Washington

What You Need To Know

After posting the first winless season in school history in 2008, the Huskies have high hopes for 2009 since things can only get better from here. And there’s reason for optimism. There were many young players that saw lots of game action in 2008 and QB Jake Locker is back at the helm of the offense. Add in a new offense scheme and things are looking up in Seattle.

Best Fantasy Prospect(s)

QB Jake Locker is far and away the best fantasy option. He appears to have fully healed from his thumb injury and was throwing the ball better this spring than he has ever thrown it at UW.

WR DeAndre Goodwin was Locker’s favorite target in 2008. Goodwin may see himself emerge as a Pac-10 league sleeper in 2008, to a 120 league back-up in 2009. What will determine how much his value rises will be the direction of the Huskies redzone offense.

RB Chris Polk was being rumored to play WR, but he has found a home at RB. He and Curtis Shaw are the lead dogs in the backfield and should share carries in some capacity. Polk is the best big play guy at RB and can be utilized as a runner or a pass catcher.

Sleeper Prospect

TEs Kavario Middleton and Chris Izbicki both look to be used extensively in the Husky offense. The TEs will be major target of the passing game and the spring game showed many 2 TE sets on offense so both can be on the field at the same time.

Biggest Question Heading into August

Will we see the return of the 2007 Jake Locker? The Huskies have a new offense and he is being used as a traditional pocket passer. The goal for Locker is to be a 60% completion rate. Things look like he could be around 65% in the fall with a ton of WRs coming back with game experience. The biggest setback for Locker is a crop of new offensive linemen. This can hurt his passing numbers, or help his rushing numbers. There is no way we will see the same rushing stats from 2007, but can his improved passing make up that difference?

Spring Game Hero

It’s hard not to go with QB Locker’s 16-18 for 200 yards and 3 total TDs performance, but it should be noted that RB Chris Polk racked up 95 yards and 1 TD on 12 carries.

Injury Report

RB Polk missed time “here and there” during the spring as coaches played his recovering shoulder cautiously.

WR Goodwin dealt with a nagging hamstring injury. He should be fine come fall, but this spring could have been used to find a rhythm with QB Locker.

Spring Recaps - Team Index