Airing out issues of Washington Football passing game

Trey Adams is back

Of course, the most obvious fix to the passing game is shoring up the pass protection. And that is on track with the return of left tackle Trey Adams. With him comes wide receivers Chico McClatcher, Quinten Pounds, and Andre Baccellia. Tight end Hunter Bryant also joins in on the fun this season.  That’s a great jumpstart to the offense in one paragraph. But the team must refocus on filling wide receiver roles, not just slots. And the team loses center Coleman Shelton to the NFL this year.  Let’s focus on the center role first.

Early reports name sophomore Nick Harris to the center role. Harris is 6-foot-1 and weighs in at 287 pounds. He may find competition in the form of 6-foot-5  285 pound junior Matt James. But I don’t like a 6-foot-5 center in the field of vision of the quarterback, so I’ll lean towards Harris for now.

Wide open competition for wide receiver

Normally, the Washington hierarchy is to sit a rookie in his first season and slowly work him into playing with the starters. That may be the case this season, but I think the results of the 2017 season spell new tactics. And for right now, there is simply too much talent inbound with that class of 2018 to sit them for a year.   And so, in my mind, the spring training is open competition for playing minutes this year.

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I think Chico McClatcher will get plenty of playing time in some wide receiver role. But I love the speed of 6-foot-3 Marquis Spiker, the route running of 6-foot-3 Austin Osborne, and the soft hands that catch everything near him of 6-foot-5 Devin Culp.  One of the three will crack the starting lineup, and I can envision more than one scoring multiple touchdowns this season.  In the end, that 2017 Washington Football passing game was sub-par. But there may not be much required to set it back on track. We’ll know more in the spring. But for now? There is room for some optimism.