JR QB Keith Price is entering his second full season as the starter, and despite battling through some injuries last year, he really did put up fantastic numbers. I think it will be hard for him to improve on those totals, but he could approach them again, depending on how his supporting cast performs. He has some talented weapons to catch the ball this year, as SO WR Kasen Williams and SO TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins are both entering their second years as starters too. Both of these highly touted freshmen from a year ago had nice 2012 campaigns, but I look for both to take nice big steps forward in year two. The question mark for this offense will be the ground game. Last year's top RB, Chris Polk has left for the NFL, and in his place are some inexperienced ball players who bring more questions than answers at this point in their careers. In addition, this o-line is quite young too, with three starting SOs. I think the Huskies are going to have a very difficult time running the ball, which will make it that much harder as opposing defenses will be freed up to focus on shutting down Price and his passing game.
The defense has some nice pieces in place, but like some of the other second tier teams in the Pac 12, they really lack depth. The biggest addition up front may have been DL coach and super recruiter Tosh Lupoi who Coach Sark stole from Cal. This team will transition this year to a 3 man front, essentially allowing for last year'd top d-lineman, Josh Shirley to play both DE and OLB this season. If the SO can build on his nice freshman totals, he could really become something special for this team. At linebacker, the Huskies will have a young group who lacks a standout player (except for possibly Shirley). Their best full time linebacker may be JR OLB Princeton Fuimaono, who is good but not great. He still has room to develop, although he is not considered a high "upsdie" player. The secondary is going to be led by their SR all-american candidate, Desmond Trufant. The younger brother of NFLer Marcus Trufant, Desmond's physical skills are not the question. The only thing holding him back from being a sure first rounder in the next draft is his attitude. He plays cocky, and although his skills can usually back it up, he needs to take the chip off his shoulder to really excel. Also in the secondary is JR S Sean Parker. I really like Parker, as he plays hard. He is undersized, and lacks the natural skill set that a guy like Trufant has, but he plays with heart, and that is valuable.
The success of the 2013 Washington Huskies will depend on how effective this team can be running the ball. They have enough defensive talent to keep close in most games, but if they can't run, they will struggle passing, and if that happens, scoring will be difficult. Unfortunately the defense is not at the level to get it done on their own, so again, the run becomes paramount. I will predict a down, but not horrid 2013 for Washington.
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