Washington Huskies Football 2013 Spring Recap

Spring Summary

The summary for Spring for Washington is uptempo.  Residing in a conference full of fast-paced spread offenses, Coach Sark decided to fight fire with fire and ramp up the pace of practices and his offense in a big way, routinely running 130+ snaps per practice session.  This was done for multiple reasons:

– To better prepare his defense for the offenses of teams like Oregon, Arizona, UCLA, ASU, etc.

– To dramatically raise the number of reps per practice;

– To help better condition his team;

– To play to the strengths of his QB, Keith Price

By all accounts this experiment was a success, though of course the proof will come on the field come August 31st.  The Huskies dabbled with some no-huddle looks last year, and it seemed to suit Price; now, it would appear that Sark’s mix of traditional pro-style offense with shotgun spread principles is now going to be married regularly with the lightning pace that Oregon & others have pioneered.

There are still question marks surrounding this team and this offense – particularly surrounding the OL – but there is reason to believe the step back the offense took last year has been addressed.

Breakout candidates

While there really weren’t any major breakout stars from Spring practices, there were some younger guys that impressed and made cases for playing time:

RB Dwayne Washington – Washington came to the Huskies as a WR, but delays in getting NCAA Clearinghouse buy off wiped out most of his Fall camp practice time, and by the time the Las Vegas Bowl practice sessions came around, the coaching staff decided to experiment with him at RB.

They liked what they saw and he continued to impress this Spring.  He brings great measurables to the position at 6’1″ and now up to 220 lbs, and he’s still fast, clocking in the 4.5 range.  He’s still learning the position, but he’s definitely in the mix to be the #2 RB backing up Bishop Sankey

DE/DT Connor Cree – A RS-So, Cree has bulked up to ~265 lbs on his 6’4″ frame and has worked his way up the depth.  With a number of injured players still recovering along the DL, he’s seizing his opportunity and is in the mix to see time at SDE and inside at 5-tech and 3-tech alignments.

Grading the positions

QB – B-  (Cautiously optimistic Price looks more like his 2011 self than his 2012 self).

RB – B+  (Sankey has looked even better this Spring than he did in his breakout season last year).

WR – C+  (Kasen is a terrific talent and DiAndre Campbell is quietly improving, but they really need some other guys to step up – maybe one of the 3 frosh arriving this Fall?).

TE – A-  (ASJ is the best TE in the country, but in the wake of his DUI suspension his backups failed to take advantage of his absence)

OL – C-  (this might actually seem optimistic given their play last year, but they have stayed healthy and appear to have settled on a starting 5, and their run-blocking was a plus by the end of last season).

DL – D+  (Danny Shelton is an awards candidate at NT, but there are major question marks surrounding him – the Huskies may need to rely on a number of highly touted freshmen arriving this Fall).

LB – B+  (Shaq is a terrific talent that is only getting better; the only question mark is whether Travis Feeney is back to 100% this Fall after sitting out the Spring).

Shaq Thompson (Photo by Otto Greule)

CB – B-  (replacing Trufant will be tough, but there are a lot of talented candidates battling to fill the open spot, and coach Heyward is proven).

S – C+  (Parker is a rock at SS, but the FS race remains wide open).

ST – C-  (still a lot of question marks around the kicking game, and for a team with as many dynamic athletes as they now have, the return teams have disappointed)

Reasons for optimism

Most folks seem to think that Sark has accrued enough talent at this point to break past the 7-6 rut he’s been in the past 3 years, and I agree.  I’ve spent a lot of time at the UW Dawg Pound examining the roster situation he inherited, and contesting the notion that progress under Sark has stalled (not all progress shows itself in a linear path in the win column).

He’s got proven, excellent coaches in place on the defensive side of the ball, he’s made some smart moves on the offensive side in bringing back Husky legend Marques Tuiasosopo to coach the QB’s (he’s had an excellent rapport so far with Price) and moving OC Kiesau over to coach WR’s, where he’s had great success in the past, and adopting the up-tempo mode that seems to suit his personnel.

There are question marks to be sure – can the OL move from liability to a positive?  Can anyone emerge alongside Shelton along the DL, and can they generate a pass rush without selling out with blitzes?

Can a reliable 3rd and 4th option emerge in the passing game to give Price more options besides Kasen & ASJ?  Can Price himself stay healthy and bounce back to his 2011 self?

The good news is this is the most talented and deep roster Sark has had at the UW, and arguably his most talented recruiting class is ready to provide reinforcements this Fall.

The team lost very little in terms of productive players to graduation, and a team that was the youngest in terms of average years in the program per starter last year in the conference (younger even than Colorado & WSU) is more experienced now.

The timing seems right for the Huskies to break through to 9+ wins as they enjoy their freshly remodeled home at Husky Stadium, and if the change in coaches and a possibly stiffer than expected set of penalties down in Eugene helps the cause, then all the better.

Kirk DeGrasse of UW Dawg Pound provided the information for our Washington Huskies Football 2013 Spring recap. For more UW  football information, commentary and analysis, you can follow UW Dawg Pound on Twitter @UWSBN.