PFF rates Washington Football DT Gregory Gaines best vs runs

The Washington Football defensive line is very stout. But Gregory Gaines will step out from the shadows of teammates to showcase he is the real UW deal on DL

It’s beginning to sound monotonous, and for that I apologize. But sometimes I simply cannot keep up with the enthusiasm over the Washington Football team for this upcoming season.

I am enthusiastic for this team by nature. But the wave of optimistic news over Washington Huskies is tough to stay ahead of.  Take this little diamond just out today.

Gaines gains this offseason

Defensive tackle Gregory Gaines is enjoying a great deal of positive press leading into this season. He enjoyed very favorable press from Jack Follman of Pacifictakes.com.  In fact, that assessment landed the Washington Football team defensive line as the top rated front in the Pac-12.

Now, Pro Football Focus is getting in on the act. In fact, they may be the pace car in terms of lauding the praises of the oft overlooked Huskies’ defensive lineman.

Gaines is a perfect example of how the “OKG” process works for head coach Chris Petersen’s Washington Huskies. 6-foot-2 318 pound Gaines arrived as a three-star recruit for the class of 2014.   In that year, the University of Washington recruiting class ranked 38th nationally.  The Pac-12 had USC at tenth, Stanford at 13th, UCLA 18th, Oregon 21st, Arizona State 23rd, and Arizona 31st.  The national rankings had the Washington Huskies seventh in the Pac-12 conference that year.

2014 class of champions

Now, Gaines leads that 38th ranked recruiting class atop defensive linemen this year. Alongside Vea, he is devastation incorporated on the defensive front. But looking back over that class showed more undervalued diamonds.

Budda Baker was the top-ranked recruit from that class which included: Kaleb McGary, JoJo McIntosh, Dante Pettis, Sidney Jones, and Drew Sample, plus a solid group of role players. It’s that ability of this football team to bring out the best of athletes by focusing on more than measurable which has me incredibly optimistic about the program’s future.

Next: ESPN reports Pac-12 needs strong USC and Washington Football for good of conference

Catch the full write up about DT Greg Gaines over at ProFootballFocus.com.  He is just one of the returning stars for this team.  And in a conference with so much talent, a run stopper in the trenches is huge for the Huskies. But it’s just one piece to the great jigsaw puzzle assembled by the coaching staff.  Ignore the ranking of the recruits. The Washington Football team delivers on the field.