Washington Football: 2017 season preview and predictions

Defense

The front seven for Washington is scary. The base 3-4 defense is highlighted by Vita Vea at nose tackle, Greg Gaines at tackle/end, Connor O’Brien at outside linebacker, Azeem Victor at inside linebacker and Keishawn Bierria at the other inside linebacker spot. All of those guys are returning starters with plenty of experience.

Moreover, they combined to put together the nation’s eighth-best scoring defense, 28th-best rushing defense and 12th-best overall defense in 2016.

The two names to watch, though, are Vea and Victor. The former finished his sophomore season at tackle with 39 takedowns, 6.5 for loss and five sacks. Victor had a stellar junior campaign, accounting for 68 tackles and three for loss. Don’t sleep on Bierria, either. He also had 68 tackles, but added five tackles for loss, five fumble recoveries, two sacks and two forced fumbles.

Junior Jaylen Johnson is expected to start at the other defensive end spot and freshman Amandre Williams could be a strong candidate to start at outside linebacker.

Even stronger secondary emerging?

Washington ranked 15th in the country in passing yards allowed per game in 2016. The secondary looked to be coming together quite nicely and that’s an impressive number considering they play in the pass-heavy Pac-12 where nearly every team’s quarterback puts up 250 yards per game.

It’s not going to be easy to replace two cornerbacks who helped engineer the elite secondary, but the safeties will pick up the slack. Sophomore Taylor Rapp is a budding star at one safety position and Jojo McIntosh will anchor the other.

As long as the cornerbacks don’t completely blow coverages and tank the entire unit, there’s a good chance the secondary could be even better than it was last season. It’s up to guys like Byron Murphy, Jordan Miller, Brandon Lewis and Austin Joyner.