Previewing the Washington football secondary

Washington football doesn’t rebuild in the secondary, they reload

Washington football lost Byron Murphy, Taylor Rapp, and Jordan Miller to the NFL after the 2018 season. Rapp and Murphy were both second round picks by the LA Rams and Arizona Cardinals respectively, while Miller was a fifth round selection of the Atlanta Falcons. And we can’t forget JoJo McIntosh, who signed with the Washington Redskins as a UDFA.

The Huskies are looking to replace the great production from all four of those guys, and there are some budding stars in the secondary that coach Jimmy Lake has very high hopes for.

The starting cornerbacks are expected to be Keith Taylor and Kyler Gordon on the outside, along with Elijah Molden at nickelback. Taylor played in all 14 games last year, and started against California and Stanford.

Molden has played in every game sine he stepped on campus, primarily on special teams.  Gordon will see his first action outside of special teams in 2019. We should expect Eastern Washington to go after him on August 31st.

The three expected backups for the cornerback positions lack college play experience. Dominique Hampton and Julius Irvin are both redshirt freshmen while Trent McDuffie is a true freshman. I figure they will get their feet wet on special teams.

Senior Myles Bryant is currently projected to play free safety. He will be one defensive back the opposition will try to stay away from. In his career at Washington, he has played in 37 games starting 25 games and missing only four games. As a sophomore, he was second-team an honorable mention Pac-12, last year he was second team Pac-12, and going into this year pre-season Pac-12 first team.

Isaiah Gilchrist, a redshirt junior is expected to be Bryant’s understudy. Gilchrist has played limited action for the Huskies so far. As a redshirt freshman, he appeared in seven games while last year only played in seven games.

At strong safety, Brandon McKinney is projected to start. He has played in all 27 games as a Husky, and started the Rose Bowl when Taylor Rapp had to sit out with an injury.

McKinney’s backup will be true freshman Cam Williams, who has been a standout since he stepped on campus.

The Huskies have a young defensive backfield this year, but under Jimmy Lake, Husky fans should still have very high expectations for them.