by | March 30, 2010 · 5:15 pm

The Big Questions

With the Huskies starting spring football practice today, here are some of the biggest questions and issues they face going into next season.  Solid answers likely won’t come this spring, but we should have a better idea about the team after the Spring Game on April 30th.
  1. Can the offense become a consistent threat?As good as the offense looked in the last few games of 2009, it spent too much time being inconsistent and pushed around earlier in the season.  If it can play every game at a high level, this team has a chance at the upper tier of the conference.  Much will depend on the offensive line, which has more talent and experience than any Dawgs line in recent memory, but needs to take a big step toward dominance.
  2. Can the Dawgs field a defensive line that will stop anyone?Between graduations, injuries, and an unfortunate suspension, the defensive line, especially the end position, is undermanned this spring.  End was already a question after the graduation of Daniel Teo-Nesheim and Darron Jones, and now will spend the spring without three players who would have been in the two-deeps.  Tackle is in a little better shape, but was not exactly a dominant spot last year, either. 
  3. Will quality depth emerge on offense?The starting offense is fairly loaded with experience and a decent amount of playmakers, with fullback the lone position with little experience.  With the possible exception of receiver and tight end, depth is a question mark, however.  The back-up QB will have never taken a snap, RB doesn’t have anyone who’s shown a consistent ability to run the ball, and the offensive line is still lacking a little in bodies.  There is talent at each spot, especially considering the freshman class coming in, but it remains to be seen if that talent can turn into production.
  4. Can the defense take the next step?Last year, the defense went from absolutely horrible to thoroughly mediocre, but the last two games showed a team that could make some plays without giving up the big one.  Can the defense get stingier, despite some losses and personnel shuffling?
  5. Will special teams find any playmakers?Like most of the rest of the team, special teams improved last year, with fairly good years from the two kickers and decent coverage more often than not.  The expected increase in strength and speed throughout the team should further help coverage, but the team could desperately use a threat returning kicks.   Their best bet seems to be with the freshman class, but anyone with speed and some moves will get a shot.
  6. Will we see any changes in Nick Holt’s defensive game-calling in his second year?Opinion on Nick Holt’s first year remains mixed.  The defense certainly improved on his watch, but Dawg fans would love a return to the attacking defense of the glory years.  Will the expected strength of the secondary allow more one-on-one coverage, meaning more blitzes?  What can Holt do to improve the pass rush, especially with the worrisome line he currently has?  Can this be the year that the defense neither bends nor breaks?
  7. Who will emerge at safety and linebacker?Safety and linebacker both have solid returnees and talent to fill holes.  Spring should provide a good glimpse of who is in line to replace Donald Butler at linebacker.  Mason Foster and Cort Dennison are two of the better players on defense, but the other backer will be short on experience.  At safety, Nate Williams is a solid, if unspectacular, three-year starter.  A host of youngsters will battle for the other spot, with Nathan Fellner and Justin Glenn appearing to be in the lead to start.  Most believe this battle won’t be over until the team gets a look at Sean Parker when he arrives in the fall, however.
  8. How much of the team’s success is dependent on Jake Locker?  How far can he lead them?Jake Locker is undoubtably the strength of the team.  The past two years, any success the team had was almost solely due to his playmaking.  Hopefully, the team has improved enough where he doesn’t have to shoulder as much of the load.  Right now, 6-6 or 7-5 seems a fair projection for their 2010 record, but could a great year from Jake and improvement from the rest of the team push them into contention for the Pac-10 title?

In his best move besides making the team not hopeless, Sarkisian has opened all spring practices to the public, so take advantage.  It’s a lot of fun, especially the Spring Game, which will be played under the lights this year on April 30th.  We’ll have plenty of practice reports, and we’d love to hear your observations.  See you at Husky Stadium!

-The Good Guys

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by | March 29, 2010 · 6:52 pm

Huskies Position Overviews – Safety

This is the last installment in our long series of position overviews.  Spring practice starts tomorrow. I plan on attending most of them and then posting practice reports. 

Today we’ll take a look at safeties; a position with a few questions but with even more promise.  Here’s my depth chart:

Starters:

  • Strong Safety: Nate Willliams, 6-0, 220, SR.
  • Free Safety: Justin Glenn, 5-11, 200, RS SO. or Nate Fellner, 6-1, 200, SO.

Nate Williams has been a mainstay in the Huskies secondary for the last 3 years.  He’s a solid player that the coaches like a lot.  He is sure to add experience to this group and be a leader on this defense along with Mason Foster.  He can play either position but the coaches prefer to have him at free safety.  The only downside on Williams is that he tends to wear down over the course of a full season.  This is a problem because the Huskies need to be able to count on Williams for all 13 games this year (yes, I’m counting a bowl game).  The biggest thing this spring for Williams is to stay healthy and to get stronger so that he’s able to be there all of next season.

Most people have Nate Fellner as the starter at free safety but I’m not so sure.  Because of a couple injuries last year, Fellner became the starter.  He showed potential but struggled at times, which is to be expected from a true freshman.  Nate was overlooked in the recruiting process and came to the Huskies unnoticed.  This looks like it was a good sleeper pickup for the coaching staff.  Fellner is a hard hitter and will be a solid player over his career.

The reason that Fellner doesn’t have the starting job on lock down is because of Justin Glenn.  Glenn became the starter against USC last year and we all know what happened that game.  He was a very good player and made many tackles before breaking his leg last year.  Without Glenn I don’t think we would’ve won that game against USC.  If he plays at the level he did last year I think he is the best free safety we have.  I don’t know if he will be able to do that though, returning from a broken leg is not an easy thing to do. 

Backups:

  • Strong/Free Safety:  Victor Aiyewa,  Greg Walker, Marquis Persley, Will Shaumburger

Aiyewa is senior who has had injury problems all of his career.  He is a big kid who will backup William at strong safety.  The coaching staff may take a look at him playing outside linebacker too.  Victor can hit people very hard.  I’ll never forget an interview I heard with Victor Aiyewa when the reporter asked him what he brought to the team, Aiyewa responded with the brilliant answer, “I like to hit people.”  Football players should say that more often.  Because of this I will always be a Victor Aiyewa fan.  If he can stay healthy, I think we’ll see Victor do some big hitting this Fall.

Greg Walker began last year as the starter.  He blew a couple coverage assignments and then was passed by Glenn and Fellner on the depth chart.  Walker can obviously do some good things or else the coaches wouldn’t have started him in the first game last year.  But, from what I’ve seen, Walker needs to get better in pass coverage and tackling.  He is only a sophomore and will only get better with time, assuming a Vonzell McDowell situation doesn’t occur.

The other two guys are not very well known commodities.  Persley, a junior, has spent the last couple years as a backup cornerback and now makes the transition to safety.  We’ll see what he can do come this spring.  Shaumburger red-shirted last year.  He was an impressive recruit and we hope that translates to the field.  Both of these guys need to have good springs in order to see the field come next fall.

Overall Position:  This team has plenty of talent at safety.  Over the course of last season, many of these guys gained experience also.  I think this group could be pretty good.  Matched with a good set of cornerbacks, the Dawgs might have a better secondary than they have in 7 or 8 years (which, to be honest, isn’t saying much).  The one gripe here is that it doesn’t look like the Dawgs have much star power at either safety position.  They have very solid players but I don’t think any of them have all pac-10 potential (although Nate Williams may get some consideration because he’s been consistent over the last 3 years).  It’s nice to have a solid group here and it’s nice to not have to worry too much about the Dawgs secondary for the first time in while.

Just a few quick notes after the jump  Continue reading →

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by | March 29, 2010 · 12:30 pm

Monday Quick Notes

Who doesn’t like some quick notes on their Monday lunch break? 

  • Just when it looked like the Mariners season was going to fall apart before it started, it now looks like it probably won’t.  Of course, both feelings were based on spring training, which is usually not a good way to go.  Cliff Lee is still injured, but there have now been good performances in the last week from everyone else expected to be in the rotation.  Ryan Rowland-Smith looked sharp yesterday, although his velocity was a little down from what you’d like to see.  Has anyone heard if it’s just a slow gun in Peoria?  Fister threw four innings today as he’s mostly recovered from that forearm bruise, and looks like he should be good to go to start the year. 
  • Speaking of Lee, his suspension appeal hearing that was supposed to be today was postponed indefinitely.  He also was shut down for 5 days to rest his abdominal strain.  I think that time is about up, so hopefully we’ll know more about when he’ll be back later this week.  At this point, I think he’s a 95% bet to start on the DL.  Even if he recovers quickly, he’ll still need to stretch out a little bit after a spring of little work.  In the interest of keeping hopes down, I’m planning on him returning around May 1st.  Anything before that is a great bonus.
  • Bedard threw off a mound today, which is a huge step.  He didn’t throw real hard, of course, but the added strain from throwing from a mound compared to flat ground is a big hurdle to overcome.  It sounded like everything went well today, so hope for very little soreness tomorrow.  The team sounds very enthused about his comeback, and he’s theoretically way ahead of schedule, but setbacks can happen in a hurry.  May 1st or shortly thereafter isn’t out of the realm of possibility form him either, but I would plan on closer to June 1st.
  • We are now seeing the downside of an NCAA tournament with a ton of upsets, in my opinion, that being a pretty uninteresting Final Four.  As great of a story as Butler is, I just can’t get excited about seeing them in a semi-final, much less the final.  I want the big names!  I couldn’t even tell you who the best NBA prospect still playing is.  Any thoughts?  It’s been a great tournament to watch thus far though.
  • Spring practice for the Huskies starts tomorrow.  I’ll try to get to a few practices, and I’m sure Andrew will make a few more.  See Andrew’s spring preview posts for an idea of some of the issues the Huskies are looking at.  I’ll try to put up a quick post with some of the biggest questions the Huskies have this spring later today or tomorrow.

Mariners season opener is in a week, April 5th!  Everybody getting excited?  You know I am! A few things to watch this last week of spring training:

  • Roster moves: the roster seems fairly set, but watch for injuries or a random surprise.
  • Cliff Lee: once there’s some resolution on the appeal and he throws again, we should have a better idea of a return date.
  • Can the pitching staff, especially the rotation stay sharp and stretch out to 80+ pitches in their last starts before the season?
  • This should be the time where numbers start to mean a little more for the hitters.  The veterans especially should be getting a little more locked in.

-Matthew

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by | March 28, 2010 · 8:53 pm

Huskies Position Overview – Cornerbacks

We get to move away from the weakness of the defense, the front seven, to the strength, the secondary.  It’s been a while since we’ve been able to say that the Huskies secondary should be pretty good, but that changes this.  Here’s my starters and backups:

Starters:

  • Desmond Trufant, 6-0, 180, SO.
  • Adam Long, 5-10, 170, RS SO.

Desmond Trufant has the potential to be one of the best cornerbacks UW has ever had.  He has started his first game on campus and was a pleasure to watch mature throughout last season.  He was a little scary to watch in the first few games but then became the Huskies best corner by mid-season.  It only makes sense that Trufant will get better with experience.  It will be fun to watch Desmond this spring to see how a year in the weight program has affected him.  He should be a lockdown corner for the Dawgs for the next three years.

Adam Long red-shirted his first year here and then took the starting job from Quinton Richardson halfway through last season.  He was recruited because of his speed and is one of the fastest players on the team.  Long had exceptional games against WSU and Cal to end the year.  During those last two games he was UW’s best cornerback.  He will have to compete this spring in order to hold off Richardson.  Long does lack weight and hopefully he gained some muscle this offseason while keeping his speed.  I really like Adam (not just because we have the same last name) and think he has just as much potential as Trufant.  If he continues to progress, Long may turn into an NFL caliber corner.

Backups:

  • Quinton Richardson, 6-0, 203, JR.
  • Vonzell McDowell, 5-8, 180, SR. 
  • Anthony Boyles, 6-3, 200, RS SO.
  • Anthony Gobern, 5-11, 185, SO.

At the start of last year, Richardson was U-Dub’s best cornerback.  He got burned on a couple of plays, suffered a few injuries, and lost confidence.  The combination of that and the progression of Trufant and Long  moved Richardson to backup.  Quinton is a big physical corner who was moved from his original position at safety.  He can tackle pretty well and is decent in one-on-one coverage.  I hope Richardson has an excellent spring and challenges for a starting job.  He is a good corner and will be a very valuable backup if the depth chart stays the way it does.

Someday I might devote a full post to Vonzell McDowell because the truth is, I feel sorry for him.  To put a long story short, Vonzell was a starter as true freshman and was solid his first two games in wins against Syracuse and Boise State.  He even had a game-clinching against the Broncos.  The next game was against Ohio State and in a close first half McDowell was burnt for a touchdown against a good Buckeye receiving group.  After that play, Tyrone Willingham (I threw up in my mouth after I typed that name) benched McDowell for the rest of the game and most of the season.  Why you would bench a freshman after one mistake is beyond me, but a lot of things Tyrone did were beyond me.  Predictabl,y McDowell lost a ton of confidence because of this benching and he hasn’t been the same since that fateful play.  I’m not suggesting that McDowell was going to have an amazing career, Trufant and Long possess more talent than Vonzell did as a freshman, but now we can only wonder what could have been.  As it sits now, Vonzell is a decent backup but nothing more.  I’m sorry that Tyrone was your coach Vonzell.

Boyles is an interesting case.  He came in as a highly touted wide receiver but didn’t grasp on to the offense and suffered from inconsistency.  No one questioned his talent but he just couldn’t pull it all together.  The coaches moved him to cornerback at mid-season last year so he wouldn’t have to think so much.  They like his raw ability and he had a couple of good practices.  Boyles really needs to have a great spring to crack this rotation because the guys in front of him have more experience and have quite a bit of talent.  Anthony Gobern hasn’t seen the field too much but was supposedly a solid scout team player last year.  He may progress into a good corner.  Like Boyles, Gobern needs to have a really good spring in order to crack the rotation.

Overall Position:  This is more depth and talent at cornerback than the Huskies have had in years.  Trufant, Long, and Richardson could all be starters on most pac-10 teams and they have room to grow.  The rest of the backups have a good amount of upside (especially Boyles).  If these guys are able to really grow and become dependable in man-to-man coverage the linebackers will get to bring pressure more.  This is what happened against Cal and WSU.  This is probably the best position on this defense.

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by | March 27, 2010 · 4:56 pm

Y2010M! Ian Snell

Ian Snell is hard to figure out.  Snell came up through the Pirates system and broke into the league in 2004.  He was used sparingly in ’04 and ’05 and then was added to Pittsburg’s rotation in 2006.  That year Snell had a 14-11 record despite his 4.74 ERA (and a slightly lower 4.58 FIP).  The next year his wins took a hit (as to be expected when you play for the Pirates) but his ERA and FIP were a very respectable 3.76 and 4.01.  Snell was on his way up.  He missed a lot of bats with his above average slider and assortment of other pitches.  He was young and only supposed to get better.

Then 2008 happened.  Snell’s ERA jumped all the way up to 5.42 (although his FIP was at 4.57) and his record fell to 7-12.  The struggle continued through the early part of 2009.  Snell had a combination of bad luck, bad fielding behind him, a lack of control, and a loss of confidence.  Everyone could see that he still had good stuff but he left pitches up in the zone which caused a raise in his fly ball %.  He started giving up too many doubles and home runs.  All of this ended up in Pittsburg sending Snell down to the minors for a spell (where he responded by striking out 17 hitters in one game) and then trading him to the Mariners as a part of the Jack Wilson trade.

Snell was mediocre in his starts with the Mariners.  He always produced swinging strikes but often got hit hard because of the ball being up in the zone.  This trend has continued throughout this spring. 

So the question is, “Can Ian Snell become a valuable starting pitcher for the Mariners?”  He will start the season in the rotation, barring injury, and will be counted on to produce a good start every fifth day.  A couple things will need to happen for Snell to get back to a quality 3 or 4 starter for the Mariners.

  • His fastball must get better.  No one questions Snell’s good slider but his fastball, which sets the slider up, has become suspect.  Over the past 4 years his fastball velocity has slowly decreased.  And over the last two years Snell threw the fastball a higher percentage of times than in his solid ’06 and ’07 campaigns.  Seattle Sports Insider  (who took a look at all the starting pitchers in that link) made the observation that his fastball seems flat and lifeless.  For a guy with a fastball that is 89-91 mph, this is bad news.  Movement is needed for his fastball and right now it seems that he doesn’t have much of it.  If Snell is to become a good pitcher his fastball has to become better.  That or he has to locate it much better, which leads me to my next point:
  • Snell has to get the ball down in the zone.  In 2007 Snell’s ground ball to flyball ratio was 1.23.  Last year, his ratio was at .96.  By no means is Snell a ground ball pitcher (and we saw last year that flyball pitchers in Safeco can work) but with this bad of a ratio comes too many home runs and doubles.  Leaving pitches up in the zone combined with a mediocre fastball is a recipe for disaster.  If Snell can keep the ball down his fastball becomes less of a liability and then he can get to his stellar out pitches.  (Not only does he not keep the ball down, he doesn’t throw enough strikes.  Control is a problem and if he could figure that out, Snell could be much, much better).
  • He needs to get better against lefties.  Snell’s platoon splits are drastically bad.  Because his slider isn’t a very effective pitch against lefties, Snell has no above average pitch against them.  His fastball doesn’t tail away from lefties, which is a way many right-handed pitchers get lefties out.  His change-up is an okay pitch, which could be efficient against left-handed hitters.  His splits last year were quite a bit better than 2008 which is a direct correlation to a 5% increase in change-ups thrown.  If Snell’s fastball gets better and his change-up is used more than his splits won’t be near as bad. 

As you can see, this comes down to Snell’s fastball and control.  If he somehow rediscovers one of these things he’ll be a decent pitcher.  If he rediscovers both of these things he could be a good pitcher.  Unfortunately, this is a lot to ask.  I like Snell and I like his upside.  Z believes he can be a good pitcher so that’s enough for me to believe at the moment.  But he needs to show improvement quickly or else he’ll be replaced in the rotation once Lee and Bedard (hopefully) return.  If Snell becomes the pitcher he was in 2006 or 2007 the Mariners would be that much closer to a very memorable season.

Andrew

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by | March 27, 2010 · 1:06 pm

The Great Bench Debate

Not all benches are created equal. Johnny Bench?  Greatest catcher ever. Park bench?  Not so comfortable.  And wooden.  While not nearly as important as the Johnny or park varieties, the Mariners’ bench might be the most debated bench in history.  So, let’s break it down!

The opening day roster as I see it (position players only):

Starters

C Adam Moore

1B Casey Kotchman

2B Chone Figgins

3B Jose Lopez

SS Jack Wilson

LF Milton Bradley

CF Franklin Gutierrez

RF Ichiro!

DH Ken Griffey Jr.

No real debates here, I don’t think.  Johnson might start at catcher, but it’ll be one or the other.  Griffey won’t see all the DH at-bats, but will probably start out seeing the majority of them, and is a lock to be on the team.

Bench (after the jump!) Continue reading →

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by | March 27, 2010 · 1:00 pm

Huskies Position Overviews – Linebacker

Aside from maybe the defensive line, linebacker may be the hardest position to figure out on this team.  Two starters, Mason Foster and Cort Dennison, seem to have their spots locked down but the other spot is up for grabs at the moment.  Here is my depth chart, but this could change drastically by the end of spring.

Starters:

  • Weakside linebacker:  Mason Foster, 6-2, 245, SR.
  • Middle linebacker: Cort Dennison, 6-1, 230, JR.
  • Strongside linebacker: Matt Houston, 6-0, 225, SR.

Mason Foster is pretty awesome.  He had a very good year last year and it’s a little sad to me that he’s a senior.  I still remember watching his high school highlight reel with my friend Derek while sitting in class.  Last year he played strongside linebacker and had some memorable plays, most notably the interception against Arizona.  This year he switches over to weakside because the coaches want to have their best linebacker at that position.  Switching positions shouldn’t be a very big adjustment for Foster and I expect him to be an all pac-10 caliber player this year.  This spring he needs to adjust to his new position and become a leader of this questionable front seven on the Husky defense. 

Cort Dennison started last year as a backup but with the injury of E.J. Savannah he became a starter.  Not only did he become a starter, he was a good starter.  Like Foster, Dennison will be changing his position as a linebacker.  He will shift over to the middle to fill the void left by Donald Butler graduating.  Cort is one of the best tacklers on this Husky defense.  Although him and Foster already know all three positions to a degree, he too will have to adjust to a new position this spring and will need to lead the defense from that middle linebacker spot. 

Matt Houston is a starter by default.  Whatever linebacker steps up as the third best of this group will be the starter regardless of the position.  Houston is very capable of winning this job though.  He has been in the program and should have a good handle on the defense by now.  Hopefully he steps up and shows that he can handle the job but he hasn’t seen much playing time.  It’s hard to know what exactly he can do.

Backups

  • Weakside linebacker: Jordan Wallace
  • Middle linebacker: Tim Tucker, Victor Burnett
  • Strongside linebacker: Alvin Logan

The depth here is very thin and young.  Jordan Wallace and Tim Tucker are red-shirt freshmen.  They both drew raves from the coaches in scout team work last year and each will have the opportunity to play.  Both came in as somewhat unheralded recruits but, in time, could become good linebackers for the Dawgs.  Hopefully that time will come sooner rather than later. 

Victor Burnett, a true freshman, is enrolling in school early to take part in spring practice.  He was a highly rated middle linebacker by most recruiting websites.  This spring he will need to adjust to the college speed and learn the playbook.  Burnett may have more talent than those in front of him but it’s difficult to learn a defense, get acclimated to the college speed, and when a position battle all at once.  I hope Burnett comes in and surprises but I don’t think he’ll come out of the spring as a starter.

Alvin Logan started his career here as a receiver.  He was moved over to linebacker last year and spent the year on special teams and learning the defense.  He could end up in the role Foster had last year as a hybrid SLB/DE.  He should have good speed and he has good size already.  The question is if he’s a good enough tackler to be a started.

Overall overview:  The Huskies have two good linebackers here but after that it becomes somewhat scary.  Between Houston, Wallace, Tucker, Burnett, and Logan you’d think that someone will step up and win the job.  It doesn’t matter what position the winner of this position battle plays because Cort and Mason are flexible.  There are not enough linebackers here and to make up for that some DB’s may be moved over during the spring.  The front seven of this defense is my biggest concern about this team and not even Mason and Cort can stop that.

Andrew

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by | March 26, 2010 · 6:05 pm

Huskies Position Overviews – Defensive Line

Before I go into the defensive line, I want to add a little about Matthew’s Husky basketball post earlier today.  After watching many disappointing games (there have been many great games too) with my brother, I think that we deal with losses similarly.  We both get fairly upset (I know it’s just a game) and that is fairly evident after the game.  After a while we’ll get back to our bad jokes and act like ourselves but it takes a few hours at least.  All this to say, I’m not going to rehash this game either.  Maybe Joe or Dan will and I’m sure they’d do a better job than me; but in a season of memorable games this is one that I don’t want to remember.  This was one of my favorite Husky teams of all time and it has been a great year.  We got beat last night but I’m proud to wear a Husky shirt and this team only made me more proud.

On to the defensive line.  I’ll use the same format as I did for the offensive line on this position overview.  The defensive line is a little thin on depth right now and it’s a little bit hard to predict the starters but I’ll give it my best shot.  I’m sure we’ll know more after spring practices about this group.

Starters

  • Defensive Tackles:  Cameron Elisara, 6-3, 280, SR.  Alameda Ta’amu, 6-3, 340, JR.
  • Defensive Ends:  Everette Thompson, 6-6, 265, JR.  Talia Critchon, 6-3, 240, SO.

Cameron Elisara has been sporadic through his Husky career.  I can’t really believe that he’s going to be a senior.  He has struggled with injuries throughout his time here and wasn’t a consistent contributor until last year.  Elisara is as strong as an ox; he is the best weight lifter on the team.  Although he struggled through a series of neck stingers last year, Elisara had his best year as a Husky.  This spring he needs to concentrate on staying healthy and steady improvement.  Cameron has progressed nicely and that should continue. 

Alameda Ta’amu is huge.  Believe it or not, he has actually lost weight since coming to Montlake.  Ta’amu had an interesting year last year.  Through the beginning of the year he was often substituted for a quicker Everette Thompson.  As the year progressed and Elisara dealt with injuries, Ta’amu came on strong.  He had a very strong last two games against WSU and Cal.  If Ta’amu is in good shape and improves his agility he could become an all pac-10 caliber player.  He was too slow against quick offensive lines last year (Oregon and USC come to mind) but if he improves on that he will be U-Dub’s best defensive tackle.

Everette Thompson is good.  He started about 6 games his freshman year and then suffered an injury last year heading into the season.  He was then switched to defensive tackle because of the lack of efficiency that was coming out of that position.  His speed was useful there but now will be switched back to defensive end to make up for the loss of Daniel Teo-Nesheim.  Unfortunately, Thompson suffered an Achilles injury during winter workouts and will be held out of spring practices.  It’s unclear exactly how long Everette will be out; Achilles injuries are nasty.  When Thompson is healthy and on the field he has the most upside of any UW lineman.

Talia Critchon is my starter by default here.  He played last year as a true freshman and was pushed around quite a bit.  He is undersized but coaches like his speed.  This last defensive end position is up for grabs and I’d say Critchon has the early edge because he’s healthy and participating in spring unlike other guys.

The backups

  • Defensive Tackles: Chris Robinson, Semisi Tokolahi, Tyrone Duncan
  • Defensive Ends:  De’Shon Matthews, Andre Pulu, Kalani Aldrich

As you can see, there’s not a ton of depth here.  Chris Robinson didn’t play last year and no one really knows what he can do, watch for his name in the spring.  Tokolahi is a huge guy, 340 lbs., and played during goal line situations as a freshman last year.  He is similar in size to Ta’amu but doesn’t have the speed yet.  He wasn’t entirely healthy throughout the year so that may have had an impact on him.  Tyrone Duncan adds depth but hasn’t seen the field much in his time here.  All of these guys will have a chance to prove themselves at tackle this spring since there simply aren’t enough guys here.

De’Shon Matthews has switched between end and tackle throughout his career here.  Holt said in an interview the other day that Matthews will start at end because of the Thompson injury.  I think Matthews has the ability to surprise here.  Willingham played him out of position as an underweight tackle.  Now, He can take advantage of his speed and doesn’t have to worry about being as heavy.  Andre Pulu is having legal trouble and won’t be participating in spring because of this.  I don’t think Pulu will be on this team come Fall.  Kalani Aldrich has shown potential but has had knee problems.  He will also sit out this spring.

Overall Position:  The defensive line is the biggest cause for concern on this team.  It doesn’t help that three defensive ends are out for spring practice.  3 of our 4 starters could be very good but the Huskies will need someone to step up into that last defensive end position.  The quantity and quality of the depth needs to improve here and will with new freshman.  I could see us playing a couple true freshman on the defensive line which is never ideal.  Maybe this group will surprise me but it could very easily be the weak link of the Huskies positions.

Andrew

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