Washington Huskies 2018 Football Preview
Opening Statement: If the goal in hiring Chris Petersen was to win 10 games per season and be in the conversation for PAC-12 titles and playoff appearances year after year, the goal has been hit head on. Washington was a toxic dumpster fire before Petersen was brought on board, despite winning around 8 games per year under Steve Sarkisian. Sarkisian got the Huskies to being average, while Petersen has moved them to almost elite status. He has been helped with the downturn of Oregon football, and Stanford has been barely above average as well, and who cares about the PAC-12 South...the Huskies are now the power in the conference, and look primed to stay there for some time moving forward.
Breakdown Offense: Jake Browning never matched elite level QB play during his time at Washington, but what he is, is a solid game manager who makes few mistakes, and he simply knows how to play winning football at the QB position, and that should be more than good enough once again in 2018. Browning passed for 2719 yards and 19 TDs to just 5 INTs last fall, and he completed an outstanding 68.5% of his passes. That is what it takes to win in college football these days, and he gives the Huskies a shot every week. Jacob Eason will likely be the primary backup after starting a full season at Georgia before transferring. He is the heir apparent as of now.
Myles Gaskin is really the center of where this offense should run through in 2018 at RB. He rushed for 21 TDs last fall on 1380 yards rushing. He averaged 6.22 yards per carry, and should leave the Huskies after this season with several school records in his possession. He added 18 receptions last season, and scored 3 times on pass plays as well. There are some depth issues behind Gaskin. Salvon Ahmed and Sean McGrew are the most experienced of the returnees, and combined to rush for 477 yards last fall, and Washington signed just one 3 star recruit for the incoming class.
The Huskies are in start over mode at WR. Aaron Fuller, Andre Baccellia, and Chico McClatcher are penciled in as the starters for now, but none were starters a year ago. The 3 of them combined for 52 receptions last fall, with Fuller the most experienced with 26 of those receptions. Quinton Pounds and Ty Jones caught a combined 17 receptions last season, and they are the "depth". Marquis Spiker and Trey Lowe are a pair of incoming freshman who could make an impact, and crack the rotation.
Hunter Bryant is the leading TE with 22 receptions last fall, and will return to start, but is a better blocking option. In 2 TE sets, which the Huskies will be seen running, Drew Sample will basically be the co-starter, and he caught just 7 passes last fall. Jacob Kizer and Cade Cotton are battling for the TE3 spot in the lineup.
Both Tackles return on the line in Trey Adams (LT) and Kaleb McGary (RT), and C Nick Harris also returns. Both OGs need to be replaced. Luke Wattenberg and Devin Burleson are penciled in for now, but look for Matt James to push Burleson in fall camp at the RG spot. Jesse Sosebee, Andrew Kirkland, Sam Taimani, and Henry Roberts all provide solid depth. Wattenberg replaced Adams at LT last fall when Adams tore his ACL. Adams should be fine when the season starts.
Breakdown Defense: Washington's defense is back to elite status, as the Huskies ranked 8th nationally in total defense, 5th in scoring defense, and 4th nationally against the run.
NT Greg Gaines is back to anchor the line, but both players flanking him will be new when the season starts against Auburn in Atlanta. Levi Onwuzurike and Jaylen Johnson should be the starting DEs when camp breaks. Gaines totaled 5 TFLs last fall, Onwuzurike and Johnson combined for 7 as rotational players up front. They are both breakout candidates this fall. Benning Potoa'e, Jason Scrempos, and Jared Pulu will all be solid reserves in rotation.
Ben Burr-Kirven returns at ILB, while Tevis Bartlett returns at OLB. These will be the leaders in the middle of the defense. Burr-Kirven led the Huskies with 84 tackles last season, while Bartlett finished with 48 tackles, but he led the team with 12.5 TFLs. Barlett also added 4 sacks last season. Ryan Bowman will also return at OLB, and he led the Huskies with 5.5 sacks, and had 9.5 TFLs overall. DJ Beavers will be the new starter at ILB, and he finished with just 13 tackles last season as a reserve. Myles Rice and Jusstis Warren add depth outside, while Brandon Wellington and Matt preston are the projected starters inside. This should be one of the best overall LB units in the nation when all is said and done.
The secondary was the "weak link" last season, as the Huskies ranked 32nd nationally against the pass in the pass happy PAC-12. That said, both CB spots are open for battle in fall camp, with Jordan Miller and Myles Bryant in battle with Austin Joyner and Byron Murphy. Miller finished with 5 PBUs, while Bryant totaled 8. Murphy totaled 7 PBUs last season, and Joyner totaled just one. I can see the Huskies using Bryant, Miller, and Murphy when they go Nickel, with Murphy as the NB in that set. Keith Taylor should be the 4th CB.
The Safety spots should be rock solid heading into the fall. Taylor Rapp and JoJo McIntosh are both set to start with no real competition to push them out. Rapp finished with 59 tackles last fall, and McIntosh added 50. They are backed up by Isaiah Gilchrist and Brandon McKinney. This should be one of the best Safety units in the nation.
Breakdown Special Teams: Tristan Vizcaino and Van Soderberg both struggled at PK last season, combining to go just 13/22 on FG attempts. Vizcaino has moved on, but it looks as if Peyton Henry, a RS freshman, will step into the role this fall. Soderberg will still battle for the job in camp.
Joel Whitford was solid as a freshman at Punter, as he averaged 42.33 yards per punt. He returns to man the job.
Losing Dante Pettis will kill in the return game this fall. Aaron Fuller should replace him on PR duty, and may do some work on KR duty as well. Salvon Ahmed averaged over 25 yards per return on kickoffs, and should get more work in in 2018 in that area as well.
Final Analysis: There is absolutely no reason to expect the Huskies not to be the favorites for the overall PAC-12 title in 2018, but the opener against Auburn in Atlanta could be telling. If the Huskies win that game (another virtual SEC home game, even on neutral turf), there is little to stop them from running the table and moving on to the playoff. If the Huskies lose that game, there is a question as to whether the Huskies would merit that interest with one or two losses, and I believe the answer would be no, simply because of the amazing amount of PAC-12 bias in the media and among the people who work on the committee, and Larry Scott does nothing for the conference in terms of lobbying. This could be an amazing season, and should be, but expect some disappointment if the Huskies lose that opener.
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