Washington Football: Experienced Offensive Line Looks to Help Gaskin, Browning

Chris Peterson heads into his 3rd season with the University of Washington, and looks to finally break Stanford and Oregon’s stronghold on the Pac-12 North. With football season coming up, we look ahead to where the Dawgs are set, and where their might be some battles.

A Year Ago…

This unit was solid a year ago. While it wasn’t the worst offensive line in the Pac-12, it certainly wasn’t the best either.

The Huskies offensive line last year gave up 33 sacks, good for 6th most in the Pac-12 conference, but did contribute heavily to the production of true freshmen tailback, Myles Gaskin, who rushed for over 1300 yards.

Key contributors last year included, Siosifa Tufunga at center, Jake Eldrenkamp, Shane Brostek, Trey Adams, Andrew Kirkland, Jesse Sosebee, and Coleman Shelton.

Washington Huskies

Saying Goodbye:

• Siosifa Tufunga, 6’3″, 314 lbs.
• Cory Fuavai, 6’3″, 316 lbs.

New Faces:

• Nick Harris, Fr., 6’1″, 282 lbs.
• Duke Clinch, 6’3″, 280 lbs.
• Luke Wattenberg, Fr., 6’4″, 275 lbs.

Current Roster:

• Jake Eldrenkamp, Sr., 6’5″, 284 lbs.
• Nick Harris, Fr., 6’1″, 282 lbs.
• Kaleb McGary, So., 6’7″, 300 lbs.
• Henry Roberts, Fr., 6’6″, 290 lbs.
• Shane Brostek, Sr., 6’4″, 285 lbs.
• Duke Clinch, Fr., 6’3″, 280 lbs.
• Michael Kneip, Sr., 6’5″, 284 lbs.
• Jared Hilbers, Fr., 6’7″, 282 lbs.
• Matt James, So., 6’5″, 291 lbs.
• Trey Adams, So., 6’8″, 306 lbs.
• Andrew Kirkland, Jr., 6’4″, 313 lbs.
• John Turner, So., 6’3″, 283 lbs.
• Jesse Sosebee, So., 6’5″, 314 lbs.
• Luke Wattenberg, Fr., 6’4″, 275 lbs.
• Devin Burleson, Fr., 6’8″, 301 lbs.
• Coleman Shelton, Jr., 6’4″, 292 lbs.

2016 Outlook: 

This unit looks to be much improved this upcoming season, simply due to the sheer amount of experience coming back. All starters and regulars, excluding Tufunga, have returned and will presumably be in their same starting roles.

Junior, Shelton, has made the move to center to replace Tufunga, and it looks like the McGary and Roberts will get extended runs with the first team and second teams to compete for the spot that Shelton just vacated.

Because of the experience on the offensive line, I don’t think incoming freshmen such as Wattenberg and Clinch will be able to compete for starting jobs day one, and will probably end up redshirting this upcoming season.

However, Adams, Shelton, Kirkland, Brostek, and Eldrenkamp all expect to be key cogs in the offensive line once again, and maybe we get to see more of touted sophomore McGary, and redshirt freshmen Roberts, who were both top recruits coming out of high school, and could now see the field this season with the departure of Tufunga.

Obviously, the offensive line might be the single most important position group on the offensive side of the football, and this year, Washington football looks like it has a good group of guys protecting star sophomore quarterback Jake Browning, and emerging Heisman darkhorse tailback, Gaskin.

If the offensive line can protect Browning, and create open running lanes for Gaskin, watch out for this Husky offense.