Pre Spring Reports - Safety
by John Berkowitz on Mar 17, 2009 8:54 AM PDT
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PrintWashington goes into spring drills with plenty of options at the safety position. Those options could multiply with positions changes and the influx of talent coming in this fall.
Last year Washington lacked depth, experience and a true physical force at the safety position. Jr Nate Williams got more reps back there than anyone else but by the end of the season he was pretty beat up. A host of other players lined up beside him including walk-on So Tripper Johnson, Fr Johri Fogerson, and departed senior Darin Harris.
Depth in 2008 was a huge problem because Jr Victor Aiyewa missed most of the season with a hamstring injury. Sr Jason Wells was out rehabbing his knee, and Darin Harris had a severe concussion early in the season which ended his career. You could say the Safety position at Washington was a complete mess last season and be correct.
There is hope in 2009 because the roster has the type of players who can step in and help immediately. Nate Williams returns for his Jr campaign and we expect a lot of improvement out of him. Playing on the other side of him will be JC transfer David Batts who will give UW a boost in strength and speed. Batts has the potential to make a significant impact wherever he lines up.
Quinton Richardson is almost a lock to move over from corner and he will compete with Williams for the starting job alongside Batts. Sr Jason Wells who was a two year starter sat out last year rehabbing an ACL injury. Disaster struck again this winter when he tore his Achilles tendon. It id doubtful Wells will be able to come back and make much of an impact in 2009.
Walk-on Jr Tripper Johnson returns but count on him to spend most of his time on special teams. Nothing against the kid but if he ends up starting again it means we are in big trouble depth wise.
Marquise Persley made the move to safety last season and he needs to make a move this spring or he becomes a candidate for attrition in December. RS Greg Walker returns for his second season after red shirting last year. He was a LB in HS and could be a candidate to move depending on how the coaches evaluate his talents.
Washington brings in Fr Nathan Fellner and Fr Will Shaumburger this fall. Both of these kids received good marks from scouts and could play early if needed. the coaches love Shaumburger's potential and Greg Biggins of Scout feels he was one of the better safety prospects in the West last season.
Fellner who is the nephew of Bo Cornell and the grandson of former WSU head man Jim Sweeney was one of the top rated safeties in California last year. His HS coach feels he is capable of playing immediately. You have to like those bloodlines.
Jr Victor Aiyewa and So Johri Fogerson are in the mix but I could see the coaches moving them to LB to build up the speed and depth at those positions. Both of these kids can run and hit.
Fogerson flashed a lot of potential but injuries slowed him down. Like any frosh he needed a year in the weight room to build up strength. Injuries didn't allow that so he was thrown into the fire.
Aiyewa won the starting job beside Williams last season and the coaches were excited about his potential. Injuries wiped out his season and he should have red shirted. In desperation Willingham foolishly tried to play him and burned his RS for the second consecutive year.
As far as roster moves go we all saw the potential that WR So Alvin Logan has on defense. With so many WR's vying for playing time I think the coaches move him over here where he could develop into an impact type of player. RS WR Vince Taylor is another guy I can see making the switch now that Wells is likely out. I really liked the film of Taylor on defense when he was in high school.
In conclusion this unit can't get any worse than it was last year and I expect a lot of improvement with an influx of talent and experience coming in. The loss of Wells hurts but I think we have enough athletes coming back to minimize the loss.
Keep a sharp eye on these positions this spring. I think we are going to see plenty of movement between now and the start of the season.
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Potential
There’s so much young potential at the Safety position right now.
I don’t see Aiyewa moving. I think he has the head-hunting instinct that we’ve been lacking at S for the past 6 years. I think Holt would be hard-pressed to move him this late in his career.
I could definitely see Fogerson moving to LB and taking a redshirt year (as the depth at LB is decent with EJ back).
Richardson and Williams need to step up their play this year. Hopefully they’ve been bulking up and getting quicker this past winter.
Can’t wait for Spring Practices!
I don't know if it was injuries or what...
…but Victor sure did underachieve this last season. I had a lot of hope that we finally had a bigtime thumper back there.
by doubledeucedawg on Mar 17, 2009 5:15 PM PDT up reply actions
I can see Aieywa moving because it is one way to harness that hitting ability. Just because you can hit doesn’t mean your an ideal safety. I have faith the coaches will make the right moves.
Starting LB is ok but the depth and future is very questionable. I can see a lot of possible attrition in the exisitng depth.
by John Berkowitz on Mar 17, 2009 12:30 PM PDT reply actions
I have high hopes for Aieywa, but...
Last time I looked, he had a relatively slender frame. Unless he’s more of a mesomorph than I think, and/or has REALLY bulked up in the off-season, it’s difficult to see him in the trenches as a LB.
Tripper
I got sick of ppl bashing on Tripper last year. I kept telling people, if we had the right athletes at the safety position we wouldn"t have to resort to starting a first year walk-on.
This falls completely on the coaches shoulders. Husky fans don’t bash the players.
If Tripper was the best they had...
…then he’s the guy who should be out there. I don’t want to bash any of these kids but you could see he struggled at times out there. Having said that a lot of his teamates struggled too.
by doubledeucedawg on Mar 17, 2009 5:17 PM PDT up reply actions
What an Earhole!
I actually like Tripper back there and I’m not tripping out either. Keep in mind he has been playing baseball and was not acclimated to bigtime college football. I think in a couple years Tripper will only get better. I think he could become a very aggressive hitter and tackler.
What makes a safety an all Pac 10 selection is…
1) Truly being good at getting a run read and filling.
2) Ear hole WR’s who come over the middle. Hit’em hard enough consistently and we won’t see too many receivers coming over the middle.
We’ve seen too many recievers over the middle the last few years and the reason is they don’t respect our safeties. Holt’s got to get these guys ear holing folks.
All I saw was purple
Tripper
We were lucky to have him last year since we just plain ran out of players. The last coaching staff didn’t plan very well at safety. As far as Tripper goes he is a free player. He gets his tuition paid by his old MLB team. Having a kid like this on the squad is a bonus.
Was he a Pac 10 quality starting safety last season?
Nope…but he was the only option we had. I expect him to improve quite a bit this off season.
OK…now that being I don’t think the future is Tripper Johnson starting at safety.
I do think he has value….another quality body for special teams, depth, and to practice against.
slightly off topic but on safeties
was reading my copy of Scout.com recruiting magazine and saw that USC had gottne 4 of top 6 rated safeties in nation ranked by scout. That is a scary thought.
Pete the Great
IMHO, what Pete has done better than anyone in 21st century college football can be summed up in one word: recruiting.
Carroll takes the best in the west…then some from the rest of the country. They’ll really the first PAC 10 football program that can recruit nationally on a “consistent” basis.
Not bad for their 4th choice for the HC job! He turned around USC football team record of 37–35 from 1996 to 2001 (that includes his first season).
I read his bio on Wikipedia to try and get some idea of the method in his madness. Some choice bits:
“Carroll utilizes his entire USC coaching staff in the year-round recruitment program — team-coach recruiting of prized player candidates is commonplace. Last minute surprise commitments are now common, as well. He has consistently been on the forefront of recruiting due to his ability to connect with potential players on their level, including becoming the first college coach with a Facebook page, as well as an early adopter of Twitter.”
He also “…known for getting commitments from nationally prominent players who are playing in their junior season in high school”
Gee, some of that sounds similar to what I’ve been reading on this blog over the past three or four months.
And what I’m actually seeing from Sark & Co.
It also made me reflect on a interview late I saw last year with another Carroll protegee: Lane Kiffin. The Volunteer’s new coach came across as much more wooden, formulaic, and not all that comfortable in front of the media.
It seems as if Sark as gotten much of the Carroll magic down.
I’m not so sure about the other former OC from USC.
It will be interesting to watch both these former Carroll protégées in their careers. They both the same approx age, with similar experience, similar paths, but somehow they seem quite different in action.
And one, in my admittedly very superficial analysis, already seems much more like Pete Carroll.
Good post Diamond
Too me Sark seems very patient & calculated about what he says and does. Kiffin, from the little I’ve observed, seems more reckless and a lot less calculated.
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