The Washington Huskies are one of the most fascinating teams in college football before the start of the 2016 season. Many people think this team is ready to take the next step in its rebuilding project under head coach Chris Petersen, who will be entering his third season in Seattle after a decorated tenure at Boise State. The Huskies have clearly recruited better, and they do indeed appear headed toward better times, but the question is if that can happen really quickly, or if it will need to wait one more year until 2017. The Huskies will have a very young team this year. It was even younger last year, but it might not be ready to hit on all cylinders just yet. Expectations are high, but there are enough people in the Pac-12 who will look at this team and feel that a little more patience will be needed with these Washington Huskies.
Biggest Team Weakness
The Washington Huskies are still rough around the edges. One can easily see this team playing a lot of close games against good teams, but will it be strong enough to win a high percentage of those close games if they happen? Jake Browning shows flashes of potential as a quarterback, but he’s not fully there yet. He has not established the consistency of a next-level player. Washington’s offense could not take advantage of a vulnerable Oregon defense last year on home turf. The Huskies played well in fits and starts, but they could not carry one high level of play through a lot of their games. Consider an example at Arizona State last season: They were brilliant in the first half but then atrocious in the second half. There should be less volatility this season, but will there be enough consistency – from Browning in particular – to set a much higher standard of performance, one that will lead to a Pac-12 North Division title? It’s still hard to give this offense the benefit of the doubt.
Biggest Team Strength
The biggest team strength is clearly the back seven. Budda Baker, Sidney Jones, and Kevin King are all experienced defensive backs. Linebacker Azeem Victor gives structure, integrity and cohesion to the middle of the defense. Oregon and Stanford, the toughest teams in the Pac-12 North, will play new quarterbacks this season. Washington’s ability to win the division might ride on the defense’s ability to collect a lot of takeaways from the Ducks and the Cardinal. This team can be competitive with its defense, simply by virtue of forcing a lot of punts, but the Washington Huskies defense will need to make huge value-added plays if this team is going to rise to the lofty expectations some pundits have for the Huskies in 2016.
Schedule
The Huskies get Oregon at home in odd years, but they have to visit Eugene in even-numbered years. That’s a bad break, but then again, Oregon could be on a bit of a downer, so if they are truly in decline, that makes it a winnable game for the Huskies. On the flip side, though, Washington hosts Stanford this year. That’s the biggest game of the season and they’ll be an underdog, so it’s important to have that contest in their back yard.
Outside of that, the key to the Huskies schedule will be getting off to a good start. This is a young team that is trying to springboard into Pac-12 contention and prove that they are legit, so that means they’ll have to take care of business with Rutgers, Idaho and Portland State in the first three weeks. They face a tricky test in Arizona on September 24th and that game should tell us quite a bit.
Even beyond Oregon and Stanford, the Washington Huskies will have some tough games on the radar this year. They have to go to California, to Utah and to Washington State to end the year. They’ll also host USC. There aren’t many easy weeks for this up and coming team.
Outlook
Playing both Stanford and Oregon is such a challenge, partly because those two teams have such different styles. This team could win the Pac-12 North, but the youth on the offensive side of the ball should not be trusted. There are too many uncertainties on the offensive line and at wide receiver and quarterback.
Projection: 3rd In Pac-12 North
