Washington suffered from some intense growing pains last season at linebacker. The loss of Mason Foster to graduation ultimately was impossible to overcome. Washington was small and lacked experience on the outside and it showed against most opponents.
A year of hard knocks experience, another winter in the weight room plus a new defensive coaching staff should yield significant improvement in 2012. Peter Sirmon was known as a guy who could elevate the play of young players while he was at Tennessee. He will get the chance to start doing that this spring at Washington.
The Huskies are going to be playing more 3-4 this season and that means there will be times when the Huskies are going to be playing with four linebackers on the field.
Thomas Tutogi is slated to take over for Cort Dennison in the middle. Tutogi is a true junior who matriculated to Montlake last year after a single season at a junior college. He has good size and he is faster than Dennison which means he might be a better coverage guy than Cort.
Garrett Gilliland is the 1-B backup. He has played quite a bit since he hit campus and is capable of filling in at all three positions. True freshman Ryan McDaniel arrives this spring and the coaching staff is going to take a long look at him to determine if he can provide immediate help. Blake Rodgers arrives this summer and can play either ILB position.
Last years starters John Timu and Princeton Fuimaono return backed up by Jamaal Kearse and Cooper Pelleur. Timu and Fui really got lit up at times last season. Kearse had some moments on special teams and started a few games. Pelleur played here and there on special teams.
Matt Lyons and Scott Lawyer sat out to preserve a year of eligibility. Both are described as speed guys on the outside who needed to add some beef to contribute. Cory Littleton arrives this summer and is a candidate to red shirt.
- Tutogi Jr
- Gilliland Jr
- McDaniel Fr
- Rodgers Fr
- Timu So
- Kearse So
- Pelleur Jr
- Littleton Fr
- Fuimaono Jr
- Lyons Rs
- Lawyer Rs