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University of Washington Huskies Football

UW Huskies depth chart breakdown: Ty Jones, Cade Otton among breakout candidates on offense

Washington quarterbacks, left to right, Jake Haener, Jake Browning, Colson Yankoff, Jacob Simon and Jacob Eason line up to throw during drills at a team practice Aug. 10 in Seattle. For the first time in more than 20 years, Washington will go into a season with a legitimate belief that being in the national championship conversation doesn’t sound foolish. The Huskies are the clear choice in the Pac-12 North and to win the Pac-12 title. Accomplish both of those and ther’'s a good chance the Huskies could find themselves in the College Football Playoff for the second time in three years. (Elaine Thompson / AP)
By Adam Jude Seattle Times

SEATTLE – Zero touchdowns, 15 turnovers. Yes, it was a rough start to fall camp for the Washington offense.

Through the first five practices this month, the Huskies’ defense, with its nine returning starters from the Fiesta Bowl and a secondary as talented and deep as any in the country, shut out its offensive counterparts.

To be fair, that is fairly common early in camp, when the offense is installing new plays and the defense only does two-hand-touch tackling.

“It can be frustrating at times,” senior tight end Drew Sample said. “With the guys they have back there on the front seven and obviously on the back end they have a lot of returners. So they definitely make us earn it, and that makes it that much more satisfying when we do get stuff going on offense.”

The same thing happened in 2016. Coming out of camp then, there was so much uncertainty about what the offense could be that season that midway through the season-opening blowout of Rutgers, a relieved John Ross turned to Dante Pettis on the UW sideline and remarked: “Hey, we don’t suck!”

The 2016 Huskies went on to set a school scoring record and the program won its first conference championship in 16 years.

First-year offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan liked how his offense responded this month.

“I think it’s been a good battle throughout camp. I really do,” Hamdan said. “That’s one thing I’m really proud of this offense is (when) you don’t start well, we’ve battled back – and I think that’s progress.”

Here is a look at how the UW offensive depth chart is shaping up, 10 days before the No. 6 Huskies open the season against No. 9 Auburn in Atlanta:

Quarterback

Jake Browning, sr.

Jake Haener, rs-fr.

Jacob Sirmon, fr.

Colson Yankoff, fr.

+-Jacob Eason, jr.

+-must redshirt in 2018 per NCAA rules

Outlook: Jake Browning has been just about everything Chris Petersen has wanted in his quarterback, and Browning enters his fourth year as the starter trying to build confidence in the young receivers around him. Look for a solid bounce-back season for the 2016 Pac-12 offensive player of the year.

Running back

Myles Gaskin, sr.

Salvon Ahmed, so.

Sean McGrew, so.

Kamari Pleasant, so.

*Malik Braxton, jr.

Richard Newton, fr.

*Jamyn Patu, fr.

*walk-on

Outlook: We know what Myles Gaskin can do, and he will have a chance to cement his place among UW’s all-time greats in 2018. Gaskin isn’t sure we’ve seen all Salvon Ahmed can do. “I don’t think anybody’s seen it yet,” Gaskin said. “I’ve seen him do some things like, Man, did you just do that?”

Wide receiver

Outside

Aaron Fuller, jr.

Quinten Pounds, jr.

Austin Osborne, fr.

Alex Cook, rs-fr.

Slot

Chico McClatcher, jr.

Terrell Bynum, rs-fr.

Trey Lowe, fr.

*Max Richmond, sr.

Outside

Ty Jones, so.

Andre Baccellia, jr.

Jordan Chin, so.

Marquis Spiker, fr.

*John Gardner, sr.

Outlook: It’s clear who the top five receivers are: Aaron Fuller, Ty Jones, Chico McClatcher, Andre Baccellia and Quinten Pounds. If healthy, Jordan Chin could push for a regular role. Redshirt freshman Terrell Bynum is intriguing, though like Chin he has battled injuries. Among the true freshmen, Austin Osborne was the most consistent during the first 10 days of camp. “The thing that’s exciting is we have a lot more depth than we had last year,” receivers coach Matt Lubick said. “We’ve got eight or nine guys who all know what they’re doing, and they’re all competing. And that drives everybody else. It’s a competition that makes everyone better and it inspires guys, too.”

Tight end

Drew Sample, sr.

Jacob Kizer, so.

Cade Otton, rs.-fr.

*DeShon Williams, sr.

Jusstis Warren, jr.

Devin Culp, fr.

Michael Neal, jr.

*Jack Westover, fr.

x-Hunter Bryant, so.

x-injured

Outlook: In the short term, the Huskies will be OK without Hunter Bryant, the standout sophomore who had knee surgery in early June. Could they use him against Auburn? Of course they could, but that’s not going to happen. The big question is when Bryant will return, and indications early in camp were that he could be back at some point this season (Nov. 3 vs. Stanford, perhaps?). It’s unlikely we’ll know if and when he does return until it happens.

Offensive line

Left tackle

Trey Adams, sr.

Henry Roberts, jr.

Jared Hilbers, jr.

Left guard

Luke Wattenberg, so.

Devin Burleson, jr.

Center

Nick Harris, jr.

Jesse Sosebee, sr.

Right guard

Matt James, sr.

Jaxson Kirkland, rs-fr.

Right tackle

Kaleb McGary, sr.

Henry Bainivalu, rs-fr.

Outlook: If everyone is healthy, four of the five spots on the line are set. Right guard, as it has been the past several season, could be an ongoing competition between fifth-year senior Matt James and redshirt freshman Jaxson Kirkland (and perhaps others). James has experience now, and Kirkland is the projected long-term starter. Junior Henry Roberts, the Bellevue High product, is the versatile sixth man – likely as the primary backup at both spots on the left side – and redshirt freshman Henry Bainivalu could be that guy for the right side. Trey Adams, the preseason All-America, took more and more reps with the No. 1 offense as camp progressed, and he appears determined to be back on the field Sept. 1.