How did the Huskies do?
by John Berkowitz on Feb 2, 2012 11:51 AM PST
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PrintI know it is impossible to correctly grade a class until it has been on campus for at least three years but lets give it a whirl anyway since it is pretty much a silly LOI day tradition.
Overall I give the class a solid B Plus. The coaches rebounded nicely and filled some serious needs in most of the needed places.
The key for me is how that offensive line is going to mature over time...so lets get on with it!
Quarterback
I am not sure you can do better than Jeff Lindquist and Cyler Miles. Both of these kids have the ability to play on Sunday and make a lot of money. In the meantime they will battle it out with Derek Brown to become the successor to Keith Price in a couple of years.
I can truly understand why Cyler vacillated at the last minute. UW is now officially loaded at QB and he has to go head to head with a highly rated guy in his own class. It takes guts to do that. That being said USC is loaded too.
The ones who got away - None - Grade A Plus
Running Back
Sark thinks that Erich Wilson has the ability to be pretty special. He is one of those versatile kids who can play about anywhere but I think he starts off at TB because of need. He has excellent size and set some serious records at a great program.
Psalm Wooching is a great looking athlete who will start his career as a big back. I would love to see him at OLB or DE but we really have a serious need for a play maker at FB. Did you see the video of him doing the fire dance in native dress...Wow...I want to see him do that to the Oregon defense.
The ones who got away - KeiVarrae Russell (Notre Dame) Byron Marshall (Oregon) - Grade B Plus
Wide Receiver
Not exactly an immediate position of need but Jaydon Mickens, Dwayne Washington, and Kendyl Taylor are all big time players who can contribute all over the field. Who is my favorite? Tough to say because Sark picked up three very diverse athletes who have the ability to contribute right away if needed at a number of positions.
The ones who got away - Michael Rector (Stanford), Kenny Walker (UCLA), and Jordan Payton (UCLA) - Grade A
Tight End
We didn't get any so I guess it would be an F but we really didn't need any in this class with three talented sophomores coming back next season. This becomes a position of need next year with UW possibly looking at taking two.
The ones who got away - Caleb Smith (OSU) - Grade Incomplete
Offensive Line
Let me start off by saying that I like the kids we ended up with. My only gripe is the lack of tackles because it is currently one of the teams biggest needs. I think Cozzetto and Sark would be the first to tell you that off the record.
If Shane Brostek lived in Honolulu he would be a five star recruit. He looks quite a bit like Colin Porter who arrived at UW ready to play. No truth to the rumor that he stapled his LOI to the head of a Shark and told him to get it there on time or there would be repercussions.
Nathan Dean is a real solid kid who has a tremendous amount of upside. I think he can be as good as Garnett or Banner. I listened to him on the radio last week and he is a real impressive guy. Cozzetto had the ability to help mold him into something special.
I had no idea who Taylor Hindy was until today but I just love his film. His nickname is the "Pancake Master" and the LA Times had him rated as one of the best in SoCal before the season. He evidently camped at UW and the coaches liked what they saw.
Jake Eldrenkamp is a great pick up and one of the big keys to this class. If he had gone to WSU it would have been a major loss. Jake is going to play inside.
Cory English is another great looking kid who used to butt heads every day at practice with Danny Shelton at Auburn HS. This kid is your likely future center.
Michael Kneip from Bellevue HS is a preferred walk on who will play inside. Picking up a talented kid like this without a scholarship is a true gift. I would love to have five of these guys...so would Cozzetto.
The ones who got away - Josh Garnett (Stanford), Zach Banner (USC), and Walker Williams (Wisconsin) - Grade B
(Continue past the jump for the defense)
Defensive Line
We filled some serious needs at defensive end and the three technique but they didn't reel in Ellis McCarthy at the last minute which is a shame. He came up on a secret visit and actually committed only to renege after he got home. Tell me that isn't wild.
Pio Vatuvei is a big time get that SC wanted despite not having much room. He has good size and will fill the need at the three technique.
Kalei Auelua is a stud from Hawaii who has great film and a knee that needs a little rehab. He stuck with Washington and Washington stuck with him.
Damion Turpin is part of the Dominguez gang who potentially could play inside or out depending on the alignment.
JC tackle Josh Banks fill an immediate need inside and is being recruited to play right away.His job will be to go after the quarterback.
The ones who got away - Ellis McCarthy (UCLA), Arik Armstead (Oregon), Alonzo Williams (Texas A&M) - Grade B
Linebacker
Ryan McDaniel is the stud inside LB that Sark has been trying to recruit for the past three season. He will be here this spring with a shot to get serious playing time this fall.
Blake Rodgers is another kid who helps fill the pressing need inside. Size was lacking at LB and these two guys fill that void.
I love Corey Littleton's film. He could potentially stay outside or grow into a defensive end.he has the type of size and speed we are missing outside.
The ones who got away - Jeremy Castro (UCLA), Jared Afalava (Nebraska), Brent Bafaro (Oregon) - Grade B Plus
Defensive Back
We hit a huge home run in this area of serious need. Shaq Thompson will be groomed to start immediately. We haven't had a safety with this much potential since Lawyer Milloy. This is the guy who can transform your secondary into something special.
Brandon Beaver has the ability to be as good as he wants to be. He was Washington's to lose for a number of months and some think he acted as a recruiting secret agent for UW by continuing to take visits.
Stealing Cleveland Wallace at the last minute from OSU was just marvelous. According the reports he moves real well and has nice natural back pedal.
Darien Washington can play Safety or CB which makes him and ideal nickle back attendance. He reminds me of a bigger Nigel Burton.
The ones who got away - Reggie Daniels (Oregon), Devian Shelton (USC), Cedric Dozier (Cal), and Randall Goforth (UCLA) - Grade A
Special Teams
We picked up two big time legs and a long snapper (Hindy) who has a shot at developing into a pretty decent tackle. Kory Durkee won his scholarship by booming punts off the ceiling of the Dempsey during camp. JC kicker Travis Coons regularly kicks the ball out of the end zone which immediately makes the field quite a bit longer for opponents facing the UW defense. - Grade A
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I think B plus is a fair grade
I gave it a A though do to homerism, which is a dreadful disease fans tend to get. I’m very excited about this class. We picked up, in my opinion, multiple impact players at almost every postion. We picked up quite a few players who are ready to make an immediate impact on all three phases of the field. We also picked up some beef in terms of depth in this class. This is going to be a special class.
On a side note, Can we hand the ball off to Shane Brostek just once? I also heard that him stapling his LOI to a shark’s head was a rumor. Because he surfed on that shark all the way to Lake Washington!
Shaq
Can you give me an idea how Shaq compares with Taylor Mays – who would rank higher if they were in the same class?
rankings, very similar
Both were rated 6.1 in the Rivals system, both were 5* recruits; Shaq was Scout.com’s #1 overall S this year, and Mays was #2 in the 2006 class.
Mays was a maybe a touch bigger – 6’3", ~220lbs; Shaq is 6’2", ~215 lbs (Sark said he was up to 225 recently) – but very similar in that regard as well.
Mays might have been a bit faster, though again, Rivals lists both of them as being 4.6 guys (I think Mays ran raster than that at the NFL combines).
Shaq is probably a more instinctive football player. And while Mays learned to lay the lumber in college, he wasn’t as physical on tape as a High Schooler as Shaq.
It’d be a tough call between them.
More importantly Shaq won't and eat/lift himself out of the position.
He lost so much agility by the end Mays was a LB and covered like it.
I'm so positive, you'll need AZT later.
I wonder
I keep seeing Shaq’s dimensions and I wonder if he won’t end up at OLB. I hope he can stick at S – a kid that size with his athleticism back there is a big advantage.
I've kind of thought the same thing.
I think a stud linebacker can impact a game more than a stud safety can. And I think safety is a little easier position to fill (i.e. the dropoff between Thompson the stud linebacker and the “next guy” is bigger than the dropoff between Thompson the stud safety and the “next guy”).
Thompson is a lot more fluid than a guy like Mays was at this point. I think he could carry more weight and still maintain his agility at safety.
we need to work in the big hybrid S into our defense ..
…. given the proliferation of strong running teams in the conference with Oregon, USC, Stanford, Arizona, Utah and UCLA.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
@chrislandon
Great point!
And I think that’ll be the point of separation as he matures…he will continue to redefine his ceiling as he gets stronger and faster to the point that we’ll be missing him before he’s gone…“work ethic” and “upside” personified. Pure…
Mays might have been a bit faster, though again, Rivals lists both of them as being 4.6 guys (I think Mays ran raster than that at the NFL combines).
Mayes was exceptionally fast. He ran an electronic 4.43 at the NFL combine (fastest of all DB’s that year), and had a hand-timed 4.24. I doubt that Thompson is quite that fast, but he finished 6th in the state of California in the 200 meter dash as a junior. You can’t do that without really being able to move.
that was my recollection too
Was a bit surprised to see Rivals listed him as 4.6 out of high school – could have sworn he was considered a blazer before he got to college.
One big thing...
Taylor Mays could lay the lumber, but had absolutely no ball skills. Shaq far outclasses him in that area.
Hindsight is 20/20
I agree with Kirk’s assessment. My instinct is telling that Shaq is more physical.
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by John Berkowitz on Feb 2, 2012 1:31 PM PST up reply actions
Mays was pretty stiff as well.
Not terribly great change-of-direction ability. Even if Thompson doesn’t have the same straight-line speed, he’s looks like a better all-around athlete.
Kim at Dawgman used to say that, to him, Mays looked like a track athlete playing football. Shaq looks like a pure football player. He’ll make a BIG difference no matter what position he ends up at….just put him on the field.
Kim on Mays
He thought that he was going to be Chancelor Young the second.
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by John Berkowitz on Feb 3, 2012 10:03 AM PST up reply actions
yeah, Kim turned out to be wrong on Mays
He was convinced Mays didn’t have the physicality to be a great safety.
Shane Brostek
I just love the “World’s most interesting man” type quips.
Great analysis, John.
Thanks for all your hard work and dedication.
Yes...Amazingly well done for someone just back from
a place that looks like a “Corona” ad!
Overall - Good Class: Missed Potential
I’d give this class a B+ as I think we addressed a lot of key needs and it has a lot of potential. Lots of good commits and we came on strong at the end. The shortcomings in recruiting were addressed with the new hires though I wish it had happened sooner. Sark and company pulled it together and we landed some big fish and were in play on others.
Lots of nice signing day surprises which was nice to see with just the one bad one in Payton – overall quite good.
However, this recruiting cycle was marred by error. We wiffed on some top players in Washington state who we could have/should have gotten. A couple of those may come back to haunt us as they are going to be playing at top competitors. These errors keep the class from being a great one though it ended up being quite good.
Also, love that we stacked up on the D side of the ball, would have liked to see a couple more linemen though and maybe a stud linebacker.
B minus: What could have been...?
This class should be judged against how we did with the amazing number of great offensive and defensive line recruits. Coupled with how how we did w/ the instate guys the grade is going to be a harsh one…the only thing redeeming this screw up is how well Sark and Co. rallied what was going to be a gigantic clusterf*ck of a class into something OK.
Like a passenger on the Costa Concordia, you’re so grateful to be alive, it’s hard to be as pissed as you should be for the amazing vacation that you coulda had.
I'm so positive, you'll need AZT later.
I tend to agree. B- is about right.
Great finish that bodes really well for the future, but it doesn’t make up for the way things went down the previous 10 months.
2013 needs to be filled with linemen. On both sides of the ball.
Cal signed #10 and WSU signed #3
In our favorite picture (someone help me here) in hopes that " some of Brostek rubbed off on them".
Shane was asked by ESPN not to watch the Worlds Strongest Man competitions because he intimated the “athletes” just by watching them on TV!
by sdhuskyfan on Feb 2, 2012 12:23 PM PST via mobile reply actions
also (and I hate to be a downer)...
…we need to see if all these kids actually make it into school this fall. Could possibly be a few academic casualties (seems to happen every year).
Stop griping about the in-state guys leaving...
Forgive my rant, but I’m tired of folks commenting on the blue chip guys that we didn’t sign. Someone please give me an example of a football program that has a “fence” up around their state and lands each major recruit EVERY season. Even LSU, considered to be a pretty decent football program, lost out on the top three recruits from Louisiana this year.
Do I wish we had signed more in-state guys? Of course. Do I think Sark has made (and will continue to make) the necessary changes to improve our retention rate? Absolutely. Am I going to grade this class based on the players we didn’t get? Definitely not. Why should we assume those recruits were ours to lose?
by UWDawgyDawg on Feb 2, 2012 2:00 PM PST reply actions 7 recs
hear hear
You can’t win’em all and you’re not supposed to. You’re supposed to win most of the battles.
Big Scary Man Hug 4 U My Concord Grape Flavored Kool-aid Friend...
I’m lovin’ what I think will prove to be some great players and some needed depth and competitive workmenlike Dawgs that’l build on the foundation laid to “expect to win”…
The thing is
the in-state guys were absolute studs. It does hurt that we didnt get Banner or Garnett. The other ones I think we got guys that are just as good at the position. Banner and Garnett are 5* studs that are probably 3 year starters and first round picks.
It is a great class. B+ in my opinion, but missing out on these guys (in-state or not) are the difference in this class being top 10. Thing is that usually you have a small advantage in the beginning with in-state guys for a number of reasons.
I do however believe that Sark made all the necessary steps to remedy the situation and I dont expect this to happen again.
How do you explain
numerous reports of Banner looking a bit slow and stiff at the AA game or the lack of buzz about his game afterwards?
Out of the two OL I think Banner is the player that I think got that 5th star a bit iffy.
Some guys are picked on potential. Their size is intriguing and Banner is one of those guys. I couldn’t even say that he’d start for us this year. Garnett appears to be the more field ready guy at this time IMO.
We’ll see how things turn out.
Banner is definitely more of a project than Garnett
But the potential is tremendous. Garnett has less of a ceiling, because he’s a lot more developed already and doesn’t have as much room to improve IMO.
4* tackle
I will take. I don’t think banner would start right away. But I Think he is a 3 year starter
A rec for you, my good friend
I understand the disappointment but I’m 100% behind what you say.
by BrooklynPreacher on Feb 2, 2012 2:56 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Agreed.
Are Cal, USC, Stanford, and UCLA griping about the DOZENS of quality kids that leave their state every year?
Am I bummed that Banner, Garnett, and Dozier won’t be wearing purple? I sure am. But, I’m stoked to have the kids we do have.
there's a difference though
There are so many great prospects in California that you don’t have to secure most of them to build a great class if you’re a California school. With Washington though, you generally do have to get most of the in-state studs, because you’re unlikely to pry a ton of high level guys out of California. Part of the reason we’re all so excited about getting Shaq is that it’s been very rare to get players of his caliber out of California.
by kirkd on Feb 2, 2012 6:53 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
LOI Day was yesterday,,,
It is a huge part of the overall story.
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by John Berkowitz on Feb 2, 2012 7:48 PM PST up reply actions
Quinn Zeger
No brotherly love for him? Bad grades, or not enough Pac-12 talent?
Potential walk on
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by John Berkowitz on Feb 2, 2012 7:50 PM PST up reply actions
The thing that excites me about this year...
is depth. Looking over this list, I see a ton of potential. Hopefully, this potential is all realized because most of these kids will have a chance to redhirt. It seems to a nice mix of talent that can be infused right away into the game plan (Thompson, Vatuvei, Banks, Mickens??) and some kids that develop and be studs in a year or two.
My guess is that a lot of the D-line guys get redshirted.
That was a frustration that Sark expressed last year and I think that he starts working against that by sitting guys for a year. Wouldn’t surprise me if Vatuvei sat for the first year.
thisjustinlee.wordpress.com
I would be very surprised....
The dude’s already 6’3" 275 Lbs. and plays like he’s been there already!
It wouldn't surprise me with Pio
but I think logically Turpin is likely the guy that would redshirt before Pio without having knowledge of their actual grasp of the defense.
Pio is already D1 size while Turpin is still in that tweener area.
Pio is the most likely of the frosh DL to play
Banks is almost certain to play. Pio is probably going to be hard to keep off the field – he’s that good.
Vatuvei and Thompson
would be my guesses for the only D players who don’t redshirt
We don't have the corner depth to
not play at least Beaver or Wallace unless Antavius Sims becomes a total stud
If we end up moving sample
We’ll have Trufant, Sims, Sample, Ducre, Peters, Gobern, Beaver and Wallace. We only lose Trufant this year, so we my not have good depth, but we do have depth.
It will be *hugely* interesting toi see who winds up where in what kind of
defensive scheme in Spring Ball.
As for the D
Thompson, Vatuvei, Banks, and McDaniel are the D players I think will get lots of playing time this year. Maybe Beaver if we are thinner than we would like to be at CB by fall practice.
McDaniel will likely redshirt
He’s coming off an injury this year, and frankly he needs to get bigger. I love his potential, but he shouldn’t be playing right away.
I graded the recruiting with an A
It was a forgone conclusion that the in-state studs of Garnett, Russell, and Williams were all but gone. We had only a smidge of a shot at landing Banner and Dozier. I believe that we were looking at a dissaster of gigantic proportions in terms of recruiting this year. I agree with John that the defensive staff was let go for more reasons then just the piss poor defensive performance this year. With all that said, Sark and the new defensive staff went to work immidiately and closed with a huge BANG!
In my book, when you finish in the top 25 in recruiting- it’s a A job. An A+ is top 10. We managed to pull in a top 25 class following a disgraceful defensive meltdown while losing the in-state recruiting battles 5 out of 6 times. To me, finishing No.22 in the country when everybody is waffling, flipping, and pouching is a tremendous job well done.
All I saw was purple
Wrongo Bongo
20-22 with some gaps and some minor misses in balance does not yield an A in anyone’s book.
Deliver Banner, Castro, and McCarthy gives you an A…add Banner and a Tight end and you get an A Plus.
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by John Berkowitz on Feb 3, 2012 5:35 PM PST up reply actions
we didn't need a TE in this class
ASJ, Hartvigson and Hudson will all be Sophomores next year. We could afford to miss out on a TE this class.
Elite OL though – you always take those guys.
Did we need help at LB?
Lett Tackle was needed, but did we need Castro really? We’ve got greath depth at LB and Cort is the only guy leaving anytime soon. Also wasn’t Castro playing us to get what he truly wanted from Oregon? I’ve heard reports that was his targeted school all along. We loaded up in the secondary and created some depth on the O line. The only area of significant need that we didn’t get was a Left Tackle, but we can groom one and I do like Hatchie. I’m wondering if Kohler will spend the rest of his Husky career at tackle. Sure wished we could get another tackle so we could move him back inside.
From 45th to 22nd in the last week is astonishing, especially when this was the waffling, flipping, and pouching offseason for recruits. My hat goes off to Sark and the staff for doing an outstanding job.
All I saw was purple
We don't have a guy like Castro
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by John Berkowitz on Feb 3, 2012 7:25 PM PST up reply actions
I guess I graded on the finish
We’ve all known for months that we were getting our in state kids. Do you grade on the body of work or do you grade on the way you finish? Body of work: B How we finished: A. It’s all argumentative anyway, we needed a lot of help in the secondary and it looks like this class will help in pass coverage.
All I saw was purple
The body...
….and NO…we didn’t know the destination of the local kids until after the New Year.
Have you become like Nostradamus or something…anything else I should be worried about in 2012?
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by John Berkowitz on Feb 4, 2012 8:19 AM PST up reply actions
Williams commited early to Wisconsin, Russell was gone before the holidays to Notre Dame. Dozier commited to Cal well before the defensive staff was fired. Garnett didn’t have us in his top 3. That left Banner as the only real shot of landing.
Would’ve been nice to land some of these kids, I think we all could agree on that. But on the other hand I feel what hurt the most is not getting a stud kid at left tackle. Banner was the guy we needed the most. We’re okay at Guard for the next two seasons (minus any significant injuries- knock on wood). We didn’t need another wide out- currently loaded at the position and Dozier had little interest being a corner, so we’re okay there. I’m not sure what Russell’s problem was, however looking at Callier, Cooper, and Sankey I think we’r okay there too.
Banner was the ultimate prize that we didn’t land for immediate need. Still I like this class. If you honestly look at it, offenisvely we’re going to be fine. This class will definitly help us defensively, next season and into the future.
All I saw was purple
we needed to re-stock WR
You always want new kids coming into the pipeline so you have a steady development stream going. We lose Kearse & Aguilar so you’d want at least 2 guys coming in to backfill; we got 3, and a couple of those guys could potentially play CB (Taylor & Washington) and one of them could play a more hybrid WR/RB role (Taylor).
we need bigger LB's
Too many smaller, safety-sized types that we have to hope will get bigger under Ivan and become guys that can shed OL blocks. Wilcox talked about it Wednesday night – he wants bigger guys, guys like Littleton. Castro fits that mold.
Our OLB;s were manhandled last year...
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by John Berkowitz on Feb 4, 2012 8:19 AM PST up reply actions
Linebackers
I actually like the diversity of our LBing corps. We have converted, smaller-sized LBs who can run with speed. And we have Kearse and Gillialand that offer us run stopping ability. If we take into consideration their youthfullness that that would be one significant reason why we were manhandled quite a bit by seasoned opposing O Lines. They’ll get better…
All I saw was purple
Kearse & Gilliland need to get bigger to be run-stoppers
Other than Tutogi, we don’t really have that prototypical MIK that can plug the run game up the middle. Kearse has the frame that he can get there; not sure about Gilliland.
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