Chris Petersen and the Washington Huskies can close out a solid recruiting class by landing these five prospects on National Signing Day.
Following a landmark season that returned the program to national relevance, the Washington Huskies will look to build a Pac-12 dynasty under Chris Petersen behind strong recruiting.
Head coach Chris Petersen has typically found success from coaching up under-recruited players rather than landing a bunch of five-stars, particularly during his run at Boise State. Even so, Washington built its 2016 College Football Playoff team around a few blue chip recruits like Budda Baker and Jake Browning, and the class of 2017 is currently ranked solidly in 22nd according to 247Sports.
It still hasn’t been the easiest recruiting period for Petersen and company during the past few weeks. Five-star defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu flipped from Washington to USC last week, and the Huskies lost blue chip in-state offensive lineman Foster Sarell to Stanford earlier in the month.
It’s officially dead period, so coaches cannot meet face-to-face with prospects prior to National Signing Day on February 1, but they are allowed to make phone calls to certain players. Locking down these five recruits would be a big boost for Petersen and the Huskies moving forward.
5. Austin Jackson, OT
Most of Washington’s final efforts in recruiting are going to focus on the lines on both sides of the ball given the current outlook. Grabbing Jackson at the last minute would be a huge boost to the Huskies’ class while giving Petersen a building block on offense.
Jackson is a four-star recruit out of Phoenix rated as the No. 8 offensive tackle in the nation according to 247Sports. After spending so much energy on Sarell only to lose out in the final month, Jackson could help fill the void as an elite talent for the Huskies.
At 6-5, 290 pounds with good athleticism and plus footwork after playing basketball in high school, Jackson has all the physical tools to be a longtime starter at left tackle for any program in the nation. Washington has done fairly well in recruiting at the skill positions this cycle, but could really use more on the line with three-star Cole Norgaard as the only current tackle commit, in addition to four-star guard Henry Bainivalu.
USC is the current leader for Jackson, with Arizona State also in the mix. Jackson did take an official visit to UW earlier in the recruiting period, and stealing him away from the Trojans would be a nice form of payback after losing Tuipulotu.