I may take a break after Kelly announces and then come back for the press conference.  The rest of the announcements will come later this afternoon or early evening.  I’ll keep you updated until Kelly announces though.  Thanks for following along!

Keyshawn Bierria Is In – Bierria signs with the Huskies, which, again, isn’t a huge surprise.  Bierria had Oregon State as his favorite before coming to U-Dub on a visit last weekend.  He’s a linebacker from California.

Oops – As Matthew pointed out, Kelly is still expected to sign with the Huskies.  I forgot him down below his comment, so three verbals to go plus Bierria.  That would put the Huskies at 23 commits if all four of those guys sign.

More on Enewally – Matthew here for a second. Enewally has supposedly secretly committed to UW and UCLA numerous times, and had offers pulled at several schools because of how he handled his recruiting.  That said, he’s a talented guy.  He’s expected to play safety, so it shouldn’t say anything about Jermaine Kelly.  Everyone expects Kelly to UW still, just taking a while.

Two Verbal Commits To Go – Unless I’m missing something, the Huskies only have 2 verbal commitments who haven’t signed their letters of intent.  Those two are Sean Constantine (LB) and Jamie Bryant (DT).  Constantine is from Bellevue and I’m fairly sure they do some sort of Signing Day celebration.  I’m not sure what the hold up is for Bryant but I haven’t heard anything about him not getting in.  Of course, it sounded like Bierria will be a Husky.  Aside from those three, I don’t really know who to really expect.

Lavon Coleman signs – The Huskies get their running back as Lavon Coleman signs from Lompoc, California.  Coleman is 6’0, 210 lbs. and I’ve heard him described as a poor man’s Chris Polk.  Coleman is the only running back who verbally committed to U-Dub, so the Dawgs are probably done at that spot.

18 and Counting… The Dawgs are up to 18 signed players counting Williams and Walker.  I’d guess there’s about 7 more to go.  I’ve been saying 22-25 today, but at this point I’m thinking it will be 25.

More Surprises to come? – It sounds as if that won’t be the only surprise today.  It looks like the Dawgs may be trying to fill the spots they left open for the Robinson twins and Hall.

Patrick Enewally is the surprise – Enewally had a very strange recruitment but has decided to sign with the Huskies.  I hope this doesn’t mean anything bad on the Jermaine Kelly status.  Enewally is a corner from California who is 6’1 and played safety in high school.  He’s ranked as a 3-star recruit by Scout.

Connor O’Brien Is In – O’Brien is from the same school as Crane so no surprise that these came at the same time.  This also isn’t the ‘surprise’.  Connor is a linebacker who is 6’3, 205 lbs.  He did play safety in high school but it looks like he’ll be a linebacker.  Scout ranks him as a 3-star recruit.  UPDATE:  The school website lists O’Brien as 230 lbs.  That’s a big discrepancy between Scout and the school so we’ll see.  He could be a rush end type player at that weight.

Dane Crane Signs – This isn’t the surprise.  Dane Crane was ranked the number 3 center in the country by Scout.  He’s from California and is a very good pickup.  Crane might be the best of the offensive linemen the Huskies have so far.  He is the highest rated, at least.  Crane has been fun to follow throughout the process as he seems very excited to be a Husky.

“A Surprise Is Coming In a Few” – The Husky chat just said these words.  I don’t know what this means and it might not be anything different from what we’ve already said.  But, stay tuned.

Kevin King Pushes It To 15 – We have our first defensive back of the day (if you don’t count Trevor Walker).  Kevin King has signed with the Huskies.  He’s a cornerback out of Oakland, California.  He is 6’2 and was ranked as a 3-star by Scout.

Notre Dame Saying “That Was A Mistake” – So, I guess Vanderdoes isn’t supposed to be on that list.  Either that’s a rule infraction or he has sent in his papers to Notre Dame and they accidentally let it slip before his conference at 5 P.M.

Vanderdoes to Notre Dame? – It sounds as if Notre Dame just released that Vanderdoes has sent in papers to them.  That takes out some of the intrigue if it’s true.  Not many thought he would sign with the Huskies so this isn’t really a loss or anything and it’s nice that he didn’t sign inside the conference in that case.

We’re Up To 14 – If you include Troy Williams and Trevor Walker, who are enrolled, the Huskies are up to 14 guys who are in.  The Dawgs won’t take more than 25 (unless all the big names decide to pick him) and probably won’t take less than 22.

Oregon Up, USC Down – Oregon has picked up some good prospects today and it seems like USC is losing a guy about every hour or so.  Oregon could be ranked pretty closely to U-Dub at the end of the day but that was somewhat expected.

Kevin Shelton to Idaho – Kevin Shelton, who is a tight end from Auburn, was thought to be a preferred walk-on for the Huskies but it looks like he took a scholarship at Idaho.  It’s hard to blame a guy for taking a scholarship, so good for him.

Andrew Basham signs – The Dawgs break the dry spell with a big boy from Lynnwood.  Basham is a defensive tackle who is 6’4, 305 lbs.  Apparently he’s really good at shot-put, as well.  Basham is ranked as a 3-star recruit by Scout.  It’s possible that he will be switched to the offensive line.

Slowing Down – For whatever reason, things seem to be slowing down.  The Huskies have about 10 guys left to sign and they will trickle through here at some point.  We’ve gone about 20 minutes without a new letter in though.

UW’s Overall Class – I think it’s easy to get caught up with the ceremony and decisions on Signing Day and forget about the overall class.  So, while losing Daeshon Hall is bad, the overall class still looks very good.  It’s a top-15 class and top-3 in the conference.  Most of the verbal commits will sign with the Huskies.  So, don’t get caught up if a guy has a Husky hat on the table but picks up a different one.  Most of the groundwork for this class was laid a long time ago.

What We’re Missing – The Huskies are waiting on about 12 more guys to sign.  None of the DB’s have signed.  Jermaine Kelly was offered by USC last night, so that’s a guy to keep an eye on (although he seems pretty firm to U-Dub).  The Dawgs are also missing 3 linebackers and 3 defensive linemen.  So, most of the offense is filled up (missing C Dane Crane and RB Lavon Coleman) but the defense still has quite a few guys to add.

Bob Condotta on KJR – Condotta is on KJR right now if you’re by a radio.

UW’s Gained and Lost – So, the Huskies have lost out on some big fish so far.  The Robinson didn’t switch and stayed at Oregon.  Daeshon Hall chose A&M.  The Huskies do appear to be picking up Keishawn Bierria and Joe Sanders though.  Those aren’t quite as big of names but are still solid pickups.

Damore’ea Stringfellow signs – The Huskies appear to have all of their wide receivers locked up for the day.  Stringfellow is probably my favorite wide receiver of the group, but they all are ranked highly.  Stringfellow is 6’3, 215 so another big, outside guy.  11 guys have signed.

10 Letters In – As of 8:08 A.M. there are 10 Letters of Intent in.  So, we probably have 12 to 15 to go.

Joe Mathis signs – Joe Mathis is a defensive end out of California.  He’s 6’4, 255 and is ranked a 4-star recruit by Scout.  Mathis is a really good player and also helps soften the blow of Hall.

More on Bierria – I’m guessing that Bierria took the scholarship that they were holding for Myles Jack as Jack sounds like he’ll be going to UCLA.  I doubt there’s much chance that Jack is going elsewhere, although he hasn’t signed as of 8:05.

Coleman Shelton signs – OL Coleman Shelton, who committed this weekend has now signed with the Huskies as we’re about an hour into the day.  Shelton is the second offensive linemen in the fold, and we’re only waiting for Dane Crane now.  Of course, the Dawgs could add another guy later, hopefully Falah.

Hall to A&M – Daeshon Hall just announced that he is going to Texas A&M.  That’s the first real bad news of the day.  This will hurt the Dawgs in the recruiting standings but if Bierria and Sanders sign (as well as Falah) then it will soften the blow.  Nonetheless, bad news for the Dawgs.

Keishawn Bierria to U-Dub – The Huskies pick up a commitment from California linebacker Keishawn Bierria.  This isn’t really a surprise but he had yet to commit.  His LOI isn’t in yet but it sounds like it’s only a matter of time.

Van Winkle Stats – The Husky website is reporting that K Cameron Van Winkle made at least 6 kicks from 42 yards or farther.  His long is 49 yards.

Spring Practice Update – The Go Huskies chat says that the Huskies will announce the spring practice dates in the next week or so.  They don’t know where the spring game will be yet but will soon.

8 Players Have Signed – Victor, Qualls, Kirkland, Daniels, Farria, Ross, Ajamu, and Van Winkle have signed.  So, not counting Walker and Williams the Dawgs have 8 in.

Cameron Van Winkle Signs – The Huskies have their kicker as Mt. Si’s Cameron Van Winkle signs with the Dawgs.  He is a good kicking recruit and has range to about 55 yards from what I have read.  I had heard that he’d be enrolling early but I’m guessing that this won’t happen.

More on Daniels – Via the school’s live chat, Daniels is 6-4 and ran a 10.74 100 meter.  No real news there but that’s the time and sizes the coaches have on him.

David Ajamu signs – Ajamu is a TE from Washington who had been committed to Oregon State before flipping a few months ago.  He gives the Huskies some depth at TE and will probably red-shirt this year.  Ajamu is 6-4, 255.

Hall to Texas A&M – Lots of rumors out there that Daeshon Hall is headed to Texas A&M.  This would obviously be a big loss but we’ll wait and see.  Official news should come any minute.

Darrell Daniels is in – Daniels is another 4-star receiver.  This is a class that should keep the U-Dub receiver group strong for the next 4 years.  Daniels is a bigger guy than Ross and is more likely to play on the outside while Ross is more of a slot guy.

Andrew Kirkland signs – The first offensive lineman of the day signs.  Kirkland is out of Portland, Oregon.  He is listed as an offensive tackle by the school so that may or may not be telling.  He is a 3-star commit.

John Ross Signs – John Ross, one of the 3 4-star wide receiver commits, has sent in his LOI.  John Ross is supposedly the fastest of the receivers and is a little smaller than Daniels or Stringfellow.

A Surprise? – Rumors are swirling that Joe Sanders, who visited when Reuben Foster, is going to sign with Washington.  This is a big surprise if it does happen.  I don’t know if this bodes well for Hall signing but you take all the good players you can get.  Sanders is a 3-star defensive end from Georgia.  Here’s his Scout profile.  If he is signing with U-Dub, a tornado drill is holding up the process.  That’s a new one.

Robinson Twins Going To Oregon – I can’t say I’m really surprised, but the Tyrell and Tyree Robinson showed up to their signing wearing all Oregon gear so it looks like they’re headed there.  It’s too bad but it’s not really a loss since the Huskies never had them.

Azeem Victor Is In – Azeem Victor, a linebacker from California, has signed his letter and is in the fold.  Lots of letters starting to come in now.

Elijah Qualls Signs – The big 6’4, 280 DT/FB is the second guy to get his fax in.  He is one of my favorite players in the class.  He hits people really hard and is athletic for his size.  He is a 4-star recruit and a very solid new player for the Dawgs.

Robinson Twins Going To Oregon? – There was a tweet just sent out that makes it sound as if the Robinson’s are headed to Oregon.  Nothing official but I’m guessing that it’s correct.

Hall Announcing at 7:30 – It sounds as if Hall will announce at 7:30 so we should know soon on him.

More Farria – Farria is ranked as a 3-star commit by both big recruiting services.  He may have gone up in those rankings but didn’t attend many summer camps.  He seems to have some upside.  Here is his scout profile.

7:05 A.M. – Now seems like an appropriate time to remember that S Trevor Walker and QB Troy Williams have already enrolled in school.  They still have to send in papers today, but their isn’t much drama there.

7:00 A.M. – And we’re off as Marcus Farria is the first to get his letter in.  Farria is a defensive end out of Arizona.  One of those long, lean guys that the Huskies have recruited in recent years.  He’s about 6’4, 220 and will look to add weight when he comes into school.  He’s a part of a very strong defensive line class.

6:54 A.M. – I just realized this is my 300th post at the blog.  It’s fitting that it comes today on one of my favorite events to cover.  Thanks for everyone who has followed along over the last few years!

6:40 A.M. – Good morning, Dawg fans.  We’re up and running now at just past 6:30 for one of the more interesting sports days of the year.  Today, the Huskies, and about 120 other teams will add around 25 players to their roster.  In no other sport does that happen and that’s why this day is interesting.  Sure, people over-hype players but it’s somewhat ignorant to say that it doesn’t matter where these kids sign.  These ‘kids’ will be a teams core in 4 years and, while coaching is probably the most important aspect of college football, you can’t teach a player true talent.

Anyway, throughout the day I’ll be posting updates here about the NLI’s that come in.  They should start rolling in here any minute.  The Robinson twins are supposed to announce anytime although they just sent out a tweet that said, “Would that b crazy if I don’t sign today.  That’s how I’m feeling.”  So, who knows what will happen there.  Daeshon Hall is supposed to announce at 8:30.  Eddie Vanderdoes is announcing at 5 P.M. today so we’ll have to wait a while for that one, although it doesn’t sound like the Dawgs will get the big man.  Others will decide throughout the day, although I don’t think the Huskies will get more than 1 or 2 surprises.  We’ll keep you updated here and hopefully everyone will decide early so that way I can take a nap.

There’s plenty of other places to catch the information today.  Bob Condotta always does a great job covering whatever comes his way.  The school website has some cool formats and information on the new players.  UW Dawgpound has some player profiles that are well done.  I’ll pass along more links throughout the day.  So, here we go!

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by | February 4, 2013 · 12:53 pm

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

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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 | June 16, 2012 · 7:20 pm

Some Random News

The Mariners are winning 2-0 right now, but they’ve done little else lately to make me want to write about them, at least at the big league level.  So, here’s a post about a whole bunch of other stuff!  By the way, did anyone make it to the Sonics rally?  None of us could make it, and I’m really regretting it.  It sounds like it was incredible.  If you were there, please put your thoughts in the comments.  Would love to hear a first hand account.  On to the news!

Mariners Draft

The Mariners have signed the majority of the draft picks they are likely to sign.  Of their top 11 picks, only two are unsigned.  One is Mike Zunino, the third pick overall.  He’s currently playing in the college world series and will likely sign immediately after it’s finished.  The other is 8th round 1B Nick Halamandaris (I think I spelled that right).  He’s likely to not sign and go to college at this point.

If you read any of our posts or any thing else about the draft, you’ve probably heard about the new bonus pools to which teams have to adhere.  Simply, each pick through round ten has a value attached to it, and teams have the sum total of their pick values to spread around to those guys.  This led to some strategic drafting, with some teams taking guys they knew they could sign for cheap who aren’t as talented, so that they would have more money for other guys.  The Mariners went the opposite way and took a lot of the better players that other teams were passing on.  Right now, the Mariners are also way over their budget right now.  That should be rectified when Zunino signs, because it’s expected he’ll sign for quite a bit under slot value.

It’s been interesting to watch their signing and draft strategy, but it’s not really important that you know any of that if you don’t care.  All that’s important is that the Mariners don’t spend more than 5% over their bonus pool, because then they start losing picks.  I would be absolutely shocked if they do that.  If you hear anyone panicking about this, just disregard them and realize that the Mariners know what they’re doing.  They can’t play baseball, but they can definitely handle a budget!

By the way, lots of the draft picks are playing in Everett, if you’re in the area.  Zunino should be higher up, depending on when he signs, but the Aquasox have an interesting roster this year.

The Minors

I’ll keep this short, but Danny Hultzen is essentially the most dominating pitcher for his level in all of organized baseball at the moment.  The other day he struggled a bit and still threw a shutout.  He’s starting his league all-star game and will likely go to Tacoma, if not Seattle, immediately after.  Nick Franklin is also having a pretty ridiculous year and could be at shortstop in Tacoma before long.  Taijuan Walker and James Paxton, the rest of the Big Three, are struggling and injured respectively, but it’s nothing to be too concerned about.  Not a lot of other pressing news at the moment.

Husky Recruiting

Husky football received a huge commitment today from Cali WR Darrell Daniels.  He’s 6’3″ 210 and the best WR on the west coast, according to Scout.com.  They have him as the 5th best WR in the country and 35th player overall, and he’ll be a 5-star guy when they update their rankings.  This is a huge pickup.  He’s similar to Kasen in size and prestige, but looks a little faster on his tape.  It’s a long way to signing day, but if Sark can hang onto him, he should be an immediate contributor in 2013.

Daniels was visiting this weekend with a few other top prospects, including DE Joe Mathis.  I’ve seen speculation that they could have another commitment or two before long, so we’ll keep you posted.  The Huskies now have 8 commits, and it’s shaping up to be one of their best classes in a while.  They added a 4-star QB, Troy Williams, last week, who is often compared to Keith Price, but more advanced coming out of high school.  Half of the group is from in-state, which is good, although the top two uncommitted guys, LBs Myles Jack and Danny Mattingly, from Bellevue and Spokane respectively, could be tough to land.  Still, the Huskies are in on a lot of big time guys from California as well and shouldn’t have any problem filling what’s expected to be a smaller class with elite talent.

-Matthew

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by | February 3, 2012 · 4:10 pm

Reviewing the 2012 Recruiting Class – Quarterbacks

As you know, if you’ve follow this blog or sports in general, yesterday was National Signing Day in college football.  I tried to keep up with the news all day with a live signing day thread but I didn’t go into much depth on reviewing any of the players.  That’s  because I’m going to review the players in their own separate posts.  We’ll start with quarterbacks today and as the days pass, I’ll make my way down the list of positions.  Some posts will be longer than other because of the amount of players, obviously.  I get most of my information from what the recruiting web sites say, watching video and hearing what Sark said about them.  With that being said, I’ll try to throw in some of my own opinion into the review and what it will mean to the Huskies.  I’ll give each position a review in terms of recruiting, although don’t take them too seriously.

Matthew has been reviewing the players that are already on the Huskies, by position (the latest one being wide receivers).  I won’t include any thoughts on those players aside from general comments.  This will strictly be about the incoming players who signed yesterday, but if you have any questions about the Huskies leave them in the comments and we’ll get to them.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, your newly signed Washington Husky quarterbacks:

  • Jeff Lindquist:  Lindquist is a kid from Mercer Island High School.  I’ve been to a few football games there in the past two years and was shocked at how few of players they had on their team.  They are a 3A school but only have 30-40 people on their team.  Lindquist turned them from a the bottom of the conference team to one who competed in a very tough league.  Jeff has a very strong-arm with good touch, from what I’ve seen.  He’s a big kid, 6-3, 230 lbs., and reminds some of Jake Locker.  He’s not as fast as Montlake Jake but is a much more polished passer at this phase in his career.  He did a lot of read-option stuff in the games I saw him in, along with some pro-style offense.  He’s rated as a 4-star prospect by most quarterback services and went to the elite 11 camp (a camp for, what are considered the best quarterback prospects in the nation).  Lindquist committed to U-Dub way back in April, as he was deciding between the Huskies and Stanford.  He has some pretty good stats from high school (as do all of these prospects).  Jeff was 141-255 passing this year for 1,908 yards and 22 touchdowns.  He also added 826 yards and 12 more touchdowns on the ground.  I’ve met Jeff once and know many people who are friends with him over on Mercer Island.  They all speak volumes about his character and how he’s a great person.  Coach Sark said the same thing in his press conference on Wednesday.  Lindquist is one of the top prospects in this class, but people seem to have forgotten how big it is that this guy has signed since he committed a long time ago.
  • Cyler Miles:  Miles will come from Denver, Colorado and is another top quarterback prospect.  He’s a little bit smaller than Lindquist but not much at 6-2, 220 lbs.  Miles, like Lindquist, committed back in the spring but his recruitment was a little more interesting.  After Doug Nussmeier left for Alabama, Miles considered going to USC.  He reaffirmed his commitment once and then on signing day he went silent.  He again considered USC and then finally decided on U-Dub.  Maybe he was just making fun of Jordan Payton, “You committed to 4 different schools?  Well, I’m going to commit to the same school 4 times!  Haha!”  If Miles doesn’t end up doing anything U-Dub I will associate him with keeping me up on signing day when I could have been taking my nap.  Fortunately, I don’t think that will happen because he’s pretty darn good.  Miles is considered to be another top-15 quarterback in the nation.  He’s rated as a 4-star recruit by most recruiting services.  If you’re wondering, he’s rated higher than Lindquist on some sites but lower on others (more on that later).  Miles has a bit of a strange release but I would expect that to be taken care of when he steps on campus.  He’s a very fast runner, he’ll probably be our fastest quarterback when he steps on campus.  I don’t know exactly what kind of offense he ran in high school, but it’s said that he’s taken a lot of snaps under center, so I’m guessing it was a sort of pro-style offense.  I’ve heard several times that he’s Keith Price-like in that he always keeps his eyes down-field while being elusive.  He played in the Army All-American game and did quite well, passing and rushing for a touchdown.  Miles is another one of this classes jewels and it’s a very good thing that we kept him.

Overall Grade – A

If I gave out A+ grades I’d give this position one.  I don’t give out them because A+’s are for kids who are always trying to 1-up each other and that’s annoying.  Take a break and watch a movie or go play catch, kids!  Anyway, it’s rare for a team to take 2 top-15 (maybe even higher) quarterbacks in one class.  They’ll immediately compete for a backup job against Derrick Brown and I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of them not redshirt.  I have no idea who’s better at this point.  I like Lindquist a little more right now, but that’s only because I’ve seen him play more.  They both have a lot of potential and it will be fun to watch.  I don’t know what will happen with them, especially if Max Browne from Skyline picks UW next year (although it sounds unlikely at this point).  But, it’s nice to have quarterback depth and both of these kids could be very special.

More reviews on the positions later!

Andrew

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