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By Malamute, 20 May 2004 Coming off a 6-6 season, the Washington Huskies return 6 starters on offense, 7 on defense and one kicking specialist. The Huskies need to replace their leading receiver (Reggie Williams), their leading rusher (Rich Alexis) and their leading passer (Cody Pickett). Charles Frederick is the only dynamo -- game breaker -- returning on offense. Players to watch on offense: FB Zach Tuiasosopo, WR Charles Frederick, RB Kenny James and OT Khalif Barnes. Analyzing the Pacific 10 Conference race, Ted Miller of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer projects the Huskies as seventh-place finishers, contrasted with our, er hum, sixth-place projection. Free-lance writer Richard Rambeck opines a 3-8 season in his latest article -- but he doesn't say whom we'll beat, the Nevada debacle of last year leaving us all wondering. At Evergreen last August, it was quite apparent what Cody Pickett, Reggie Williams and Charles Frederick meant to the offense. Clicking on all cylinders, their presence alone seemed to turn a sputtering Edsel into a smooth-running, 32-valve Deville. To find a replacement for his two erstwhile mechanics, Coach Keith Gilbertson shuttled three quarterbacks and a passel of wide receivers in and out of his spring scrimmages. No one really scraped the carbon off the cylinder heads nor wore an oily mechanic's suit the way grinders Pickett and Williams did. Furthermore, Gilbertson's offense is coming off a spring practice of which, after one particular scrimmage, he termed the worst performance for an offense he's seen at the UW. At that time, the offensive line had suffered two major injuries just prior to the scrimmage. Because of injuries to an offensive line that could look like a patchwork quilt if certain players don't heal, the Huskies may need the threat of the option to move the ball effectively. It worked for them in 2000, took them to the Rose Bowl, when they led the conference in rushing. Defensively, the Dawgs need a war daddy to create some mayhem in the bad guy's backfield. (We'll discuss the defense in the next article). In their June meeting with the NCAA, UW administrators will need to show that violations involving (1) the undercharging of recruits for a boat ride, (2) a few small bets (adjusted for coaching and administrative salaries) made in March Madness pools, (3) inadvertent contacts made by recruits with a booster piloting a boat, and (4) possibly a couple of drugs, (Ritalin and NoDoze, their amounts over the legal limits not known) allegedly dispensed to several members of the women's softball team, all in effect, do not constitute an institution out of control. As the off-field glitches wind down in June, the Huskies need to find a QB for its opener with Fresno State in September. Currently, the starter will most likely be Junior Casey Paus. He has the experience, size, smarts and leadership skills to become a capable helmsman. After all, he led the Huskies to 35-point barrage in its win over Oregon last season. On the downside, scuttlebutt says he's not athletic enough to be an option quarterback, though he claims otherwise. Sophomore QB Isaiah Stanback is the best athlete among the QB prospects. With skills to run the option, the 4.4 speedster has lacked in passing accuracy at times. Stanback has the best arm strength of the bunch and the elusiveness of the Higgs boson. QB Carl Bonnell has the whole package: athleticism, smarts, and accuracy. Size (6-foot-3, 200) and inexperience (redshirt freshman) could be a consideration. Assuming he doesn't opt for professional baseball, incoming freshman Matt Tuisasosopo will add considerable depth to the QB corps. Like his brother Marques (Oakland Raiders), Matt can run the option effectively. Seemingly, the Huskies are blessed at running back, returning Kenny James (5-foot-10, 210), Shelton Sampson (5-foot-11, 190), Louis Rankin (6-foot-0, 190) and Chris Singleton (6 feet, 205). Singleton returns from an injury that shelved him all of last season. Up to that injury, we thought he was the best running back behind Rich Alexis. He glides through tacklers with an insouciance not seen in many runners. His blocking skills are a question, however. Wearing Washington's redoubtable number 8 (the one that NIP and Willie wore), James can find that elusive hole between tackles as well as any one. He can block and catch passes. What more do you want, except, maybe, for a bit more speed? Both of them speedsters, Rankin and Sampson pose outside threats, especially off the option. Behind senior Charles Frederick, Washington's young receiving corps is a year older and blessed with talent. Expect a lot passes thrown, but not necessarily in this order, to the likes of Craig Chambers (6-foot-3, 200), Quintin Daniels (6-foot, 195), Sonny Shackelford (6-foot-1, 180), Jordan Slye (6-foot-5, 205), Charles Smith (6-foot, 185), Bobby Withorne (6-foot-1, 180) and Corey Williams (6-foot-1, 190). At tight end, Joe Toledo hopes to recover from a bad back, and Ben Bandel is nursing an arthritic knee. Senior Jon Lyon (6-foot-6, 260) and Dash Crutchley (6-foot-6, 250) are the healthy ones and, along with incoming freshman Caesar Rayford (6-foot-7, 230), who is on Gilby's radar, may all get playing time. Redshirt freshman Rob Lewis is also a possibility. At fullback, Zach Tuiasosopo (senior, 6-foot-2, 240) personifies the image of an 18-wheeler running down hill. He can block, catch and run the fullback dive. He is backed up by James Sims (6-foot-1, 200), who has transitioned from safety. What needs improvement in 2004? Over the last five years, Dawg fans have been spoiled by the presence of two athletic quarterbacks, Marques Tuiasosopo and Cody Pickett. Maybe, the offensive lines have been spoiled a bit too, knowing those quarterbacks could scramble out of trouble? With a less mobile quarterback starting the season, the running game takes on added importance. Like a well-timed veronica at the Plaza De Toros, deceptive play action is a must. Last season, the Huskies finished sixth in rushing, averaging a woeful 119.5 yards per game. To compete competitively in the conference, the Huskies will need to increase that number by at least 30 yards. The table below shows the offensive categories that need improvement, post haste. Table 1. Blood workup on Dawgs -- an offensive Rx
* Pass efficiency is a function of yards, completions, touchdowns and interceptions, all per pass attempt. The offensive line Mainly injuries and defections have depleted the wide-body corps. To fill the gap, four defensive linemen have been moved to the offensive line. Count NT Tusi Sa'au, DT Tui Alailefaleula, DT Stanley Daniels and DE Graham Lasee in that category. Not counting those four, the Huskies have recruited 26 offensive linemen (including four walkons) over the past five years, which is somewhat on track with what they should have recruited. Of that bunch, six have left the team, one has retired, three have used up their eligibility, one never joined the team, four are currently injured and five are waiting to join the team in the fall. Not counting the five freshmen, there should be six offensive linemen available for fall plus the four rotated players from above, which makes for a total of ten healthy offensive linemen, two of which are walkons. Assuming Tusi Sa'au (bad back) does not return from the injured list, pencil in the following linemen as starters. Both Vanneman and Meadow must return from injury. See Table 2 below. WT Khalif Barnes, 6-6 300, senior Look for Stanley Daniels, Juan Garcia, if healthy, and Chad Macklin to rotate on the offensive line. Table 2. The ten offensive linemen available for duty in the fall plus four injured linemen who could become available.
Richard Linde (a.k.a., Malamute) can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com |
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