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Grade the position groups... reasonable expectations for next year
louism2wash
Member Posts: 361
Jimmy's tenure so far has been a complete kick in the balls to any fan with remotely high expectations. Despite all of Jimmy's head-scratcher decisions he's currently set up to have maybe the most talented team in the conference with a very, very manageable schedule for 2021. Below I graded out the position groups and the offense and defense in general. My god, having a let down season with this roster would have to be one of the worst coaching failures in Husky history.
OFFENSE: B+
QB: B Yeah he doesn’t have the strongest arm and he’s not the most athletic guy but he actually has some pocket presence and showed that he doesn’t wilt under pressure.
Rotation: Morris
RB: C+/B- I don’t like how many guys we have in the rotation but all of them are solid and have game experience. Pleasant and McGrew are gone after this year so start thinking about the future and get Davis, the player who you’ll need to lean on going forward and the player with the highest ceiling, the most touches out of that group.
Rotation: McGrew, Pleasant, Cam Davis
OL: A The deepest position group on the team. One thing I worry about is with guys like Kirkland and Wattenburg coming back that some of the younger players lose out on reps that they should be getting had Kirkland and Wattenburg left for the NFL. Fautanu and Murao are two of the more impressive recruits we’ve gotten in the past 15-20 years and they need to play. Huff is going to have some delicate roster management issues to deal with.
Rotation: Kirkland, Ale, Wattenburg, Bainavalu, Curne, Fautanu, Murao
WR/TE: B+ With Puka this position group moves up to an A. McMillan and Odunze are as advertised athletically but dropped too many passes last year. The Texas Tech transfer Polk had a productive freshman year and is the most physically imposing of all our receivers. Otton is a beast.
WR Rotation: Bynum, Polk, Odunze, McMillan
TE Rotation: Otton, Westover, Culp, Redman
DEFENSE: B+
DL: B My suspicion is that this group finishes the season higher than a B but there is a lot of unproven talent that will be playing for the first time this year. If Tuli can stay healthy I think he proves to be as good as Levi or Gaines at the nose tackle spot. Tuitele and Bandes were elite recruits with tons of potential. Taimani played decent last year but has a lot to prove.
Rotation: Tuli, Taimani, Bandes, Tuitele
ILB: B This position group should be higher but Bob can’t find someone to play opposite of Ulofoshio. Despite Sirmon being very average none of the big name recruits have been able to break through. There’s plenty of talent on the roster who should be able to fill that spot but Bob always seems to fuck up the roster management.
Rotation: Ulofoshio, Sirmon, Tuputala, Heimuli, Calvert
OLB: A This is the most talent we’ve had at this position in the last 15 years or so. If ZTF can become more than just a pass rusher then he’s a first or second team All American candidate. As good as ZTF is Latu was the guy who was getting all the hype last fall before his injury. Bowman is solid and Smalls and McDonald both played well last year as true freshman.
Rotation: ZTF, Latu, Bowman, Smalls, McDonald
Secondary: B This position group not being rated higher is a huge indictment on the coaching staff given how much talent is on the roster. McDuffie is a legit superstar but behind him are a bunch of guys who haven’t lived up to the hype.
Rotation: McDuffie, Kyler Gordon, Cam Williams, Asa Turner, Alex Cook, Dom Hampton, Jacobe Covington, Julius Irvin
OFFENSE: B+
QB: B Yeah he doesn’t have the strongest arm and he’s not the most athletic guy but he actually has some pocket presence and showed that he doesn’t wilt under pressure.
Rotation: Morris
RB: C+/B- I don’t like how many guys we have in the rotation but all of them are solid and have game experience. Pleasant and McGrew are gone after this year so start thinking about the future and get Davis, the player who you’ll need to lean on going forward and the player with the highest ceiling, the most touches out of that group.
Rotation: McGrew, Pleasant, Cam Davis
OL: A The deepest position group on the team. One thing I worry about is with guys like Kirkland and Wattenburg coming back that some of the younger players lose out on reps that they should be getting had Kirkland and Wattenburg left for the NFL. Fautanu and Murao are two of the more impressive recruits we’ve gotten in the past 15-20 years and they need to play. Huff is going to have some delicate roster management issues to deal with.
Rotation: Kirkland, Ale, Wattenburg, Bainavalu, Curne, Fautanu, Murao
WR/TE: B+ With Puka this position group moves up to an A. McMillan and Odunze are as advertised athletically but dropped too many passes last year. The Texas Tech transfer Polk had a productive freshman year and is the most physically imposing of all our receivers. Otton is a beast.
WR Rotation: Bynum, Polk, Odunze, McMillan
TE Rotation: Otton, Westover, Culp, Redman
DEFENSE: B+
DL: B My suspicion is that this group finishes the season higher than a B but there is a lot of unproven talent that will be playing for the first time this year. If Tuli can stay healthy I think he proves to be as good as Levi or Gaines at the nose tackle spot. Tuitele and Bandes were elite recruits with tons of potential. Taimani played decent last year but has a lot to prove.
Rotation: Tuli, Taimani, Bandes, Tuitele
ILB: B This position group should be higher but Bob can’t find someone to play opposite of Ulofoshio. Despite Sirmon being very average none of the big name recruits have been able to break through. There’s plenty of talent on the roster who should be able to fill that spot but Bob always seems to fuck up the roster management.
Rotation: Ulofoshio, Sirmon, Tuputala, Heimuli, Calvert
OLB: A This is the most talent we’ve had at this position in the last 15 years or so. If ZTF can become more than just a pass rusher then he’s a first or second team All American candidate. As good as ZTF is Latu was the guy who was getting all the hype last fall before his injury. Bowman is solid and Smalls and McDonald both played well last year as true freshman.
Rotation: ZTF, Latu, Bowman, Smalls, McDonald
Secondary: B This position group not being rated higher is a huge indictment on the coaching staff given how much talent is on the roster. McDuffie is a legit superstar but behind him are a bunch of guys who haven’t lived up to the hype.
Rotation: McDuffie, Kyler Gordon, Cam Williams, Asa Turner, Alex Cook, Dom Hampton, Jacobe Covington, Julius Irvin
Comments
OL
TE
OLB
Should be fine
QB
WR
DL
ILB
Someone will need to step up
DB
RB
Imo RB position will determine UWs success this year. We will have 7 scholarship RBs. Find one or two that can get the job done. If we run out that Mickey Mouse JV everyone gets a turn bullshit, we're not gonna be successful
But then I am an idiot and usually drunk by the end of the game so am not really sure what I saw
No snaps in year 2? Wanted that meathead badly in Eugene when he was a croot....
UW has recruited a lot of tackles since Huff has been here.
Like others I'm not worried about QB. I like Morris and love Huard. If Huard beats him out then my expectations are extremely high for him.
OL play and OC scheme/play sequencing is a much better indicator of how successful you are in the run game. The OL is the least of my worries. John Don’s insist on running tight formations (i-form) and running the ball into stacked boxes has me extremely worried.
What he is discounting is how often a great back can save your ass. If UW hadn't had guys as good as Sankey and Gaskin the running game would have taken. Big step back under both Sark and Pete. The blocking and play calling just weren't great on their own.
So far they're not with Lake and Co either.
The first reason is that you can ride a good #1 back hard in the college run game. A guy like Sankey posted multiple 25+ carry games whereas you won't see that in the pros. Reason: injuries, wear and tear.
A very good RB adds more value than a very good WR in college. Because the QB can't fuck up the opportunities for a very good RB but he can for a WR.
UW cruises to an undefeated season if they have Jermar Jefferson last year.