Tag Archives: Zach Fogerson

Reviewing the 2012 Recruting Class – Running Backs

Yesterday, I began to review the Huskies 2012 recruiting class that signed on Wednesday.  Today, I’ll continue that as I move to the running backs.  This should be fairly easy, seeing how there’s not very many of them.  That’s also a problem though, I don’t know exactly who’s playing running back and who’s playing linebacker so I’ll give it my best guess.  I’m about to drop a Psalm on you!

  • Psalm Wooching, FB – Psalm is already in my top 20 favorite Huskies of all time.  First, there’s his name.  It truly is one of the coolest names I’ve ever heard.  It makes me smile every time I see it.  Secondly, there’s this video.  That is Psalm Wooching.  That is fire dancing.  That is Psalm Wooching fire dancing!  I’ll have to check the record books but I don’t think any Husky player has ever done this aside from Joe Jarzynka (I’m just assuming he did because he did everything).  Most of all, Psalm could be a pretty darn good football player.  Sark has looked for a fullback in the form of Stanley Havili since he arrived at U-Dub.  He thought he found one in Zach Fogerson but he had to retire because of injuries.  In his press conference on Wednesday Sark sounded hopeful saying, “So Psalm Wooching, I think, will really have an instant impact in our offense, an added dimension we haven’t had here for a couple of years.”  Wooching played running back in high school (along with fullback and linebacker) and rushed for 815 yards and 15 touchdowns.  He’s from Hawaii, as you might have guessed, and is 6-3, 217 lbs.  He may have to add a little bit of weight to become a steady fullback.  I think he’ll play right away as the Huskies big back though because that is something the Dawgs are missing on offense.  Wooching was committed to UCLA before their coaching change but reconsidered and chose UW a couple of weeks before signing day.  Psalm is rated as a 3-star recruit by most recruiting services.  I’m looking forward to this guy, if you couldn’t notice.
  • Erich Wilson II, RB – Wilson comes from San Mateo, California, where he had an excellent senior season.  Wilson rushed for 2,106 yards and 33 touchdowns.  He rushed for 9.6 yards per carry, which is a pretty great number.  The high school he came from has some amazing athletes come out of it (Tom Brady, Lynn Swan) and he broke quite a few records there.  When you’re breaking Lynn Swan’s records you’re doing something right.  There was a small possibility of him playing on the defensive side (he’s listed as a fullback by Scout.com) but it seems that he’ll be on offense.  Sark also mentioned that he could be an asset on special teams.  He’s 6-1, 190 lbs. and was also offered by Colorado.  He’s listed as a 2-star by Scout.com but it doesn’t seem like he was actually scouted by them so who knows.  He’s a good addition and will added some needed depth.  I don’t know if he’ll redshirt or play this year because there isn’t a lot of depth at the position and with a couple of injuries he’d be thrust into playing.

Overall Grade: B- 

I really like the addition of Psalm Wooching.  As Sark said, he’ll add something to the offense and will be used.  Wilson is somewhat of an unknown and who knows if he’ll be better or worse than Keivarae Russell (who’s a prospect the Huskies missed out on from Washington) in the long run.  This class could be judged by that.  There could be other guys in this class who switch to running back, like Ryan Mcdaniel but, as of now, most of them will start on the other side of the ball.  This isn’t a thrilling group of players in this position, but it’s solid and will be interesting to follow going forward.

-Andrew

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

2012 UW Running Backs

Looking at the current roster, with minimal attention paid to the 2012 recruiting class.

Who They Lose

Only Chris Polk, maybe the best running back in UW history.  On a play-by-play basis, Napolean Kaufman and Corey Dillon and probably a few others may have been more dangerous, but no one was as consistently dominating, punishing and dependable as Polk.  He ran incredibly hard and was the perfect back to run behind a mediocre offensive line.  I wish we could have seen what he would have done with some better running room.

Sarkisian has said several times that no one has better embodied the type of program he wants to run than Polk.  He was mainly talking about his toughness and physicality, but I think it could be applied to Polk’s personality as well.  He’s known as a talker, a little bit brash, but a huge competitor, teammate and leader.  He will be sorely missed and remembered as a true Husky Legend.

Who Is Back

Jesse Callier- Junior

Bishop Sankey- Sophomore

FB Jonathan Amosa- Senior

FB Tim Tucker- Junior

There are other running backs on scholarship (see below), but Callier and Sankey are the two who received extensive playing time last year.  Callier has received a good number of carries the last two years, mostly as a change of pace to Polk.  He gets a lot of end-arounds and runs outside the tackles, and even runs the wildcat (WildDawg!) on occasion.  Callier has been solid, if mostly unexciting.  He doesn’t seem to quite have the electricity to make up for his apparent lack of physicality that keeps him from being more effective between the tackles.  That being said, his chances have been limited and I’ll be curious to see what he can do if he gets more regular carries this year.  He was a ridiculously productive high school player.  I’m skeptical he can be an above-average starter, but he’s an excellent back-up at worst.

Sankey, about whom much has already been written, mainly due to his spurning of the Cougars, received more carries as 2011 went along and made the most of them.  He seemed a bit more effective than Callier at running up the middle, and he showed a good burst of speed to match.  Out of the two, he seems more likely to grab hold of the primary job.  He did nothing to dampen my hopes for him and probably even raised them a few notches by forcing his way into some playing time. Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under Huskies Football, Huskies Position Overviews

Husky Position Overviews – Fullback

This is one spot where the Huskies have to replace their starter.  Paul Homer had a great four years at Washington and he will be missed.  I will also miss Matthew saying “He’ll take you Homer” anytime the guy touched the ball.  The Dawgs do have some young talent at fullback.

Austin Sylvester, 6-1, 241, SR:  Sylvester has played on special teams for the last two years.  He won’t do anything flashy but that’s hardly what the fullback position is for anyway.  Sylvester is a solid blocker and could be a good contributor to the Huskies run game because of that.  As far as potential goes, Sylvester’s ceiling is not very high.  You basically know what you have in him and while he will improve, he might not have the skill that the other fullback’s possess.  I put him first on this depth chart because he’s older but I think he might get passed up before September.

What Sylvester needs to improve on this spring:  Sylvester needs to improve his play making.  In Sark’s pro-style offense the fullback is used out of the backfield more than the typical fullback.  If Sylvester wants to be the starter he needs to be able to catch the dump off pass and turn it into a positive play. 

Kimo Makaula, 6-2, 248, RS FR:  As far as the coolest Husky name goes, Kimo is right up there.  Makaula red-shirted last year and was one of Sark’s first recruits.  He is very strong and is supposed to be quite athletic.  He might fit the mold of fullback better than Sylvester does but lacks the experience.

What Makaula needs to improve on this spring:  Makaula needs to make sure that he’s got the offense down and is comfortable with it.  As far as physical skills go he has the edge on Sylvester but he doesn’t have the same amount of experience, he needs to make up for that this spring and show that he’s comfortable with his job.  He’s a good young player who will only improve.  He has a good deal of potential and needs to maximize that. 

Position Overview:  This is one of the few positions in the Husky offense that is up for grabs.  When it comes down to it I think Sylvester and Makaula will split time this year.  They each need to have a solid spring and show an understanding of the offense since neither have seen significant time in games.  Zach Fogerson will be here in the fall, so he won’t be practicing with the team during spring practices.  He is a very highly rated fullback and will be a good contributor for the Huskies for years to come. 

http://www.uwdawgpound.com/ has also been doing position overviews as of late.  They are quite a bit different from mine and very good.  Check them out.  As always, thanks for reading!

Andrew

1 Comment

Filed under Huskies Football, Huskies Position Overviews