College Football Rankings: Top 25 after spring practice
Washington Huskies
2016: 12-2,
When it comes to Washington this offseason and throughout spring practices, so much of the talk has been about replacing John Ross in the receiving corps. That seems like a silly notion to me. You don’t replace 4.22 speed with the route-running and playmaking of Ross. More importantly, though, is that the Huskies don’t actually need to find a so-called replacement for the speedy wideout. With Dante Pettis returning and a talented group behind him, quarterback Jake Browning will have plenty of weapons at his disposal.
For what it’s worth, Browning looked good in the Huskies’ spring game after having shoulder surgery following the 2016 season. And the offense also has running back Myles Gaskins to hang their hat on, and he’s both explosive and reliable in that regard.
The key for Washington returning to College Football Playoff type form in the 2017 season is going to be on the other side of the ball. Not only did they lose players to the NFL Draft, but they lost elite talent in the secondary with the likes of Sidney Jones, Budda Baker and Kevin King all departing. All three were taken within the first 1.5 rounds of the 2017 NFL Draft, even with Jones’ Achilles injury.
Throw in the losses of Elijah Qualls and Joe Mathis as well and this team has big holes to fill to remain as effective as they were in 2016 on that side of the ball. They still have a stud lineman up front in Vita Vea and talent with players like Jordan Miller to replace the losses in the secondary. However, whether or not they can live up to their predecessors is going to be vital to Washington reaching the heights they did a year ago.