I am hearing a bit of a rumor today that the verbal of Erik Kohler to Washington is making an impact on another highly rated line recruit by the name of Nick Rowland. Rowland who hails from Arizona already has a good relationship with OLC Dan Cozzetto.
Getting Rowland has always been a longshot but if he has a good trip up here during the LSU game anything is possible. Kids are always very aware of who else is signing and who they could potentially play with over the next 4-5 years. The verbal of Kohler is timed very well as far as the recruitment of Rowland is concerned. I am not predicting anything but just saying that this recent verbal helps quite a bit when it comes to filling the other open spots.
Lets say UW brings in a class of Riva, Porter, Kohler, Hatchie, Tanigawa, and Rowland...wow. That would potentially make it one of the best lines on paper in the country coming in. Even without Rowland it would still rate among the top three in the West if they can complete recruiting in this manner.
The opener against LSU is just going to be a huge weekend.
The Tigers come in as 16 point favorites in this one. I don't there is a single person in the country outside the staff and the players who think Washington has a chance in this one. That being said an opener on the road in a hostile environment is never an easy task for any team. I think it is going to be a lot closer than people think.
Just for example a very mediocre UCLA team routed Tennessee to open the season in 2008. So expect excellence and good things can happen.