Stock Up/Stock Down: Spring Football

Stock Up:

• Deontae Cooper: with Bishop Sankey moving onto the NFL, the RB competition is as open as any on the roster. Cooper has continued his path back from his three ACL tears by shedding the knee braces, putting in consistent work, and challenging the top of the depth chart. Add onto that the extra year of eligibility (believe the 7th year when and only when you see it) and the future could be very bright.
• Azeem Victor: With the absence of John Timu and the middle linebacker position vacated and up for grabs, Victor has stepped up and claimed that spot. Victor is very much a Justin Wilcox type defender: long, rangy and athletic. Potential-wise, he may be a better fit for defending in the Pac-12 than a guy like Timu -- he just needs to develop up to his potential.
• James Atoe: Atoe raised some eyebrows when he showed up for Spring tipping the scales closer to 400 pounds than 300, but he has been running with the 1's all of the past two weeks in Dexter Charles's absence. He, Charles, and Colin Tanigawa may be battling it out for the two guard positions well into August. Does coach Strausser want a big mammoth mauler to be his right guard? If so, Atoe is the guy.
• Travell Dixon: Of all the guys who have capitalized on the fresh start, Dixon seems to be right up near the top. He had high expectations when he transferred in to Washington, and there's a large segment of the fanbase that thinks he could have an impact as a starting corner.

Stock Down:

• Jesse Callier: Callier missed the first practice of spring with an academic thing. One practice isn't a death knell, but with a new group of coaches to impress, new techniques to master, and a new system to implement ever practice is precious. It's not a hole Callier can't dig out of, and even if he does cede ground to the younger players there's little doubt that he'll have a big impact as a top special teamer again in 2014.
• John Timu: It's hard to be a captain if you're not out on the field. Missing the first two weeks of practices puts him way behind his linebacker mates -- which is a very talented crew. If he doesn't hit the ground running in the second half of spring, it's not inconceivable that the staff could go a different way come fall.