The Morning Haul: 8/14

Now that several days of camp are finished, a clearer picture is starting to emerge of Washington’s football team. Depth charts are starting to be pieced together, like the one below. And it’s made one thing clear. I overestimated the number of freshmen that would earn significant roles right out of the gate. It’s easy to get carried away during the off season with such a talented recruiting class, and it’s also easy to forget about the dozens of redshirt freshmen or sophomores that have been developing and preparing to step up this year. Several freshmen will run with the second unit, and two or three newcomers could be starters by the end of the season. But those players are the exceptions to the redshirt rule in a program with a solid bank of talent.

Stories Especially Worth Reading:

Adam Jude at the Seattle Times has put together a solid two-deep depth chart based on his observations at practice. I try to avoid linking to sites that are limited by a pay wall, but you have a certain number of free articles each month, and this is worth being one of them. As mentioned above, it features a lot of veteran types in starting roles over younger, more inexperienced players. As a result, the 2nd team units both feature a great number of underclassmen. It will be interesting to see how much that changes by the end of camp, and how much it has changed by the end of the season. At wide receiver and in the defensive backfield, it’s a distinct possibility that a few veterans could disappoint and give way to first or second year players higher in potential.

You’re definitely going to want to see this video that recaps the first week of fall camp. It’s well done and will leave you that much more anxious for the season to start. Funny to see them staying in Poplar Hall, one of the new West Campus dorms right next to Alder Hall, where I stayed my freshman year. I have really enjoyed the stepped up in-house coverage of the football team. Gregg Bell has always written insightful pieces, but the new Mason Kelley contributions on the Coach Sark Blog combined with the updated format and style for Bell’s coverage has been refreshing. It will be interesting to see how it carries into the season and perhaps even into basketball.