Washington Football team places 2 in CBS nation’s top 25

The Washington Football team places two in CBS nation’s top 25 returning football players, as well as two “Honorable Mentions”

There is a great deal of buzz about the 2018 Washington Football team, and its running positive and hot. Right now, the folks over at CBS have created a national “Top 25 players who will be back next year”.  You might expect that to include Washington running back Myles Gaskin.

But you would be wrong.

The two who made “the cut” are Washington quarterback Jake Browning (21) and cornerback Byron Murphy (18).  They lead a showing of five total Pac-12 players in a list of the nation’s best.  Other Pac-12 notables are Stanford running back Bryce Love (1), Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate (17) and USC linebacker Cameron Smith (19).

Washington showcased multiple ways

While the Huskies did not crack the top ten in this list, they were one of only three programs to list multiple players in the top 25. The other two schools were West Virginia, who placed both wide receiver David Sills V (22) and quarterback Will Grier (6) and Clemson, who placed both defensive linemen Clelin Farrell (7) and Christian Wilkins (2).

Honorable mentions for this list did inclue both Gaskin and defensive lineman Greg Gaines.  Wahington was one of only two schools to list multiple players among the honorable mentions.  Notre Dame, with both linebacker Te’Von Coney and defensive lineman Jerry Tillery was the other.  In fact, only the University of Washington listed multiple players in both lists.  That bodes very well for a team in the hunt to reclaim the Pac-12 championship title.

Surprising ins and outs

You might be surprised at the players included and excluded for the Huskies.  After all, I would doubt that anyone among the Washington fanbase would be able to name both Jake Browning and Byron Murphy as the two Washington representatives to this highly acclaimed listing.

But this is a list of objectivity, and much of that comes straight out of the box scores of games. While some question quarterback Jake Browning’s ability to win a game in the closing minutes, he certainly has demostrated accuracy in the pocket.

That’s pretty accurate, and despite the littany of receiver injuries in 2017, he remained accurate last season.  But his production did wane in the absence of former Husky John Ross and wide receiver Chico McClatcher.  His production fell dramatically in both passing yards (3,430 to 2719) and touchdowns (43 to 19).  While the hope that off-season surgery to correct a shoulder injury would propel his numbers upwards, the opposite held true.

All Browning Can Do is toss TD’s

And Jake Browning does hold the record for most touchdown passes at 76 for a Washington Husky. In fact, Browning also holds the streak for 20 consecutive games with a touchdown pass, a streak which ended at the hands of Arizona State University.

So he is almost a given to make this list. But the surprise is the exclusion of Myles Gaskin. With any luck, that will serve to motivate the senior to even great rushing yards in 2018.  Right now, that hope is already anchored with significant optimism. But there are two sides of the field of this football team, and CBS recognized the significance of a shutdown cornerback in the pass-happy Pac-12 conference.

Cornerback Byron Murphy steps up in 2018

We know the potential of cornerback Byron Murphy. He exploded onto the 2017 NCAA football season with two interceptions in the road opener against the Rutgers Scarlett Knights.  He ended the season with playing in just six games, missing seven games and nearly two months due to a broken foot. But in those six games, he recorded three interceptions.  And he recorded 12 tackles in the last two games of the season.

That huge two-game span got the attention of CBS, who wrote this about Murphy’s freshman debut:

"“…However, when he was healthy, he was superb. Murphy had two picks in his first game against Rutgers and finished the year with solid back-to-back performances in the Apple Cup and Fiesta Bowl. He allowed just one touchdown with 13 passes deflected or incomplete on 22 targets. Murphy enters next season with tons of promise as one of the top returning cover corners per PFF (minimum 300 snaps) and could be one of the best in the nation this time next year.” – Per Ben Kercheval of CBSSPorts.com"

And he is coming back in 2018 with NCAA bowl game experience.  And while Washington placed just Murphy on the list of top-25, they did manage to earn another on the Honorable Mention list for defense as well.

Defender Greg Gaines

Defensive tackle Greg Gaines has pushed and worked hard to earn respect and notoriety in the Pac-12 and the NCAA in general. He is a standout defensive lineman, earning the distinction of best defensive lineman against the run. Now, a year bigger, stronger, and more mature, he is lining up for the Washington Football team in the trenches once more.

He will no longer be flanked by standout teammates Elijah Qualls, who is now playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. Nor will he line up next season next to Vita Vea, who many expect to be selected in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Those projections are confirmed by ESPN’s Todd McShay, who had Vea coming off the board in round one of a preseason mock draft.

Gaines leads 2018 defense

But Gaines is worthy of accolades in his own right.  As we had noted in earlier articles,  6-foot-2 318 pound Gaines arrived as a three-star recruit for the class of 2014. Over the course of his collegiate career, he has surpassed all expectations, and continues to flourish as one of the best interior defensive linemen in the nation.  As PFF reports, Gaines is worth taking note of, as he is literally an immovable object when he lines up in the trenches.

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Gaines will be the veteran on what will be a new defensive front seven. The Huskies lose Vea and outstanding inside linebacker Keishawn Bierria. While Gaines will be counted on to anchor the defense,  he will be leading a deep group of competitors who have added inside linebacker M.J. Tafisi and Brandon Kaho.  They are completely complimentary of one another and will likely earn respect quickly in the Pac-12.  The team also added Sam Taimani and Temple transfer Josh Bronson, who has bulked up to 290 to handle the interior.  For now, 2018 appears to be shining brightly for the Washington Football team.  And according to CBS, they see a bright future for Washington as well.