Who else can Washington football add to their 2020 recruiting class to make it perfect for Chris Petersen?
Washington football has started off the 2020 recruiting cycle with a bang, and the class is currently headlined by two top-100 players, wide receiver Jalen McMillan from San Joaquin Memorial (Calif.) and Roger Rosengarten from Valor Chrisitan (Colo.). So who else could they possibly add? There’s a lot of talent out there, and the Huskies are in the mix for some excellent players.
The Huskies have swung and missed on five-star cornerback Kelee Ringo, who was originally from Tacoma but moved to Arizona. But that doesn’t mean they’re out on getting a stud corner from the state of Washington! Eastside Catholic (Wash.) cornerback Ayden Hector released his top six on Thursday, and the Huskies made the cut. He would be a perfect addition, and defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake could make Hector the next hometown hero in the room, behind Kyler Gordon.
Adding Ringo’s teammate, Jacobe Covington would also go a very long way. He’s an incredibly long corner, with excellent ball skills, and he’s gotten a tremendous amount of opportunities to prove himself since teams don’t look Ringo’s way, and he hasn’t disappointed.
Speaking of hometown heroes, the Dawgs are looking to add a bell-cow running back, and Hector’s teammate Sam Adams II would look great in purple and gold. I’ve said it many times but can’t reiterate it enough, he’s the perfect replacement for Myles Gaskin, and would earn that hometown hero label very quickly.
Washington has recruited very well along the offensive line over the past few years, but there are still a few huge pieces out there that would really send this class over the edge. Also, there’s never such a thing as too much depth and talent on the O-line. Grabbing Rosengarten was a great start, but they need more. Scott Huff needs to find a way to close with the number one offensive lineman on the West Coast, Myles Murao, who would be a perfect center for UW, and local product Geriean Hatchett, another excellent interior lineman.
Now, let’s talk about the pass rush… the Huskies are probably out of the hunt for Sav’ell Smalls (but he hasn’t released his top five or six yet, so anything is possible… I hope with all my heart that they’re still recruiting him) but there are still other excellent pass rushers available that are well within UW’s reach, like Narbonne High’s (Calif.) Jordan Banks. Banks is a must get for the Husky defense. He plays with tremendous speed, power, and he has incredible football instincts. For a high schooler, he has an impressively refined set of moves in his pass rush arsenal, but he also is able to line up across from tackles and overpower them, which is impressive from an edge rusher that weighs about 230 pounds.
When it comes to wide receiver, the Dawgs have picked up a few great ones over the last two years, with Puka Nacua in the 2019 class, and McMillan in 2020. The Huskies have room for more, and are still in the mix for 6’6 five star receiver Johnny Wilson. Picking up Wilson and Bishop Gorman (Nevada) receiver Rome Adunze would make this a top of the line class for new receivers coach Junior Adams, who is quickly proving himself to be an excellent recruiter after landing McMillan.
An extra one, the Huskies recently extended an offer to current Ohio State commit and Eastside Catholic receiver Gee Scott Jr., and while it looks like they might not be able to flip him, there’s another guy on that team without a UW offer who is uncommitted and could probably still be persuaded, especially with a strong season out of Hunter Bryant, and that’s D.J. Rogers. If the Huskies can prove to Rogers that they use tight ends in their offense and secure a commitment from him, Rogers and current commit Mark Redman would be a lethal tandem at tight end.