Bye week experimentation
by John Berkowitz on Oct 29, 2009 7:00 AM PDT
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PrintBye week is when you rest your veterans and give your youngsters and players buried in the depth the opportunity to identify themselves to help you the rest of the year. Bye week is a mini camp where the coaches can experiment with what they are doing and change things around to give the team a new look.
Washington has some challenges to face with four games remaining over the next six weeks. First of all they need to find more depth and diversity from within. Second of all they need to mix things up better on offense and defense so they are they can put less predictable game plans together going forward to keep opponents off balance. Finally they need to rest their veterans to let them heal up and get healthy for the stretch run. If any team ever needed a bye week it is Washington after playing the nation’s toughest schedule over the first eight weeks of the season.
Defensively the Huskies could use a lift and a couple of players have stood out in new positions this week. WR Anthony Boyles was one of the stars of his recruiting class three years ago. Experts felt he could give the receiving corps an immediate boost. It didn't work out that way because he ended up being a late qualifier. The extra year didn't help him climb the depth chart when he arrived on campus and he redshirted last season. Despite the RS season he might have been the best receiver on the squad at the end of the year based on scout team performances.
Most of us expected Boyles to emerge over the spring and fall but he has been mired in the depth because he simply had too many drops in practice and he hasn't been able to grasp the offense as well as the guys ahead of him. Washington is pretty solid at receiver and even though the coaches like his athletic ability they have better choices ahead of him so a position change was in order if Anthony ever wanted to see the field.
Washington tried Boyles out at CB this past week and the 6'3 athlete has shined enough so far that coaches are leaning towards making the position change permanent. it may be permanent enough that he could see time against UCLA next week. Tall CB's are a rare premium in college football. If Boyles can make the full transition it will be good news for him and the team. Rumors are even floating around that he could start opposite Desmond Trufant but I think that may be quite a stretch. It may be a stretch but Nick wood who was mired in the depth at DL earlier this season moved over to the OL and became a starter after only a couple of weeks so stranger things have happened.
Alvin Logan is another highly recruited athlete in search of a position. He was a steady WR for his first two years and this fall he moved to safety. The new coaches saw the same things we saw. Alex can ring some bells on defense but the nuances of the position have not come quickly for him despite his obvious athleticism. The coaches moved him to OLB this week and they really like the extra speed he brings to the position. While he may not be the optimum safety the move to OLB might be for good move since the Huskies are desperately seeking speed on the outside for this season and have lot of holes due to graduation at LB to fill next year.
Jason Wells is a compete stud when healthy. the defense dropped a couple of notches two years ago when he went out with a knee injury. UW was tempted to play the safety who has sat out for almost two years with injuries last week against Oregon be decided to debut him nest week against UCLA in the depth. Wells is moving around now about as he will get this season. Expect him to play an important part on the defense over the last four games.
To finish the season strong the Huskies need some added speed, depth, and experience and getting these three guys on the field should give a boost to a defense that is struggling with those types of issues.
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Speed Revisited
Remember when Don James started moving safeties to linebacker to get more speed on the field? That appears to be what this staff is doing too. Alvin Logan moving from safety to LB will not only boost the LB corps speed but also the depth there. It also bodes well for next season. Jordan Wallace is another guy that will add a faster LB to the mix. I think some of these changes are important because we need to attack the play faster and stop it before it can develop fully.
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
Converting Safeties into LBs: Donald Jones is the benchmark
Donald Jones was a converted safety/LB during the James era and he played out of his mind at LB! But what you do with that speed is the key. Your job as LB first and foremost is to close gaps and make stops in the trenches. Jones and Hoffman were brilliant in that dept. Secondly you have to have the ability to cover the underneath routes. As a converted saftey this part of the job is what you’ve been groomed for and it is more or less an instinctive characteristic.
Yet the key to developing LBs from the defensive backfield is finding guys that have what it takes to control gaps and make stops in the trenches. If we can find a few kids that can do this- I’m for IT! But if they can’t do it then they are no good to us at that position. Can Logan be this generation’s Donald Jones? It’s all about making stops and if Logan can do that, he’s the guy.
All I saw was purple
Logan
Hopefully Logan can be the guy. Our LB’s get burned when they have to drop back into coverage
Andy Mason
Reminds me a bit of those days. It is a start. Gety your best athletes out on the field making plays.
by John Berkowitz on Oct 29, 2009 11:49 AM PDT up reply actions
Jason Wells
We really need him. I hope he is healthy enough to make an impact at Free Safety. Nate Fellner may be the future there but Wells with his experience should add some nice depth. Maybe they can put him in on obvious passing downs like that last play against ASU? We need a guy who can play the deep ball in coverage. We are lacking there. Wells is a bigger/taller more physical safety than any of the other options. Apparently pass coverage is not Nate Williams strength, so hopefully Wells eases in and takes that position. I just wonder how this long stretch of not playing will affect him?
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
Bottom line
We’ve got to address protection for Locker. That will go along way in allowing plays to develop. Lately the protection has broken down and our called plays have gone nowhere.
Secondly we’ve got to look at play selection and or design a new series or two that will get folks in open space. We haven’t seen Chris Polk that often involved in the passing game. Lately the passing game has involved only Kearse and Augilar. What happened to that standout freshman receiver that was HOT early on? Middleton needs to get more touches and our FB is good for 6 yards for a pass/catch out of the backfield in the flat. And Johri Fogerson has been missing in action lately. What gives?
We’ve got good skilled players, I just think we are over-attacking with some fellas and not using others very often. When you always go to one or two guys- the opposing defense will react to it. I’m sure Alioti of Oregon had spotted that trend and used that bit of information to their advantage. More guys need to be involved and stay involved- I’m not liking the offensive trends from this offense. Use everything and everybody to move the chains.
The running game? Has slipped due to our protection issues. Can’t blame the RB, if the hole is not open where’s he gonna go? The running game is the O line’s responsibility. No hole … no running game.
No.1 priority during this bye is the protection issues. Fix them and maybe we might be able to do everything mentioned above.
All I saw was purple
Most of what I’ve seen when they go to Polk in the passing game is they are sending him deep. We need to find him in the intermediate range (open space) and let him create something with it.
All I saw was purple
I’ve seen a mix of stuff with him – rolling him out in the flat as an outlet, delayed routes out of the backfield. Some deep routes too as you note.
My issue is that he has displayed very inconsistent hands, and if I’m Jake I have a hard time trusting that he’s going to make the catch. A little disappointing for a guy that, coming out of H.S., was considered as much of a WR prospect as a RB prospect.
I love the kid as a RB, but he needs to cut down on the drops.
Fogerson
Fogerson is good at catching out of the backfield
more on Taylor Mays
never get on the bad side of a congressman:
USC safety Taylor Mays got blindsided today by Congressman Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) during the House Judiciary Committee hearing on NFL head injuries.
Lungren, a Notre Dame alum, first talked about former Oakland Raiders player Jack Tatum setting the bar for hits designed to injure. Then he moved on to complaining about Florida quarterback Tim Tebow being rushed back from a concussion, and finally to Mays.
The congressman didn’t identify Mays by name, but said while attending a Notre Dame game a couple of weeks ago he “saw a headhunter on the field” rip the helmet off a player.
Boyles
Thanks for the heads up. I’ll be looking for him in the coming weeks. I really want this kid to do well.
I thin UCLA would be perfect
For Boyles to come in and start. UCLA’s passing offense is pretty anemic and it could be a big boost for his confidence to shut down a team in his first minutes.
A 6’3" corner is exactly what our secondary needs, watching Rudolph (as John has said) burn an outmatched CB was tough to watch.
We may be less reliant on DB’s in this class if some of these moves pay off.
by B Money on Oct 29, 2009 11:06 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
He could be a corner or a safety
He was a pretty good safety in high school.
by John Berkowitz on Oct 29, 2009 11:51 AM PDT up reply actions
Ucla is almost a must-win if we want a bowl bid
Who do we have still on the schedule? at Ucla, at Oregon State, vs. Washington State, and vs. Cal.
We’ve got to win 3 out of 4 in order to get a bowl invite. We know the WSU game is a win. Other then the Cougs, we’ve got to knock off 2 of the other 3. Ucla appears to be the weakest of the three. Oregon State will be tough on the road, and Cal looked good early on but have fallen.
We need a strong push with these last four games and the more and more I think about it, Ucla is a must win game in order to get the bowl invite. It would really lift our spirits for the remainder of the season and send this team bowling for the first time in along while.
Still think this is a 6+ win team. We’ve been unfortunate at times (ND, ASU), yet we haven’t figured out how to win on the road yet and that is really clobbering us right now.
If we are to go bowling the coaching staff really needs to be putting in overtime during the bye. We’ve got to prepare for just about everything the Bruins will throw at us. On the other hand we’ve got to get healthy and shore up whatever is ailing the offensive line. Plenty of winnable games still out there, we just need to finish the way we started and hold nothing back.
Go Huskies! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
UCLA is absolutely a must-win for a bowl. Beating both Oregon State and Cal is a big longshot.
The Bruins are a team that’s struggling, and their weak offense is something that should be tonic for our struggling defense. I consider UCLA and ASU to be very similar teams this season – very iffy offensive lines, questionable QB play, very good defenses. We blew it against ASU, but hopefully after a bye week of rest the team can take care of business in Pasadena.
Exactly
Oregon State’s QB has been doing a pretty solid job this year, that will be a very tough game against a very good offense. IMO, it’s the toughest game left on the schedule. UCLA, WSU and Cal are must wins to get a bowl game.
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
"BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON"
ASU: "We blew it" is aboslutely correct
That was our ticket to a bowl game fellas. If we’d beaten the Sundevils, we’d be where Iexpected us to be in the preseaon. But that game is gone and so is ND. All we can do is focus on the last four games one week at a time. If we do that we will be in a bowl game. We have to use this bye to increase our advantage of winning. Don’t do it, like some of the Ty teams then it will be a long winter.
All I saw was purple
Bowl Game
It’s still doable, not saying it’ll be easy, but IMO we have to beat Ucla. GO DAWGS!!
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
Tanigawa!
Commit to UW! More meat in this class is exactly what we need.
Logan to OLB is intriguing and disappointing at the same time. Intriguing in that he’s obviously likely to be one of (if not the) fastest LB on the team and you like the athleticism he could bring to the position, assuming he can be physical enough to hold up there.
Disappointing because it indicates he just wasn’t picking up the coverages as a S and/or just wasn’t showing good enough coverage skills.
I’ve also been disappointed in the inability of Boyles to crack the 2-deeps at WR, but if he can help the team at CB, great. It’s not like we have a shortage of good, young WR, so hopefully Boyles can contribute at CB.
Hmmm....
I don’t necessarily read it that way. I think the coaches are just trying to get the most speed on the field they can and fill some potential holes for next year. Logan has a good chance of starting next year if he can pick up the position. Not sure at safety if he starts next year if everyone is else is healthy at that position.
To the extent that moving Logan to OLB helps the numbers at that position next year (and it does) I agree, but the fact that Logan wasn’t seeing any playing time at S while guys like Glenn & Fellner have indicates that Logan just wasn’t progressing quickly at that position.
Like I said, it may be good news overall for the team, but it does speak to Logan’s coverage skills and/or ability to pick of the schemes as a S.
Good point. I guess I tend to be a glass half full type of guy so I look at it more that he may have been good but not far and away better then what they already have so they decided to move him to a position that lacks depth and see if he can help them there. Either way I hope he can help them at some point as he looks to be a very good athelete with good speed.
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