Dot Dot Dawg: Spring Preview and NFL Draft Recap

The Seattle Times — Washington has huge showing in NFL draft with 8 Huskies selected

Adam Jude recaps UW’s big showing at the NFL Draft over the weekend, in which the Dawgs had more players called than any program in the country aside from Alabama and Ohio State (10 and nine players selected, respectively), and tied with Oklahoma. Jude notes that many of Washington’s players who were selected are staying near the West coast, including Ben Burr-Kirven, who was selected by the Seattle Seahawks.

The Seattle Times — Ex-Husky teammates defend first-round NFL draft pick Kaleb McGary following critical Atlanta article

Following Kaleb McGary’s selection in the first round of the NFL Draft, Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter D. Orlando Ledbetter reported that an anonymous Atlanta Falcons executive shared concerns that McGary might have difficulty adjusting to his new environment due to his being “socially awkward.” In response, Matt Calkins writes that the statements don’t jive with his experiences covering McGary, citing former teammates such as Kevin King and John Ross who knocked down the allegations in the AJC article.

The Athletic — Bad offense or great defense? 5 things to know about Washington’s spring preview

Saturday’s spring preview continued to long, proud tradition of Washington’s defense dominating the offense, to the tune of a 34-0 walloping before a couple of late scoring drives resulted in the more respectable 38-21 final score. Christian Caple’s dispatch focuses on a few key points: Namely, that Saturday was far from the quarterbacks’ best showing of the spring; that the defense’s pass rush looks like a totally different beast than what we last saw in the Rose Bowl; Isaiah Gilchrist and Keith Taylor’s emergence in the secondary; and the announcement of senior linebacker D.J. Beavers’ medical retirement.

The Athletic — What we learned from Washington’s spring practice, position by position

Caple provides an in-depth breakdown of how UW’s various position groups progressed throughout the spring period, and gives an early guess as to how the depth chart at each position might shake out come August.

Dots

• The UW athletic department posted a great photo gallery of shots from Saturday’s Spring Preview.
• Jimmy Lake spoke with Dave Softy Mahler on Friday’s show.
• Now that he’s the recipient of a 10-year, $93 million contract, Dabo Swinney’s protestations against the concept of providing financial benefits to players rings tremendously hollow.
• Jake Browning signed a record deal with the Minnesota Vikings for an undrafted free agent.
• By all accounts, Nick Saban’s recovery from his recent hip surgery is going extraordinarily well, and SEC fans couldn’t be happier for him.