Pass Rush. Receivers. Offensive Line.
Am I at 400 words yet?
No? Well then, allow me to beat this dead horse until I get there.
Let’s just start with some personal details about the kind of obsessive, neurotic idiot that I am. Normal, well adjusted OCD sufferers worry about things like:
“Did I lock the car?”
“Does the dog have water in his dish?”
“Is this thing cancer?”
Meanwhile, I lie in bed at night in total darkness (eyes wide open), and while staring at the shadows of swaying tree branches on the ceiling I obsess about:
“Is Jesse Sosebee really our best left guard?”
“Why hasn’t Ty Jones seen the field? Oh NO are they redshirting him?!?!?”
“Chris Landon promised me that Benning Potoa’e would be a monster. The guy can’t even get off blocks.”
Ty Jones saw action in the Fresno State game, so I can rest easier on that one. Hunter Bryant looks like a legitimate threat catching the football. Dante Pettis is easily handling his promotion to #1 receiver. Besides that, there are some questions about the rest of the receivers. Only Chico McClatcher has shown the ability to be dangerous running after the catch, and his maturity to a #2 downfield threat is still unknown. I think we like all these guys (Aaron Fuller, Quinten Pounds, Andre Baccellia and Brayden Lenius) but until they make some plays in Pac-12 action, the sleepless moments will continue.
I was confident the offensive line would be great this year; like really, really great. They were good in 2016, out-muscled just twice all season. With four starters returning and Nick Harris adding weight, there was reason to think the O-Line would be one of the best in the conference. The non-conference games have raised questions about some of their play, especially the line’s interior. Coleman Shelton and Sosebee have been singled out as not playing particularly well so far. Are we still as confident in this group?
Count me among the skeptics when Potoa’e was running at the OLB/DE/Buck position in camp. He’s just so... BIG. He was praised for his violent hands when he came out of high school, but he is in love with trying to use them to win. No real moves. I still think he is a good player and the potential is there, but as a pass rusher the more I see, the more I toss and turn. Tevis Bartlett, Connor O’Brien, Amandre Williams, Ryan Bowman; these guys have all gotten looks on the outside. Will one of them emerge, or will Pete Kwiatkowski generate pressure with the likes of Azeem Victor, Keishawn Bierria and Ben Burr-Kirven?
What has you worried?
Poll
As Pac-12 play begins, which is the biggest concern about the Huskies?
This poll is closed
-
45%
Pass Rush
-
4%
Receivers
-
35%
Offensive Line
-
8%
That Dante Pettis can’t seem to muster more than one Punt Return TD per week
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4%
Something Else