Washington Has Been Really Good, But Will 2019 Be When Huskies Make Jump To Great?

Some snippets of the latest article by Christian Caple of the Athletic:





Washington bruised its way to a Pac-12 title this season, but that should not obscure that its offense, quite simply, was not good enough. That showed all season, particularly in the red zone — a big reason UW averaged only 26.4 points per game, a figure that ranked eighth in a weak Pac-12 — and it showed again against Ohio State, particularly in the first half. A furious fourth-quarter comeback made the final score respectable, but the timid, inefficient manner in which the Huskies approached the first two quarters did plenty to illustrate the struggles that plagued them all season.

USC is down. Stanford has taken a step back. Oregon, while it took a step forward this season and continues to recruit like crazy, isn’t what it was earlier this decade. Washington has taken advantage, establishing itself as the conference’s most consistent force over the past three seasons. Yet as three consecutive losses in New Year’s Six bowls have proved, there remains a gap between UW and college football’s elite. Now the Huskies must try to close it while undergoing the most dramatic roster overhaul of Petersen’s tenure, as a senior-laden depth chart turns over and UW turns to a slew of talented-but-unproven faces to carry the program forward.

Monday’s announcement that third-year sophomore cornerback Byron Murphy will enter the NFL Draft guarantees that UW will lose at least nine defensive starters from this season’s team. It’s possible that a 10th, junior nickel back Myles Bryant, could declare before the Jan. 14 deadline. If that happens, the Huskies would need to replace their entire starting secondary (including Murphy and Taylor Rapp, two possible first-round picks), two starting middle linebackers (including All-American Ben Burr-Kirven) and three regulars on the defensive line (including three-year starter Greg Gaines).

It’s fair to wonder if all that turnover finally will dictate a step back for a defense that has spent the past four seasons as the class of the Pac-12. But it’s also fair to assert that if Lake and Kwiatkowski could put together the league’s top scoring defense after all they lost in 2014, they’re capable of doing it again in 2019.

There also is the matter of hiring a new receivers coach. There are a number of obvious West Coast candidates with ties to UW’s coaching staff, but perhaps someone from a different offensive system, with a perspective different from Petersen or Hamdan, might be what the Huskies need — combined with Eason’s abilities, a veteran offensive line and every key receiver returning — to jump-start the passing game.

Whomever they hire — along with Petersen, Hamdan and the rest of the offensive coaching staff — will be tasked with helping solve UW’s red-zone woes, an issue that prevented the Huskies from winning their season opener against Auburn and never went away. Washington finished the season ranked 31st in offensive S&P+, a respectable mark. But they scored touchdowns on only 56.5 percent of their red-zone trips, good for just 108th nationally, stalling out or committing a penalty or taking a sack too often when they drove deep into opponent territory.

“It’s kind of been the story of us, man, moving it eight, nine plays, and then something happens and we get ourselves caught in a second-, third-and-XL situation that we just can’t come back from, and that’s on me,” Hamdan said after the Rose Bowl.







Per usual, much more discussion is happening in the Wam right now!