UW prospects question - why did their D kinda suck?

It's a good question; the only thing that comes to mind is that there was a coaching change and maybe new schemes.

Peters missed most of last year after being kicked off. Shaq played a lot of offense for them, which limited his defensive snaps. Haiku got hurt and missed some time last year as well. And I'm guessing here since I don't know anything about Washington football, but maybe the rest of their defense sucked.

39th in points allowed

2nd in sacks

17th in TO

16th in red zone Def

1st DEF TD's



pretty good id say

I know most think I'm just a full-blown Clemson homer, but this thread highlights some of the things I'm wary with about Washington's prospects and the same things I love about Clemson's.

I fully maintain if you have this much (supposed) elite NFL talent on your roster, you should see a significant culture change in your defense. When these players got to Clemson, the defense was atrocious, it had just given up 70 frickin points in a BCS bowl game. From that moment on it's been steady improvement every year.

Year one, 8 three-and-outs against LSU. Year two, leading the nation in TFLs. Year three (this year, leading the nation in virtually every single defensive metric. Those guys changed everyone around them and elevated their games. Washington's defense was fine, but it was never anywhere close to dominant.

Now that's not to say it can't be other factors. I think Clemson has the best DC in the nation in Venables so they were getting a ton of help here. You also can't discount health and injuries.

It just makes me wary of them, though.

Reminds me of the 2013 draft with Georgia's defensive players:
-Jarvis Jones (1)
-Alec Ogletree (1)
-John Jenkins (3)
-Shawne Williams (3)
-Sanders Comming (5)
-Cornelius Washington (6)
-Bacarri Rambo (6)

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but this thread highlights some of the things I'm wary with about Washington's prospects and the same things I love about Clemson's.

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Im more worried about their individual performance. Good players can come from bad defenses(their defense wasnt bad. This thread is misleading. They werent even close to "kinda sucking"

Same could be and has been said about LSU after watching Jeremy Hill, Odell Beckham, & Jarvis Landry tear it up and players like Alfred Blue and Zach Mettenberger having their moments as well

Any teams looking at drafting players out of the Washington Huskies program should be extremely cautious in doing so. The inmates ran the asylum there under Steve Sarkisian leaving a huge mess for Chris Petersen to come in & clean up. The program had several issues with other players, not just Marcus Peters.

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Since taking over, Petersen has had to suspend or dismiss eight players. Shortly after officially taking the job, he had to deal with assault charges levied against both Cyler Miles, the heir apparent to the starting quarterback job, and Damore’ea Stringfellow, a breakout candidate at receiver, following the Super Bowl in February. Both were immediately suspended indefinitely with Miles missing Spring Practice and the first game of the season and Stringfellow transferring during the summer.

That has been far from the last time Petersen has had to deal with issues off the football field as his team once again made headlines last week when they dismissed the immensely talented junior cornerback Marcus Peters. Peters has had numerous run-ins with his new coaching staff this season, including a one-game suspension following a sideline temper tantrum earlier in the season during the team’s win against the Eastern Washington Eagles. His tumultuous tenure on the football team came to an unceremonious end following yet another shouting match with the coaching staff following practice, according to reports.

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Under Sarkisian, those behavioral red flags weren’t such an issue. He allowed a great deal of leniency to his players, letting a number of transgressions slide without addressing them to allow the team to continue to operate at full strength. That philosophy allowed UW to put the best team on paper onto the field each and every week and it has continued to be the way he does business at USC. He’s had just one disciplinary issue this season after Josh Shaw fabricated a story about how he suffered a pair of sprained ankles turning himself into a national hero, forcing the hand of the university.

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It’s the same issue that Charlie Strong has had with the Texas Longhorns after taking over for Mack Brown. Strong has cleaned house since taking over in Austin, dismissing nine players that didn’t fit the mold of the new program that he is trying to create at UT. Tightening the leash will always result in some conflict with players who had been getting some leeway under the previous regime. The difficulty in coaching changes is determining just how dedicated they are to turning over a roster to fit their blueprint at the risk of some talented athletes.

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Petersen also ran into a problem trying to get the Huskie defenders motivated for their past bowl game. The majority of them didn't seem to care to be there including Shelton & Thompson.

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A freshman making his third start, Rudolph kept his composure against Washington's vaunted front seven, overcoming three turnovers to hit 17 of 26 passes.

Desmond Roland kept the Huskies off-balance by tearing off big runs up the middle, finishing with 123 yards on 32 carries.

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The Sheperd-Rudolph connection worked again just before the half, this time in reverse: Rudolph on the throw, Sheperd on the catch for a 47-yard touchdown that put the Cowboys up 24-0.

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Or NC State's defense that got drafted in 2006:

Mario Williams DE (1)
Manny Lawson DE (1)
John McCargo DT (1)
Stephen Tulloch LB (4)
Marcus Hudson DB (6)

Yes. I would expect a defense with 1/3 of their projected lineup to be first or second day pics to be better than that.

It wasn't bad, but for a Power 5 conference team, I think a 39th ranked defense is mediocre or maybe a better term is underachieving.