Area of need: Secondary
Current situation: The defensive backs were the most talented unit on Washington's roster last season.
From that group, they lose three starters -- safety Budda Baker, and cornerbacks Kevin King and Sidney Jones. Baker has been a huge defensive playmaker for the Huskies the last three seasons, while Jones -- and his lockdown ability -- essentially allowed defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake to feel comfortable leaving him on an island against anyone. King’s range and athleticism (he grew up as a basketball player) is going to be tough to duplicate.
Before the Apple Cup, defensive back Darren Gardenhire also left the team. He had accounted for 13 tackles, 1.5 TFL, one sack, one interception and was a key cog in the Huskies' DB rotation. Washington played its final three games of the season without him, but he was a player who -- before late November -- many expected would be back as a cornerstone of the Washington secondary in 2017.
Plan moving forward: The good news is that Lake has prepared for this time and even though it’s the Washington position group that loses the most, it also might be the unit that has the most serviceable depth on the Huskies’ roster, as well.
Safety JoJo McIntosh will be the most game-experienced player in this group and the Huskies will lean on him hard to lead this group of younger defensive backs, but he’ll be surrounded by talent.
Freshman Taylor Rapp came into this season as an unknown entity and left it as one of the biggest bright spots for the defensive future of this team (and as the Pac-12 title game’s MVP). His nose for the big play and his unflinching cool in the big games led to him getting a ton of reps in 2016, which will prove invaluable in 2017.
Rapp will be joined by a slew of other talented players -- Zeke Turner, Jordan Miller, Austin Joyner -- who’ve all gotten game experience during the last few seasons.
Because of the depth of Washington’s defensive backs last season, there were a few talented true freshmen who redshirted this year. They’ll have a chance to start pushing for reps this spring. Keep an eye on cornerbacks Byron Murphy (who was the highest-ranked signee in the Huskies’ 2016 class) and Kentrell Love (who’s just a bit smaller than King, but has a similarly impressive range).
The Huskies also have commitments from two four-star defensive backs in their 2017 class -- cornerback Elijah Molden and safety Brandon McKinney. Molden, son of former Oregon All-American Alex Molden, chose Washington over Oregon and Stanford and could see early playing time. McKinney could battle for backup reps at safety this spring against the Huskies deep corps.