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Any “impressions from day 1?”
Quietcowskee
Member Posts: 3,112
I don’t subscribe to any sites and am cut off by Seattle times.
Anybody have any plagiarisms of shit??
Fuckos???
Anybody have any plagiarisms of shit??
Fuckos???
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Washington's tight end situation looks like it won't miss a beat even with Will Dissly now playing in the NFL. Cade Otton had two big catches and looks like he's poised to have a breakout season after redshirting last season. Otton has put on size and strength and he showed some soft hands in hauling in the two passes from quarterback Jake Haener. Drew Sample is still cemented as the starter with his abilities as a blocker and underrated receiving skills, but Otton and Jacob Kizer both look ready to push him for playing time. Jusstis Warren gets lots of reps as the H-Back in the offense while Michael Neal and Devin Culp both are good looking athletes who are in the mix as well. Culp, for his part, looks athletic, but he's smaller than we'd seen him before after losing some weight during the offseason. He's not skinny, but he definitely needs to add more bulk before he'll be ready for the rigors of college football, especially at a position like tight end where he'll be asked to block defensive ends and linebackers who are the same size as him.
The battle to take over at right guard will be interesting to watch. On Friday, Matt James took the first and second-team reps at the position before giving way to freshman M.J. Ale who got the reps with the third group. Jesse Sosebee is also in the mix and we'll see how many reps he gets in the coming days, but James appears to be the man, at least early on, who has the inside track at starting there. Once Trey Adams comes back, Henry Roberts may get a shot there as well.
The Husky secondary is as deep as it's ever been. Sure, there has been quite a bit of talent to come through this unit since Chris Petersen arrived back in 2014 with players like Budda Baker, Sidney Jones, Ezekiel Turner and Kevin King all playing in the NFL, but this group may be the deepest group ever. On Friday, the starters were Austin Joyner and Byron Murphy at corner with Myles Bryant at the nickel spot and then Jojo McIntosh and Taylor Rapp both at safety. Jordan Miller will eventually be the starter opposite Murphy, but the team is being cautious with him at least early on. Keith Taylor and Elijah Molden both saw a lot of reps at corner and nickel respectively and then Brandon McKinney and Isaiah Gilchrist were the second unit safety tandem. McKinney is a player people forget about, but he's poised to take over for McIntosh in 2019 and he's a ballhawk. Lastly, the three freshmen -- Dominique Hampton, Julius Irvin and Kyler Gordon -- got quite a few reps and are the best looking group we've seen come into the program in over a decade.
BUCK and SAM linebacker battles should be fun to watch. Last season, Tevis Bartlett held down the SAM position, but he's been moved inside, so there's a spot up for grabs. Amandre Williams took all of the first team reps at the SAM spot while Ariel Ngata got work at that position with the second unit, but don't be surprised if M.J. Tafisi and Jackson Sirmon both get looks there and even players like Myles Rice and Brandon Wellington to get some reps as well. The BUCK spot returns both Ryan Bowman and Benning Potoa'e, but behind them, keep an eye on Rice and Joe Tryon, each of whom the coaches have been raving about as players who really caught their eyes during the spring and over the offseason.
Who will be the backup at center? That's a question that will be answered over the next month of practices, but from what we saw today, Cole Norgaard has a long way to go. His snaps were all low and he really struggled to reach block on a couple of plays, allowing a defensive tackle to get penetration and stuff a play. Walk-on Will Pliska also got some reps in the pivot with the third unit and his snaps looked smooth although he did struggle to make a couple of blocks. Norgaard has only been playing center since the spring, so he's still a work in progress and the coaches have been pleased with his efforts and think he can be good there, but he's still got a ways to go.
Kaho, a touted linebacker prospect from Reno, Nevada, is tending to what coaches have described as a family matter. A Thursday report in The Seattle Times, citing an anonymous family source, indicated that two members of Kaho’s family have died recently and that the family has requested that Kaho be released from his national letter of intent.
UW is not commenting on Kaho’s official status with the team — not whether he has asked for his release, nor whether that release has been granted — but the Huskies did remove Kaho’s name and bio from their official roster, which seems to indicate that his arrival is, at the very least, not imminent.
Co-defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski said after Friday’s fall camp opener that Kaho is “going through some issues, and he’s trying to work through them.” There has been “a little dialogue” between Kaho and UW, Kwiatkowski said, adding only that “it is what it is.”
Kaho, listed by UW at 6 feet 1 and 218 pounds, was rated a five-star prospect by 247Sports and a four-star prospect by the 247Sports Composite. He originally committed to BYU, then decommitted and signed with the Huskies over Alabama.
As for everyone else …
Every other member of UW’s signing class was present for Friday’s camp opener, and the bevy of Huskies players who underwent season-ending surgery in 2017 were there, too, in various stages of participation.
Senior cornerback Jordan Miller practiced for the first time since breaking his ankle in the Huskies’ Oct. 15 loss at Arizona State. It’s difficult to derive sweeping conclusions from one day of not-quite-full-speed, no-pads, no-contact practice, but Miller didn’t seem to favor the ankle much as he went through drills.
“I’ve been waiting for this for like eight months, man, since I got carried off at Arizona State,” a happy Miller said after practice. “I feel good today, and it’s been worth the wait, honestly.”
Before the injury, Miller said he had never missed a practice. But he’s grateful for the perspective gained from having to sit out.
“It’s challenging, for sure, but it helped me mature,” Miller said of the rehabilitation process. “I feel like I wasn’t an adult when I broke my ankle. I feel like I was moving very fast, and I was playing good football, but I don’t feel like I was really ready for all the things that came with it. I’m not going to say I’m glad it happened, but I wouldn’t take it back.”
Petersen has said the Huskies will build repetitions slowly for players returning from long-term injuries. Junior cornerback Austin Joyner occupied the starting cornerback position opposite sophomore Byron Murphy with the No. 1 defense.
The rest of the starting defense looked similar to what the Huskies showed during spring practices. Taylor Rapp and JoJo McIntosh are mainstays at the two safety spots, and junior Myles Bryant remains steady at nickel. Seniors Ben Burr-Kirven and Tevis Bartlett manned the two inside linebacker positions, with sophomore Ryan Bowman at buck linebacker and sophomore Amandre Williams at the other outside linebacker spot, and seniors Greg Gaines and Jaylen Johnson up front.
It appears junior receiver Chico McClatcher, whose 2017 season was cut short by a broken ankle, will work his way back slowly, too. He participated in drills and took a couple reps in a live period.
Senior left tackle Trey Adams, recovering from a torn ACL sustained in October, suited up but didn’t take any reps during live periods. Junior Henry Roberts played left tackle with the No. 1 offensive line, with sophomore Luke Wattenberg at left guard, junior Nick Harris at center, senior Matt James at right guard and senior Kaleb McGary at right tackle.
One player coming off a season-ending injury who didn’t look any worse for wear: junior receiver Quinten Pounds. He made a few catches during live periods, including a leaping grab in a jump-ball situation on a cross-field throw by redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Haener. It was difficult to tell from our vantage point whether Pounds landed in bounds, but he did come down with the ball.
Speaking of Haener …
The quarterbacks will compete throughout camp, but there is little doubt right now that Haener is UW’s best option as Jake Browning’s backup. He has a year of practice experience on true freshmen Jacob Sirmon and Colson Yankoff, and it shows during live periods: Haener looks comfortable in the pocket and isn’t afraid to take chances downfield, such as the 50-yard throw he completed to a diving Jordan Chin up the right sideline during a live period — easily the highlight of the Huskies’ first day of practice. Haener also had a few nice completions to redshirt freshman tight end Cade Otton.
Browning threw his best passes during 7-on-7s, on consecutive plays: a long touchdown pass to junior receiver Aaron Fuller, who beat Miller on the play, and another long touchdown pass to redshirt freshman receiver Alex Cook up the right sideline. Both passes were caught without the receivers having to break stride. Of course, that was after Murphy intercepted Browning’s first attempt of the drill.
The one “Jake” who definitely won’t play this season is Jacob Eason, the Georgia transfer who must sit out per NCAA rules. He took a few snaps during 7-on-7 and a late 11-on-11 period, but he didn’t really get to unleash his powerful right arm. His best throw, over the shoulder of Otton during 7-on-7s, was well-covered and fell incomplete.
Speaking of interceptions …
The “Best Hands in the Room” award, given each spring and fall camp to the player with the most interceptions during practice, has become a coveted distinction among Jimmy Lake’s defensive backs. The first DB to snag a pick during this camp: junior cornerback Dustin Bush, who hauled in a throw from Yankoff during an early 11-on-11 period.
So Bush and Murphy will head into Day 2 in a tie for first place. Bush also recovered a fumble by freshman running back Richard Newton.
Other items of note
• Fuller, McClatcher and Murphy took turns catching punts during a special teams drill. Assuming sophomore Salvon Ahmed serves as UW’s primary kick returner, McClatcher — UW’s top kick returner last season before he broke his ankle — might be an intriguing option as the successor to Dante Pettis in the punt return game.
• Freshman cornerback Julius Irvin acquitted himself well in his first collegiate practice, breaking up a couple passes. Another young guy who stood out: freshman linebacker Ariel Ngata, who found himself in the backfield and around the quarterback a handful of times.
• An outside linebacker throughout his UW career, Bartlett moved inside during spring practices and figures to start there when the season begins. Player practices during the offseason helped, he said, but he still has some adjusting to do. “Today, there was a play when I needed to sit back on RPO and was playing the run a little too fast,” Bartlett said. “Just things like that, getting more reps at it and watching more film, and then it will become second-nature.”
• Injured tight end Hunter Bryant, who will miss at least most of the upcoming season after undergoing knee surgery, spent a significant portion of practice catching balls from a JUGS machine on the sideline.
• Kickers Peyton Henry, Van Soderberg and Dylan Williams each attempted two field goals — one from each hash, though it was difficult to tell the distance, since it was on the opposite end of the practice field — to end practice. Henry and Soderberg each made the first and missed the second. Williams missed the first and made the second. Henry and Soderberg each made a 32-yard attempt earlier in practice.
• Players were served meals from El Gaucho, the upscale steakhouse, at the conclusion of practice. It smelled really, really good.