Feeney is a good call, I think he'll be on a mission to get on the radar again.
Though it's hard to know how CP / PK will deploy him since he was limited in the spring, I'm expecting big things from Corey Littleton. Maybe Andrew Hudson will take some of his snaps on early downs but I love his pass-rushing potential and he can drop into coverage as well.
On offense and with the news that String is transferring, I have to think Darrell Daniels will be featured more in some capacity. I like what Perkins brings to the table as well and those two are the only viable options on the roster to replace the size of String over 2014 and 2015.
Like many, I was gonna go John Ross for the offense.
On defense I don't really know the guys who haven't played, so I'm gonna mention Kikaha and Peters. Yes, we all know how good they are, but nobody outside UW knows that yet. I think this year they become recognized at the Pac-12 and maybe even national level. One of the local journalists tweeted that Kikaha was the NCAA player with the most QB pressures last season together with Aaron Donald, who just went in the top half of the 1st round of the draft. With String leaving, Peters is now my favorite player on the roster. He still has room to improve, and I think will Peterman he will improve. By the end of the season he will be a star.
I think by the end of the year, we'll look at these units as the best combined trench units in the conference.
Very bold. I don't see it myself.
I buy it. On paper, UW has the best lines of any team in the conference.
Maybe if you combine them, they are at the top. Oregon has their OL returning, and it's better than ours. On paper, UCLA had a good DL, bad OL. Same with USC. Stanford has to replace a lot of guys. ASU too.
I expect an improved OL, but these guys were pretty average last year. The good news is they are all returning, and we don't have Sark and Cozzetto anymore. The DL gets pumped up because of Shelton and Kikaha, but they weren't that great last year. They disappeared in some games, and we got almost no push up the middle. Littleton missed a ton of TFL's too. We'll see if they are the best in the conference. I think it's a pretty bold statement and we need to be much improved for it to be true.
I think by the end of the year, we'll look at these units as the best combined trench units in the conference.
Very bold. I don't see it myself.
I buy it. On paper, UW has the best lines of any team in the conference.
The DL gets pumped up because of Shelton and Kikaha, but they weren't that great last year. They disappeared in some games, and we got almost no push up the middle.
Disagree, the only games they even remotely "disappeared" in were the games in which UW was getting fucked up, e.g. ASU, UO. And when everything outside of your control is going very wrong, it's hard to look anything above mediocre.
Biggest problem we had with Oregon last year was that we couldn't contain Mariota. Certainly, we could do better against them but outside of Mariota's scrambling we did a good job of containing their RBs and limiting big plays. We held them a yard under their season average.
Against ASU, we got plungered - no doubt about that.
Against UCLA, they had 222 yards on the ground on 53 carries - only a 4.2 yard average. You can put that as much on the fact that we were down 14-0 from the start + Keith getting hurt as anything else.
Against Stanford, I will take 41 for 179 against them every game if you tell me that their QB only threw for 100 yards.
The DL should be better this year.
As for the OL, while you could argue that they sucked in areas, they still helped lead the way for over 3,100 yards on the ground and a per attempt average of 5.1 yards an attempt. If you take Keith Price's immobile ass out of the equation, the per attempt average jumps up to 5.7 yards per carry. The perception of the OL will increase tremendously by taking away Keith's impact on the running game as well as his ability to hold the ball way too long and take too many sacks.
Ultimately, our OL + DL combo has the most experience in the conference. I expect them to be the best trench unit in the conference. There may be better individual units but not combined.
Biggest problem we had with Oregon last year was that we couldn't contain Mariota. Certainly, we could do better against them but outside of Mariota's scrambling we did a good job of containing their RBs and limiting big plays. We held them a yard under their season average.
Against ASU, we got plungered - no doubt about that.
Against UCLA, they had 222 yards on the ground on 53 carries - only a 4.2 yard average. You can put that as much on the fact that we were down 14-0 from the start + Keith getting hurt as anything else.
Against Stanford, I will take 41 for 179 against them every game if you tell me that their QB only threw for 100 yards.
The DL should be better this year.
As for the OL, while you could argue that they sucked in areas, they still helped lead the way for over 3,100 yards on the ground and a per attempt average of 5.1 yards an attempt. If you take Keith Price's immobile ass out of the equation, the per attempt average jumps up to 5.7 yards per carry. The perception of the OL will increase tremendously by taking away Keith's impact on the running game as well as his ability to hold the ball way too long and take too many sacks.
Ultimately, our OL + DL combo has the most experience in the conference. I expect them to be the best trench unit in the conference. There may be better individual units but not combined.
Oregon beat us up front. Marshall and Tyner went 31 for 163. That's not great, and it may be a yard below their average, but shitty teams skew those numbers. We weren't getting much pressure on Mariota. There were a lot of plays he had all day to throw. Stanford did a good job. We did not. Their DL also got pressure on Price and bottled up Sankey in the first half. Sankey's 60 yard run on 4th and 1 skew those stats a little too.
UCLA won every short yardage situation against us. Myles Jack destroyed us. You can't tell me our DL played well that day. Like Sark teams in general, they played well against the mediocre and bad teams, and pretty poorly against the good teams, Stanford being the exception.
Obviously we got destroyed against ASU up front. Their DL dominating our OL was a key reason why we couldn't move the ball in the first half. Sark's abandoning the run and Price missing some deep balls were just as bad though.
I agree about a mobile QB helping the OL. I think having Sark and Cozzetto gone will help them too. I've been pumping our lines experience as much as anyone as a reason why we will win 10+, but I'll believe we are the best in the conference when I see it. Maybe when you combine them they can be the best, but I haven't seen enough from either unit to feel confident about that. I do think they will both be top 4 in the conference though.
Against UCLA we just couldn't get off the field. By the time we got to the 2nd half, I think that was as much cumulative than anything.
Against Oregon I thought it was our scheme more than anything. We tried to contain them and avoid the big plays. Yet as the game went on, it was painfully obvious that the status quo wasn't good enough to beat them. Stanford is much better suited to attack and penetrate than we are. Sitting back and letting Oregon dictate is death. You beat them by attacking.
Im gonna go with Miles. He will be helped out by Washington's n/s style and Ross/Mickens stretching the field, but his running ability and poise in the pocket will get him serious recognition.
Defense: Buddha. He'll pick up the D really fast and will be a ball hawk.
Honest question, is Budda really that good? Dmc pumped that kid like a Macy's parade balloon, which finally got me thinking that he's overrated. I've seen him play a couple times on TV. Athletic as hell, but pretty small.
I'm not one to doog out and put super high expectations on incoming freshman but I do feel under these circumstances he will come in and make an impact this season. He's a natural ball hawk and I respect Butch Goncharoff's opinion of him. He's electric with the ball in his hands so it wouldn't surprise me to see him come in for a few plays on offense or return kickoffs as well.
It was nice to hear Baker mention that discipline was important to him and a big reason why he choose to stay home and play for CP. I think he'll be a good one and help us rebuilt the relationship with Bellevue that was fractured under Sark. Would I rather see him redshirt? 100 times out of a 100. But our secondary is depleted and he's just too talented to keep off the field especially when we're short on #'s.
My Impact players in 2014
Offense: John Ross - His athleticism is off the charts. He's intelligent. Pease has been working with him on the outside which will open the playbook and create more mismatches as opposed to simply being relegated to slot. Not to mention his special teams ability. He's a bit slight which is a concern so hopefully he can play the entire season. Love the threat he brings to the offense.
Defense: Hau'oli Kikaha. 10 year Senior. Plays with his hair on fire. 13 sacks last year and no reason to think he can't match that. Not bad against the run either. He's a natural leader and never takes plays off. I also think the DL will be a strength this season. I look for him to lead the way. Plus I think Jeff Choate knows what he's doing.
I hated UW's D's game-plan against Oregon, especially when it was clear it wasn't working. Rush 3 and then let Mariota run around for 9 seconds (wearing out our D in the process) until someone got open or he'd run for a nice gain with one of guys chasing him out of bounds without touching him.
Now that Oregon's top 2 receivers are gone (Huff and Addison recently tore his ACL), we have to mix it up more. Peters can take whatever top receiver they have (Lowe?) and Thompson / Feeney can match up with any TE they have so we should rush at least 4 nearly all of the time. It's tough to beat up Mariota if you don't hit him early and often like Stanford did.
Even with String and ASJ gone, I still like our starting WRs (Mickens, Williams, and Ross with Campbell providing a little more size as the 4th WR if need be). Kasen just has to stay healthy or we'll struggle with Campbell being our "big" WR.
I'm also even more interested in how the new staff uses Daniels and / or Perkins. Both move well and should be at least 230...I love Daniels' ceiling.
Comments
Though it's hard to know how CP / PK will deploy him since he was limited in the spring, I'm expecting big things from Corey Littleton. Maybe Andrew Hudson will take some of his snaps on early downs but I love his pass-rushing potential and he can drop into coverage as well.
On offense and with the news that String is transferring, I have to think Darrell Daniels will be featured more in some capacity. I like what Perkins brings to the table as well and those two are the only viable options on the roster to replace the size of String over 2014 and 2015.
On defense I don't really know the guys who haven't played, so I'm gonna mention Kikaha and Peters. Yes, we all know how good they are, but nobody outside UW knows that yet. I think this year they become recognized at the Pac-12 and maybe even national level.
One of the local journalists tweeted that Kikaha was the NCAA player with the most QB pressures last season together with Aaron Donald, who just went in the top half of the 1st round of the draft.
With String leaving, Peters is now my favorite player on the roster. He still has room to improve, and I think will Peterman he will improve. By the end of the season he will be a star.
Wait,what?
Oh wait, no one fucking does that.
I think by the end of the year, we'll look at these units as the best combined trench units in the conference.
I expect an improved OL, but these guys were pretty average last year. The good news is they are all returning, and we don't have Sark and Cozzetto anymore. The DL gets pumped up because of Shelton and Kikaha, but they weren't that great last year. They disappeared in some games, and we got almost no push up the middle. Littleton missed a ton of TFL's too. We'll see if they are the best in the conference. I think it's a pretty bold statement and we need to be much improved for it to be true.
Against ASU, we got plungered - no doubt about that.
Against UCLA, they had 222 yards on the ground on 53 carries - only a 4.2 yard average. You can put that as much on the fact that we were down 14-0 from the start + Keith getting hurt as anything else.
Against Stanford, I will take 41 for 179 against them every game if you tell me that their QB only threw for 100 yards.
The DL should be better this year.
As for the OL, while you could argue that they sucked in areas, they still helped lead the way for over 3,100 yards on the ground and a per attempt average of 5.1 yards an attempt. If you take Keith Price's immobile ass out of the equation, the per attempt average jumps up to 5.7 yards per carry. The perception of the OL will increase tremendously by taking away Keith's impact on the running game as well as his ability to hold the ball way too long and take too many sacks.
Ultimately, our OL + DL combo has the most experience in the conference. I expect them to be the best trench unit in the conference. There may be better individual units but not combined.
UCLA won every short yardage situation against us. Myles Jack destroyed us. You can't tell me our DL played well that day. Like Sark teams in general, they played well against the mediocre and bad teams, and pretty poorly against the good teams, Stanford being the exception.
Obviously we got destroyed against ASU up front. Their DL dominating our OL was a key reason why we couldn't move the ball in the first half. Sark's abandoning the run and Price missing some deep balls were just as bad though.
I agree about a mobile QB helping the OL. I think having Sark and Cozzetto gone will help them too. I've been pumping our lines experience as much as anyone as a reason why we will win 10+, but I'll believe we are the best in the conference when I see it. Maybe when you combine them they can be the best, but I haven't seen enough from either unit to feel confident about that. I do think they will both be top 4 in the conference though.
Against Oregon I thought it was our scheme more than anything. We tried to contain them and avoid the big plays. Yet as the game went on, it was painfully obvious that the status quo wasn't good enough to beat them. Stanford is much better suited to attack and penetrate than we are. Sitting back and letting Oregon dictate is death. You beat them by attacking.
You'd be immobile too if you took the beating this OL exposed #17 to.
It was nice to hear Baker mention that discipline was important to him and a big reason why he choose to stay home and play for CP. I think he'll be a good one and help us rebuilt the relationship with Bellevue that was fractured under Sark. Would I rather see him redshirt? 100 times out of a 100. But our secondary is depleted and he's just too talented to keep off the field especially when we're short on #'s.
My Impact players in 2014
Offense: John Ross - His athleticism is off the charts. He's intelligent. Pease has been working with him on the outside which will open the playbook and create more mismatches as opposed to simply being relegated to slot. Not to mention his special teams ability. He's a bit slight which is a concern so hopefully he can play the entire season. Love the threat he brings to the offense.
Defense: Hau'oli Kikaha. 10 year Senior. Plays with his hair on fire. 13 sacks last year and no reason to think he can't match that. Not bad against the run either. He's a natural leader and never takes plays off. I also think the DL will be a strength this season. I look for him to lead the way. Plus I think Jeff Choate knows what he's doing.
Btw what is Goncharoff? Russian?
Keep an eye out for Ted Stark out of Medford, OR. All around athlete, making his way up the depth chart as we speak
Now that Oregon's top 2 receivers are gone (Huff and Addison recently tore his ACL), we have to mix it up more. Peters can take whatever top receiver they have (Lowe?) and Thompson / Feeney can match up with any TE they have so we should rush at least 4 nearly all of the time. It's tough to beat up Mariota if you don't hit him early and often like Stanford did.
Even with String and ASJ gone, I still like our starting WRs (Mickens, Williams, and Ross with Campbell providing a little more size as the 4th WR if need be). Kasen just has to stay healthy or we'll struggle with Campbell being our "big" WR.
I'm also even more interested in how the new staff uses Daniels and / or Perkins. Both move well and should be at least 230...I love Daniels' ceiling.