UW Class of 2014 Recruiting Thread

[RegentDenali]

I like to follow UW and PAC12 recruiting closely so here goes. By all means, anyone add any thoughts about UW recruiting for this class, rumors, players you'd like to see on the team, etc..

Current commits 7:

Chase Blakley, TE, Cour D'Alene, ID (3 stars)

Don Hill, SDE, Boise, ID (3 star)

Rahshead Johnson, WR, Long Beach, CA (4 stars)

Drew Lewis, ATH / S, Redmond, WA (3 stars)

Lavon Washington, S, Oakland, CA (3 stars)

Jonathan Lockett, CB, Santa Ana, CA (4 stars)

Erik Brown, WR, Fontana, CA (4 stars)

What's also interesting is Devon Blackmon is Erik's cousin, and Devon posted on twitter that he wants to come to UW as well.

And some of the commits already impressing at The Opening:



Chase Blakley – Maybe the most sure hands at the entire event, Blakely caught every ball he touched and despite a big body, really moved and changed directions with ease.



Jonathan Lockett - – A recent Washington commit, Lockett was quick out of his backpedal and drives on the football with authority. He was very competitive and though he doesn’t test through the roof, he is a big-time player where it counts.

DB John Plattenburg has decided to delay his decision for a few weeks, but the Huskies are one of his favorites. Of the rest, the Huskies have good shots with DB Budda Baker, OL Kammy Delp, RB Joe Mixon and DT Ainu'u Taua.



Word on Taua: At under 6-feet tall, Taua always has something to prove at elite events but he left no doubt that he belongs on Monday. He was extremely quick and physical getting to the backfield and will only get better when the pads come on. He continues to impress throughout the Opening competitions.

 

[WizardHawk]

That's some good stuff. I admit I don't follow the recruiting that much until the LOI day approaches, but it is good to have some updates along the way. I did hear the dawgman guys saying they expected this to be a small class of maybe 16 or so and that of the major nationwide kids they are after that they should be able to land 5 of them. If that is true then I wouldn't expect to see many kids added to the list until later this fall as the major kids normally don't commit until closer to LOI time. So maybe they add 3-4 over the summer?

 

[RegentDenali]

The Huskies did take some decent sized classes recently, especially on the D side of the ball as new D coaching crew needed to address the talent they would need for the schemes they wanted to implement.

The huskies were looking at being slightly over the scholy limit this fall, but we have had some transfers and medical hardships announced this year that will have us under the cap by start of season. No drama there which is good.

Agree that this years class size should end up smaller than the couple previous ones. 20 or less.

Depth is looking solid at most positions on this team, but one area that is of importance this year for recruiting is OT. And odds are looking good for us on that front. UCLA was forced out of desperate need to take at least 5 Oline last year and USC is still dealing with its sanctions and questions at coaching. It's reported to be a very talent rich Oline class on the west coast this year. Sets up well for us. Plus we're pursuing some of the national prospects as well.

The NCAA has been pushing to keep recruiting activity minimized during the summer so after the wave of activity from The Opening, things should quiet down till fall. Oct is when things really heat up again.

 

[Olyduck]

Blackmon was an Oregon signee and transfer a couple years ago. Lost track of him. if he did sign, how many years would he have left?

 

[RegentDenali]

Blackmon was an Oregon signee and transfer a couple years ago. Lost track of him. if he did sign, how many years would he have left?

He'll have 3 years of eligibility left. But believe he will have to sit out 2013 season to be able to join most NCAA teams. If the Huskies do plan to add him via transfer, he'll most likely start classes this fall, but won't be playing till the 2014 season.

 

[RegentDenali]

Bit of news on Budda Baker.

He's easily one of the top recruits from the NW this year. He can play WR and DB, but projected to DB in college. He had an outstanding performance at The Opening. It appeared that UCLA was the initial front runner early on as Mora has maintained his close ties to Bellevue High and that pipeline was a big reason Myles Jack choose UCLA. Demetrice Martin was the former UW DB coach, but Mora swiped him to join his new coaching crew. Martin is easily one of the best recruiters on the west coast. They had a monster of a DB class sign this Feb landing Priest Willis, Johnny Johnson, Mossi Johnson, Tyler Foreman, & Tahaan Goodman, . I'm sure he's been working Baker hard to commit there.

Anyway, after The Opening, Baker has communicated that Washington and Oregon are now his heavy leans and may want to stay close to home in the NW. That's potential bad news for UCLA, ASU, and ND who have all offered, and I'm sure many more, including big boys, will be piling in this fall. He also said he doesn't plan to commit to anyone till at least after the HS season is completed, which means he'll most likely be waiting till Jan or right up to LOI to sign.

 

[WizardHawk]

Yeah, I read Jude's piece on him. Still trying to get used to not having Condotta at the times. I mean why did they have to get a beat writer from Oregon ffs? Meh, I'll give him a chance.

 

[Olyduck]

wait isn't there a rule of transfer within the conference that the normal 1 year sit out becomes 2?

 

[seahawksfan234]

I used to really follow the recruiting process until I began to realize how flawed and ridiculous the system is.

Think about it for a second... How would ESPN and all these other sports agencies seriously be able to accurately scout the thousands of high school football players in the country?

Personally I look more for scheme fits when it comes to recruiting. A lot of times a guy will get on the radar simply because he is big, not because he can actually play well.

The players who are actually ranked highly that are not above average size for their positions are the guys you want to be excited about IMO. A lot of scouts will give high school players extra points just because they are big.

But that is just me ranting...

 

[RegentDenali]

wait isn't there a rule of transfer within the conference that the normal 1 year sit out becomes 2?

No. It's 1 season.

But I believe there is one loophole were if the player transfers to another conference and changes majors because the two schools don't have comparable programs, it's possible for them to not have to wait a year to play. But it's extremely rare for that to happen.

But besides that, 1 year across the board for any transfers. Within or to a different conference.

 

[WizardHawk]

I used to really follow the recruiting process until I began to realize how flawed and ridiculous the system is.

Think about it for a second... How would ESPN and all these other sports agencies seriously be able to accurately scout the thousands of high school football players in the country?

Personally I look more for scheme fits when it comes to recruiting. A lot of times a guy will get on the radar simply because he is big, not because he can actually play well.

The players who are actually ranked highly that are not above average size for their positions are the guys you want to be excited about IMO. A lot of scouts will give high school players extra points just because they are big.

But that is just me ranting...

I think you are confusing following recruiting and following recruit rankings. I think they are two different things. The rankings are generic and are assumed to be more or less arbitrary because not all players fit all teams. Look at what Boise State does with 2 and 3 star recruits. Oregon has feasted on some 2's and 3's that were big time players. Those rankings are just opinions and are totally generic in nature.

On the other hand following the commits and seeing for yourself what kind of players they were in high school and what type of systems they were in etc can be fun for some. They like following a kid all the way from recruit to senior and seeing how they develop.

I don't pay much attention to it either way, but I'm more interested in which recruits we got that were offered by other schools (and which schools they were) and which schools we lost kids of major interest to. I think that is a more interesting measure of a kids value. When you have several big time programs coming after a kid you get you have to feel better than how many stars some service gives them.

 

[RegentDenali]

Stars and rankings are great. And as the saying goes, "You can't win a horse race with a donkey." In college recruiting, that's always on display.

But at the end of the day, its not always about stars. It's critical to land the kids that are a right fit for the schemes you plan to run and aren't locker room cancer / train wrecks off the field. Which is why someone ranked 3 stars is a better fit than some 4/5 star in certain situations. As for Sark, he loves his WRs and we're always gonna have a extra emphasis on landing the studs at that spot.

Phil Steele just ranked the Huskies WR corp at #6 in the nation. That's not to be ignored. Time to tear a lot of the PAC competitions secondarys a new one in 2013.

But still, recruiting is critical to a teams success at the NCAA level because its not like the NFL where you can just dump contracts if it doesn't work out. You really have to scout and analyze to death.

 

[mcnabb7542]

Phil Steele just ranked the Huskies WR corp at #6 in the nation. That's not to be ignored. Time to tear a lot of the PAC competitions secondarys a new one in 2013.

Mr Price is gonna be under a microscope even more this year with that ranking, this offense is out of excuses this year its time to put points on the board...

I also like the targeting on TE's with recruiting, James had a new stud TE ready to take over when one took off to the NFL....

 

[RegentDenali]

Price looked great in Spring camp. No knee brace. Mobility was good. No happy feet. Adapted to a faster offense well.
Oline should give him much better protection than the first half of the season last year which obviously rattled him.
We'll know more during fall camp, but for now, he's got the start and prayers we get 2011 Price with this WR/TE corps. That's 8+ wins. It's all there for the taking.

 

[WizardHawk]

Price is the only option given the move to the up tempo offense. He is the only player who knows the system well enough to run it at that pace. I would say we won't know if he is over the issues of last season until after the Boise State game. He played well in camps and practice last year and it didn't translate to game days. The part that bothered me the most wasn't his trying to force plays or bailing on his progressions early, it was the continued fumbles. He would tell us after every game that he needs to tuck the ball and protect it and that he would from now on, then carry it out front again the next week. He did that several times. Just not acceptable in any way.

 

[mcnabb7542]

Oline should give him much better protection

On offense this is the group I'm the most excited to see this season!
Last year was alot of first year guys, running a zone blocking scheme, and that takes alot for a young guy to understand, (remember the good ole days of lining up and smashing the guy in the face across from you?) Bottomline is simple, this OL should/could be one of the best in NCAA football this season.

On the subject of Price, I understand this whole change of offense in the "hurry up" but if he's missing the wide outs, then I wouldnt hesitate to yank him and go with one of the younger QB's...

 

[RegentDenali]

The roster we have at Oline over the next two years is looking good. Lots of experienced JRs and SRs. But this year is still very important since we are thin at projected future OTs.

Kaleb McGary, OT, Tacoma, WA would be a big get for us, but some are projecting him as switching to D line in college and thus Tosh is involved in his recruitment. I think we stand very good chance at him joining this class. Local kid who wants to play at UW.

Some other names to keep eye on that could be part of this class:

Andrew Mike, OT, Tucson, AZ (Heavy lean to UW right now. Will be huge get and potential LT of the future for Dawgs).
Layth Friekh, OT, Peoria, AZ (Arizona and Oregon recruiting him hard as well).
Damien Mama, OG, Bellflower, CA (Impressive at The Opening).
Breeon Auzenne, OG, Tucson, AZ
AT Hall, OT, Pheonix, AZ
Natrell Curtis, OG, Pheonix, AZ
Kammy Delp, OG/DT, Pomona, CA (Could switch to Dline as Tosh is recruiting. Many predicting he'll come to UW.)

We are also targeting some of the big name nationals, but many of them wait until Jan or LOI to announce so we'll see.

 

[RegentDenali]

Some bad news.

Devante Downs (Mountlake, WA), ATH/OLB. One of the Top recruits out of Washington State has torn his ACL at a camp held at Oregon State University. This means he will not play his senior year of H.S. for the Mountlake Terrace Hawks. He ran for 1,266yds and 23 TDs his junior year.

Stanford, Washington, Oregon, UCLA, and USC were all heavily recruiting him, along with about every PAC school, and Big10 schools like Michigan, OSU, and Nebraska showing interest, but many were predicting he would attend Washington at this point. Peter Sirmon was doing the lead recruiting of him as he was projected to concentrate on the OLB position in college.

Mountlake coach Tony Umayam - "Even though his football playing days at Mountlake Terrace are over, I’m confident he still has a lot of good football ahead of him at the next level".

 

[RegentDenali]

Real Dawg and 24/7 sports reporting that Matt James (6'5" - 275), OT, Coeur d'Alene, ID has committed to the Huskies today. More needed beef for the Oline. Good.

 

[RegentDenali]

Heard a report today that Huskies have officially offered DT Marcus Griffin (6'3" - 300), Bellevue, WA (Bellevue High).

What's interesting is he committed to WSU in April. But looks like UW is going to start working a flip. Arizona has been trying as well.