Inside The Huskies

Washington Enjoys Recruiting Advantage During Pandemic

Despite the Coronavirus-related shutdown, the Huskies are relying upon a tried and true formula that has produced championship teams.  Mike Martin looks at how those results were accomplished with so many unheralded recruits and how that process gives Washington a recruiting advantage during the pandemic.

Mike Martin

Greg Gaines would have been a four- or five-star recruit had he been a couple of inches taller. Taylor Rapp would have been a four-star player had he come from a larger high school.  

The same holds true for former University of Washington football players Myles Bryant, Myles Gaskin, Will Dissly, Nick Harris, JoJo McIntosh, Ben Burr-Kirven, Drew Sample, Sidney Jones, and Jordan Miller. The list goes on and on. 

None of them had the ideal height, weight, or speed to be placed at the top of the scouting service's lists. When they arrived at the UW, they were considered by many to be afterthoughts or simply guys filling roster spots  

All of them are on NFL rosters. 

What they needed back then was for someone to see that something extra in them, that there was more to them than measurements. The Husky coaching staff did that.

"Ben Burr-Kirven was undersized but he understood the game," Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated's Kaila Olin said. "He made a living being inside the quarterback's head at the snap, diagnosing plays before they could fully develop."  

Burr-Kirven practically snuck onto the field for the first game of his junior year to replace a suspended Azeem Victor, an All-American candidate. He would not relinquish the position and became an All-America selection himself.

"What made BBK so special is that he ran a 4.56 40-yard dash at the NFL combine but his ability to get to the ball-carrier made it look like he was sub 4.5," Olin said.

Bryant was a walk-on and Harris was no better than a low three-star lineman when they came to Washington, but they showed otherwise.

"The scouting services didn't think much of Bryant and Harris," Olin said.  "That put a pretty large chip on their shoulders.  They approached each game like they had something to prove."  

The faith that then-coach Chris Petersen and his staff had in Byrant and Harris paid off almost immediately as each saw early playing time.  By the end of their true freshmen seasons, the two UW players contributed heavily to the Huskies' run to the Pac-12 Championship Game and the College Football Playoffs.

The Huskies weren't just looking for guys who are game-fast. Last season, then defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake, now the coach, heaped praise on walk-on Edefuan Ulofoshio for the time he spent in the film room.  

A redshirt freshman, Ulofoshio was rewarded by being moved from a rotational player to a regular starter and the team's leading tackler over the final month of the regular season.

Given the rigors of their evaluation system established by Petersen and maintained by Lake, the Huskies have been able to find and develop NFL-ready players. 

"Washington has excelled at finding players who fit its own criteria without relying upon scouting services," said Trevor Mueller, Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated's recruiting analyst.  "Obviously it worked as they found some true gems."

The NFL, on a whole, agrees, counting 41 Huskies on current rosters.

"The UW understands what its looking for when it comes to developing talent for a position," said John Garcia, Sports Illustrated's director of football recruiting.  "Washington looks beyond the star ratings and more into how the person fits into its system."

The Huskies found Will Dissly playing at Bozeman High School. Dissly didn't even have an offer from Montana State even while playing five minutes from Bobcat Stadium. He became a Parade All-American and Gatorade player of the year for Montana.

The Huskies recently found a similar player in their own backyard in Caden Jumper. He plays for Eatonville High School. Mueller says Jumper compares quite favorably to Dissly.  

"Jumper actually has one more offer than Dissly," Mueller said.  "His ranking is hampered by playing multiple positions at Eatonville.  But like Dissly, he's not afraid to initiate contact and is unselfish like Dissly."

Now a Seahawks tight end, Dissly arrived in Montlake as a defensive end but agreed to switch over to offense for his junior and senior seasons. Unselfishness is a big ingredient to the success of him and similar players.

This type of insightful approach is spreading throughout the region. Former Petersen assistant coaches now head up the programs at Boise State, Oregon State, and California.  

Jacob Schuster, Tumwater High School's relatively unheralded defensive tackle, received a Husky on May 4 -- after Boise State, Oregon State and Cal each offered him.  Over the next nine days, Schuster received offers from Michigan and Stanford.

Heading into his senior year, Schuster reminds people of Gaines, the former UW player now in the NFL. They have similar size.  

A California high school player, Gaines competed in relative anonymity given his 6-foot-1 and 315-pound frame.  Gaines said that college football scouts rated him down as a three-star defensive tackle based primarily upon his height.

Gaines ranked as the 48th-best defensive tackle by 247 Sports when he left high school; Schuster is listed as the 42nd best.

"Petersen honed the process to where he understood the psyche of recruits and looked for traits that couldn't be measured on game film," Mueller said.  "That recipe paid off for Gaines as he appeared in the College Football Playoff semifinal game and two conference title games while at UW."  

It remains to be seen if Schuster is this year's Gaines, or if Jumper is this class's Dissly. But the Huskies like their chances.

On social media, many have ridiculed offers to California recruit Robert Wyrsch, Jumper, and Schuster.  However, in the recruiting circles, the offers were viewed much differently.

"Some schools are lying in wait to offer once the Huskies extend an offer," Mueller said.  

Petersen often told athletes to expect to receive many more offers after the UW made its bid. In fact, shortly after the Huskies offered Schuster, Michigan and Stanford followed suit.

Where Washington's recruiting process becomes an advantage is that the Huskies have different criteria than a scout's profile, according to Garcia.  With schools unable to conduct in-home visits, perform on-campus workouts or host camps, the advantage tilts to schools like Washington that does an in-depth study of each recruit.

Washington coaches only need point to two Pac-12 Championship and 41 former Huskies on NFL rosters.

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Mike Martin
MIKE MARTIN

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