Dawg Days of Spring
by John Berkowitz on Apr 23, 2010 7:49 AM PDT
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PrintWashington is entering the stretch run of spring drills with only three more practices remaining until next Friday's spring game. The overall consensus this spring is Washington is improved and they may be able to field the most explosive offense in the Pac 10 even though fans at Oregon, Oregon State, and USC could argue the point.
Washington does have one piece on offense that nobody has and that is Jake Locker. Jake has had a solid spring and the addition of his feet to his game this fall will give Washington the most dangerous player in the country and possibly the first player taken in next years NFL draft.
Sam Bradford of Oklahoma was picked number one overall yesterday so it is pretty conceivable that Jake probably would have been the first player taken this year. All Jake has done all spring is become a better passer. The game has slown down for him enough so he is making the types of reads at the moment that are the difference between winning and losing big games.
Locker came back his final year to do one thing and that is lead Washington to the Rose Bowl. Most feel the Huskies will return to the bowl circuit this season at some level but with Locker at the helm of the Washington offense it gives them the chance to win every single game on the schedule.
Last season the goal was to be competitive in every game and Washington was able to do that most of the time. The 5-7 record could have very well been 8-4. This season I think the Huskies will win at least eight games if they stay healthy. If they a little luck falls there way they could compete for the conference title.
Quality depth is still a concern at LB and DE but Washington should have all the pieces in place to compete at a high level by fall. Washington has done a good job overcoming the depth problems at DE by moving Cameron Elisara outside who is thriving.
Mason Foster is playing like a first round draft choice at LB while Cort Dennison has taken his game to another level in the middle. The combination of Logan, Houston, and Aiyewa should fill the SLB position adequately. Logan is the starter at the moment but most feel the position is Aiyewa's to lost this fall.
The major goal the coaches had going into spring was to keep everyone healthy. The Huskies haven't had a serious injury this spring even though WR's Jordan Polk, Cody Bruns, and D'Andre Goodwin have missed significant playing time.
Bruns is currently back and he needs to use this remaining week to secure the number four receiver position going into fall. The future for Goodwin and Polk is a lot more cloudy. Neither have been on film yet this spring and that means that they will be slipping farther down the depth chart when fall begins.
Over at TE Chris Izbicki has parlayed a strong winter into getting the starting nod going into fall at TE. Improved blocking has been the key to his success. The move also is a motivator for Kavario Middleton who still has a lot of room left for improvement.
The Huskies are going to be scrimmaging on Saturday so mark it down as a good day to take in a practice. Sark says they will be running close to 100 plays which means you will get a very detailed look of where the team is right now.
You probably won't get to see Jessie Callier who sprained his knee in practice. The injury is described as mild but the coaches will keep him on the shelf until he is at 100%. The injury to Callier has opened up some reps for Demetrius Bronson and Johri Fogerson. Bronson needs a strong scrimmage to re-open the eyes of the coaches.
Washington will practice on Monday and Wednesday next week and then finish it off with the spring game on Friday night.
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Saturday's Scrimmage
Hey if any of you guys are going PLEASE post a report. Thanks for the write up John. Just wanted to let you know, again, that we appreciate what you do!
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
An eyewitness report would be appreciated.
I think it may be just as entertaining as the spring game.
by John Berkowitz on Apr 23, 2010 10:05 AM PDT up reply actions
Could very well be better than the spring game.
There’s supposed to be a lot of 1’s versus 1’s tomorrow. I can pretty much guarantee that won’t be the format next Friday.
The spring game will be a cool event. The scrimmage tomorrow will probably be the best football action of the spring. I can’t wait.
I’m going to try to get down there tomorrow to watch. I don’t think I have any conflicts, but you never know what the boss wife has in mind…
;)
Sounds very familiar.
If I take my daughter with, my boss wife considers it a break for her, therefore my odds increase greatly. That and my two year old is a HUGE Husky football fan already (I’m training her right).
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
"BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON"
How about Kelemete?
I would have voted for Senio Kelemete as most improved, given the opportunity. He’s playing his third position in three seasons, yet Sark is already proclaiming him as potentially a future All Pac-10 left tackle. Keeping Jake safe is obviously Job One of the O-Line this fall….geez, I hope Senio is as good as Sark says he is!
by Purple Reign 91 on Apr 23, 2010 9:14 AM PDT reply actions
Senio
You can make a good case for him…however he was already playing at a pretty high level to begin with.
by John Berkowitz on Apr 23, 2010 10:07 AM PDT up reply actions
I come here in peace, kind of.
My Duck pride aside, I am from San Diego, and as you all know my beloved Bolts just drafted Donald Butler. I was wondering if you guys could tell me a little more about him. The general consensus from Bolt fans is that he was a reach to trade up into the third round.
Self-anointed President of the Kenjon Barner fan club.
Good athlete. Pretty much a starter from Day 1 when he wasn’t injured. Improved each year. I think any concerns about his speed are overblown – a 4.65 40 seems pretty good to me for a LB.
I was a little surprised when he rose so quickly up the draft boards after the combine and his workout, but it goes to show the physical tools he’s working with. Coaches loved him here. I think he’s smart enough, motivated enough and physically talented enough to be a respectable pro player.
Thanks for the eval.
He may have a chance to see the field early on, we traded away one ILB (Tim Dobbins) to acquire the 12 spot from Miami. So we only have Stephen Cooper, Brandon Siler, and Kevin Burnett currently at ILB.
You bring up the fact that he may have some injury concerns, have injuries been a problem for Butler in the past?
Self-anointed President of the Kenjon Barner fan club.
He battled alot of minor injuries his junior year but was pretty healthy his senior year. DB is very good at flowing down the line and makeing plays but can get swallowed up when people run right at him. He tended not to get off blocks real well but improved on this his senior year. He’ll have to continue to work on this aspect of his game.
My take on Donald Butler
I think by the time he reached his senior year at Washington, Butler flourished in Holt’s system. Is it the same system the Chargers run defensivlely? I don’t know, I don’t fallow much of the pro game. But what I can tell you about Butler is he improved tremendously from his underclassmen seasons to his senior season. Butler roamed the middle very well, has tremendous lateral movement and can run down the perimeter. I agree with Snostrebla that Butler needs to continue to work to improve his run stopping abilities when folks run up the middle. But from what I witnessed between his junior season and senior season, there is a lot of upswing for Butler. I don’t think he has reached his potential yet. I think last season he became self aware as to how talented he is and how talented he still can be. Butler is a helluva linebacker, but he hasn’t reached his ceiling yet. I see Bulter having a solid lengthy pro career (minus injuries). In the end you got a very active linebacker who hasn’t reached his ceiling yet. That’s the sort of players you covet in the draft. Example: Ryan Leaf reached his ceiling while at WSU, and I think Colt McCoy reached his at Texas.
Donald Butler is one of those prospects that hasn’t yet. Good pick!
All I saw was purple
Hmmm
I seem to remember Butler being pretty good from the day he showed up on campus. He wasn’t a big recruit, but got playing time really soon, and has been solid ever since. My apologies to the Holt lovers, but Butler look like an NFL prospect before Holt showed up, his only downfall was getting banged up in 2008.
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
"BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON"
Butler showed early on that he had a good work ethic and a lot of physical potential. He was a favorite of the coaches from the start.
That said, I think he benefited from the change in coaches – I think the LB’s were not getting the best coaching available. I hate to rag on Chris Tormey given all the good he’s done for the program over the years, but I don’t think we were getting the best out of Tormey during his time under Ty. There were a number of former players under DJ, LB’s, that watched what our LB crew was doing under Ty and were astounded at what they saw (in a bad way).
Agreed
I definitely think the LB’s are getting better coaching now from the new staff. But I don’t think it has anything to do with “Holt’s system”.
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
"BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON"
Lear it's all Holt's system brota!
Do you remember how awful our defense played before Sark and Holt arrived? Sark and Holt braught the toughness, swagger, and mentality brotha. Oh my God! Half of a system is essentially selling the system and Holt sold his system to our players the moment he stepped off the plane!
Basically nobody on defense was doing much of anything before Sark and Holt arrived- hell they might have well been streaking down the neighborhood in the middle of the night in their underwear because nothing else was going on on defense. GOOD GRIEF!
All I saw was purple
Holt the Almighty
There is a big difference between a unit playing well and an individual player doing well. Holt gets credit for the defense improving, but Butler has long been a quality player, even before “Holt the Almighty” showed up.
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
"BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON"
Agreed
But Holt’s system cast a spotlight on Donald Butler. He was big in big situations and I believe the system allowed Butler to be in those key situations.
Holt’s system is a reflection of Pete Carroll’s system. It all starts up front in order to control the L.O.S. Secondly the Carroll/Holt system is to put speed and athletic ability in the secondary. The system is built around the D line and secondary. The playmakers are the LBs and we saw plenty of that last season. Mason Foster had a career season last year with how many plays he made. Donald Butler had some very high profile tackles, especially vs. USC.
So looking at the Carroll/Holt system Holt is bringing in, it is noteworthy to say that Donald Butler was able to take his game to the next level, where he was able to play a more ruthlesse brand of defense.
All I saw was purple
Holt
By your math, Holt must be responsible for Locker’s success too.
Butler started off as a solid player and has continually improved, no matter who the coaches were. Mason Foster didn’t have a career year in 2009, it was actually in 2008 when Willingham was coach. By your math, Willingham and Donatell are better coaches than Holt.
2008: 105 tackles = 8.75 tackles per game
2009: 85 tackles = 7.08 tackles per game
You should really look at a few stats before you start typing, it will make it appear like you know what you’re talking about. OOOOOOPPS.
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
"BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON"
Sark and Holt: Going with the Pete Carroll system
Sark and Holt don’t care what statistics point to. THEY DON"T. Let’s get that cleared up right from the beginning. What Sark and Holt want to see is “making plays”. Some examples of “making plays” that you tend to forget about and can change the outcome of a game are as followed:
- fall on a loose ball
- strip the ball from the opposing ball carrier
- get your paw up on a pass in order to change it’s path
- make an INT
- rush the opposing QB and force him to make a bad throw
- sack the QB
- play a physical brand of football
- make tackle(s) for a loss (behind L.O.S.)
Tackle statistics doesn’t say anything about how intense you play defense. Where were those tackles made Lear in 08? Were they behind the L.O.S., at the L.O.S., five yards down field, or 15 yards down field? It’s all about making plays, plays that can change the outcome of a game. A tackle point does nothing to change the outcome of a game. Hell Lear- get freakin’ real dude! Are you completely mental? Think about it Lear. More tackle points could quite possibly mean that our defense spent way too much time on the damn field, which in turn would = more tackle points fella. Mason Foster had more tackle points in 08 as compared to 09 simply because Ed Donatell’s defense couldn’t stop anybody and spent too much time getting jacked up! Now…
All I saw was purple
Wrong answer, try again.
Really, Sark doesn’t care about stats? So why was it, he said the first goal for Jake was to get to 60% on his pass completions???? Nope, doesn’t care about stats at all.
Tackles matter. Foster was the only guy getting opposing players down, end of story.
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
"BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON"
Tackles matter, but don’t put too much weight on the tackle numbers – it’s heavily driven by scheme and which position the guy is playing, as well as how his teammates are playing and what the time of possession numbers. A difference of 1.75 tackles per game can easily be influenced by the above noted factors.
This isn’t like baseball where individual stats tell you most of the story – football stats have a ton of variables involved that make it a lot more difficult to tease out individual performance apart from all the other factors.
Agree, BUT . . .
don’t let Crazi here you say that!!!!!!!!! Stats do matter, they don’t tell the whole story, but Crazi would have you believe that stats mean absolutely nothing.
My main point is that Foster had a great year in 2008, so Crazi claiming that he had a break through year in 2009 is a bunch of BS.
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
"BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON"
Point Blank: When defenses struggle stats are inflated
When defenses can’t get off the field, defensive players are in action longer, which in turn inflate their stats. How would it look if our defense was able to get 3 and outs most often? Foster’s tackles points would be way down simply because you can’t get tackle points on the bench. So looking at Foster’s 08 campaign comared to his 09 campaign, we were able to get off the field sooner rather then later, thus his numbers reflect that.
I’d personally love to see a new stat for our defensive players. How many cups of gatorade can we consume on the bench? That stat would tell us that our defense is playing better because our defense is stopping folks and not getting whipped on the field because we can’t stop anybody.
Note to Lear: Sark is the head coach if you have forgotten. He wants his defense “making plays”. When you make plays everything else will be there. I think you are just being problematic and argumentative.
All I saw was purple
My take on Butler
Butler only really had 1 1/2 years of being healthy at UW. He could have used a redhirt year to get stronger which would have helped him avoid the injuries.
by John Berkowitz on Apr 26, 2010 6:49 PM PDT up reply actions
Thanks again for all of the info guys,
I seem much more confident that Butler can develop into a good player for The Bolts now.
See yall again November 6th in Eugene!
Self-anointed President of the Kenjon Barner fan club.
Reach?
He is a pretty good player…I think the fans will like what they see once they get to know him.
Hey I love Mel Kiper!
Todd McShay is still wet behind the ears and needs technology (smart board) to illistrate credibility. Not so much for Kiper. Mel talks the game, talks up the players and that’s what I love about him. He doesn’t need a powerpoint display to make a point. To me Mel Kiper is the Keith Jackson of the NFL draft. I want Kiper in that room.
All I saw was purple
Don't you mean Mel Kifer?
Sorry, I just had to!
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
"BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON"
I don't dislike Kiper
he’s worlds better than McShay. Altough I’m more in the Mayock camp, as far as draft analysts go.
For the record, Kiper has fantastic hair.
ESPN is selling us both Kiper and McShay
The old dog vs. the young stud. These guys sure go at it and it’s great television. I think ESPN wants football fans to takes sides so that people can argue about who is better back at the water cooler.
I love Mel Kiper and he’s my boy! The reason I’ve brought up McShay lately is because I don’t know how he got so credible. Kiper has been around for years (decades), yet all of a sudden this new kid is trying to squeeze Kiper out.
All I saw was purple
"Your Boy"
How is it, that if Kiper is “your boy”, you didn’t even know how to spell his last name a few days ago???
Come on Crazi, tell the truth, your just in love with his hair!!
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
"BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON"
The “Stud”? Kiper’s OK, but he’s had plenty of misses in his projections, and he shouldn’t be treated as anything more than entertainment material.
This guy a few years back graded Kiper’s grades, and while Kiper didn’t come out looking awful, neither did he come off looking as smart as he’d like you to think…
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/nfl-draft/2007/rating-mel-kiper
Kiper gives you his point of view
He’s selling you what he projects as the best football players. Now a lot of times he doesn’t get the draft correct simply because he does not account for a team drafting for need. His entire presentation is based off of talent and not need.
Kiper: wrong or right the guy is awesome.
P.S. Lear I’m not the only one that got his name wrong, scroll up and you’ll see you didn’t know how to spell nor pronouce Kiper’s neame- GOTCHA :)
All I saw was purple
Read the link I posted – it’s not about whether he was correct in guessing who goes when, but whether guys he thought were over rated turned out to be, and guys he thought were under rated turned out to be. Reality is, he’s about break even in his predictions.
That’s not bad, but not awesome either, and he could stand to be a little more humble. But he won’t change, because him showing some humility would ruin his gig.
Right or Wrong
The guy is great. I just love his passion for what he does. His hair could rival Jimmy Johnson or Steve Lavin’s. And the fact that he has pumpkin pie for breakfast each morning is hilarious stuff.
I could really careless if Kiper is right or wrong. I just think he is very entertaining- just goes off on guys with the passion he presents for the draft is gold.
All I saw was purple
Actually . . .
For the learning impaired: That was me (Lear) making fun of you (Crazi)!!!!
As Carlos Mencia would say in a very retarted manner: “DEEDEDEE”
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
"BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON"
Whatever fella (or should I spell it correctly- fellow)
I think most could come to the conclusion that you have failed to spell correctly time and again “DEEDEDEE”
All I saw was purple
I might not be the best speller
But I don’t screw up a guy’s name who I supposedly “love”.
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
"BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON"
Upcoming quandary on Jake
Locker needs the experience of playing as many plays as he can to work on his secondary and tertiary reads, since his first two years were essentially lost. Also, when you are pushing someone for a Heisman, you need to pad the stats. But that leaves Locker in to possibly take a cheap shot in scrub time. Last year, I thought Sark left Locker in way too long in a few games, but understood that as JL needed to work on his progression reads. At what point in a game this year do we take JL out , to preserve his health for the season, and hand the ball off to Price or Montana to run out the clock or leave him in to get better #s for the Heisman?
I don't think if Sark leaves him in it's for Heisman reasons
I’d guess it’s because he feels that having Jake in there will provide them the best opportunity to win alot of games.
1) Win some games
2) Win Rose Bowl
3) Make Jake #1 pick
…
8) Jake wins Hesiman
While I’m sure it’s a bit of a feather in his cap for Jake to win it (it was when Palmer and Leinart did) it’s not going to affect the way he coaches the game.
Goal No.1
A winning season has to be goal No.1. Now if we get that 7th win early in the 2010 season, we could start discussing Roses. Talking about bowl games and Roses can be a slippery slope. We need a winning season first in order to secure a bowl bid. Get that 7th win early enough, maybe we can dream of Pasadena.
All I saw was purple
Turns out Sark thinks Will Shamburger was the most improved player over the Spring practices. Some very encouraging words from Holt today in Condotta’s blog about Shamburger – really hyping him up as a big-time guy. We suddenly seem to have a wealth of quality young safeties: Shamburger, Fellner, Glenn, Parker…
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