Only a few additions away from pulling in a top 10 class in the nation on National Signing Day, Washington football did a tremendous job in 2018.
Washington football pulled one of the prized recruiting class of the 2018 cycle, gaining some serious momentum on the trail under Chris Petersen. This head coach is bringing a high level of recruiting success to Seattle, helping the Huskies finish with a top 15 class this year.
National Signing Day was not as friendly to the Huskies as some other Pac-12 programs, like the USC Trojans, Stanford Cardinal, and UCLA Bruins. All UW really had to do was settle in and wait for their premier group of commits to officially sign, and possibly pursue a few more targets.
Two of the best prospects in this class were already enrolled early for the Huskies. Four-star incoming freshmen are both quarterbacks in Colson Yankoff (dual-threat) and Jacob Sirmon (pro-style). Considering the Huskies already have a quarterback like rising senior Jake Browning leading the way in 2018 and former Georgia Bulldogs transfer Jacob Eason at the position right now, landing Sirmon and Yankoff says a lot about what Petersen is doing with the program.
In total, UW locked up 21 commits in the 2018 recruiting class. Of those 21 commitments, 11 are four-star prospects, and the rest are three-stars. The most highly touted prospect in this group is four-star wide receiver Marquis Spiker. The 6-foot-3 California native is the eighth best receiver in the nation.
Sirmon and Yankoff are the two next highest ranked commits in the class. Getting both of those quarterbacks the early exposure next to talents like Browning and Eason is huge for their development.
Here’s a look at the final grades for the Washington Huskies 2018 recruiting class.
Offensive Grades
List of commits:
- Quarterbacks: 4-star Jacob Sirmon, 4-star Colson Yankoff
- Running Backs: 4-star Trey Lowe, 3-star Richard Newton
- Wide Receivers: 4-star Marquis Spiker, 4-star Austin Osborne, 3-star Devin Culp
- Tight Ends: None
- Offensive Tackles: 3-star Matteo Mele, 3-star M.J. Ale
- Offensive Guards: 4-star Sam Taimani, 3-star Victor Curne
- Centers: None
There’s some holes that the Huskies were not able to address in this class. Mainly, building up some depth at the tight end spot, behind rising sophomore star Hunter Bryant, should have been addressed. The Huskies do not have much past Bryant at the position at this moment.
However, the one position that UW is definitely deep at now is quarterback Sirmon and Yankoff are both top six prospects at their position in the nation. UW has possibly the brightest future at quarterback of any program in the country, thanks to the impressive efforts of Petersen on the recruiting trail.
Moreover, the future of the offensive line will be interesting to watch. They did not directly fill the need for offensive guard, or center especially after the loss of Shelton Coleman (projected 2018 NFL Draft pick). Three-star guard Matteo Mele could see some playing time in his first two years with the Huskies.
The area that the Huskies did the best job on the recruiting trail is wide receiver. Spiker is among the best in the nation at his position, in this recruiting cycle. Four-star Austin Osborne is also an incoming freshman that could make an impact in 2018, for the UW receiving corps.
Overall Offensive Grade: B+
Defensive Grades
List of Commits:
- Safeties: 4-star Julius Irvin
- Cornerbacks: 4-star Kyler Gordon, 3-star Dominique Hampton
- Outside Linebackers: 3-star Jack Sirmon, 3-star Zion Tupuola-Fetui
- Inside Linebackers: 4-star Brandon Kaho, 3-star M.J. Tafisi
- Defensive Ends: 4-star Draco Bynum, 3-star Mosiah Nasili-Liu
- Defensive Tackles: 4-star Tuli Letuligasenoa
An already talented defense, coming back with nine starters in 2018, for the Huskies might have just gotten even stronger. UW might have the best defense in the Pac-12, if not the entire country, in 2018. That is, as long as they stay healthy.
UW’s defense experienced a ton of injuries in 2017. The secondary was really hurt by those injuries, but most of those players are healthy and ready to go for the upcoming season. The depth added in this recruiting class is key to the overall longevity of this defense.
The premier prospect of this defensive class is four-star defensive tackle Tuli Letuligasenoa. Losing projected first round NFL Draft pick Vita Vea is a tough hole to replace at defensive tackle. However, Letuligaseona can assist in the defensive line rotation, alongside talented rising seniors like Greg Gaines and Jaylen Johnson.
A few other commits that’re huge pickups for the defense include four-star inside linebacker Brandon Kaho and four-star safety Julius Irvin. There’s so many starters coming back for the Huskies that a huge defensive haul was not needed, but any area of need UW could have possibly had was addressed.
Overall Defensive Grade: A
Total Grade: A-
The only Pac-12 program that finished higher in the conference recruiting rankings than the Huskies is USC. Interestingly enough, that is the team that the Huskies would have to dethrone as the reigning PAC-12 Champions. But, they’ll get some assistance there since the Trojans lose talents like quarterback Sam Darnold and running back Ronald Jones II.
Any time a program pulls in the 13th best class in the nation, there’s some level of national contention guaranteed for the next four years. Compile that onto UW’s No. 22 ranked class in the nation, and the Huskies are setup for a good run in the Pac-12 through 2020.
There was not much noise from the Huskies on NSD, but they were comfortable with the class at hand. They added four-star talents to multiple positions including quarterback, running back, wide receiver, linebacker, defensive back, and along the defensive line. This class was very skilled but balanced, which is the way to succeed under Petersen’s system.
Next: UW Football's 3 most important games of 2018
The offense could have used some additional prospects to beef up the offensive line and tight end spot. And, we’ll see how four-star running back Trey Lowe is able to go after the departure of star rusher Myles Gaskin next year. However, everything seems good with this haul for the Huskies.