Tag: Washington Huskies

2024 NFL draft: Falcons pick Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8, ending Seahawks’ hopes

This move comes as a massive surprise, especially considering the four-year contract Atlanta just gave Kirk Cousins.

And so our watch ends. After several months of hype and hope about Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. staying in Seattle to play with the Seahawks, the dream has come to an end.

With the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, the Falcons picked Penix.

This move comes as a massive surprise, especially considering the four-year contract Atlanta just gave Kirk Cousins in free agency (worth $180 million total). The Falcons had been almost universally expected to pick an edge defender or an interior rusher.

Our best guess is that the Seahawks will be picking a defensive back at 16 if they don’t trade down. Iowa’s Cooper DeJean and Alabama’s Terrion Arnold are the most popular 11th hour names attached to Seattle.

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Former four-star CB Jasiah Wagoner set to enter the portal

Oklahoma Sooners cornerback Jasiah Wagoner entering the transfer portal, according to a report on Thursday.

Spring practice is over for the Oklahoma Sooners and they’re one of the teams in college football feeling the roster crunch. Programs and players are making tough decisions about their future.

In the spring portal window, the Oklahoma Sooners lost projected rotational cheetah Justin Harrington. Now, another key defensive back piece in the 2023 recruiting class is heading to the portal.

According to Collin Kennedy of Sooners Illustrated and 247Sports, former four-star prospect Jasiah Wagoner is entering the transfer portal.

Wagoner played eight games and 76 snaps as a true freshman, according to Pro Football Focus. Wagoner had a terrific summer leading up to the season and was routinely discussed as someone who could push for snaps immediately as the Sooners searched for consistency at cornerback.

He missed the first half of the season due to injury before becoming a consistent part of the rotation in the back half of the year. He totaled three tackles and two pass breakups in 2023.

Oklahoma earned Wagoner’s commitment over Arizona State, Notre Dame, Washington, and Texas.

Wagoner’s departure is probably not the last for Oklahoma as players on the fringe or lower on the depth chart than they’d like to be will seek to enter the transfer portal ahead of the May 1 deadline.

Recent rule changes have clarified that all transfers, graduate or not, must be in the portal by May 1st to seek a new school. Previously, grad transfers were allowed to enter the portal after the deadline, but with the new rules, all players are treated the same when entering the NCAA transfer portal.

Wagoner will have three more years of eligibility remaining.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Bryant on X @thatmanbryant.

Mel Kiper: Michael Penix Jr. won’t fall past Raiders at No. 13 overall

Mel Kiper at ESPN has shared a bunch of predictions going into the draft, including one that says Penix won’t last past No. 13 overall.

Here at Seahawks Wire we have been on Michael Penix Jr. watch even before the team hired Ryan Grubb as their offensive coordinator. For a long time the conventional wisdom was that Penix would still be available at the start of Round 2. However, thanks to his performance at the combine and Washington’s Pro Day, he’s now expected to be taken before Seattle is on the clock at No. 16 overall. Here’s more evidence pointing in that direction as the draft arrives.

The original draft guru, Mel Kiper at ESPN has shared a bunch of predictions going into the draft, including one that says Penix won’t last past No. 13 overall, where the Raiders are slated to pick:

“The Washington quarterback is liked by several teams with picks in the teens, but I don’t think he’ll last past the Raiders at No. 13. That’s a little rich for my tastes — he finished No. 24 on my Big Board — but there are several teams looking for their quarterback of the future in this class, and his accuracy, experience and moxie make him appealing.”

Already missing a second-round pick thanks to the Leonard Williams trade, the Seahawks simply don’t have the capital to move up from 16 for Penix or anybody else. Unless he falls, the Penix-Seattle connection will stop tonight.

However, the good news is that the 2024 draft class is deep at quarterback and they might still be able to land a quality prospect as late as Day 3. The other big name we will be keeping an eye on is Spencer Rattler from South Carolina, who’s projected to get drafted in Round 2 or Round 3.

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Devon Witherspoon says he’s ‘very high’ on Michael Penix Jr.

Witherspoon made it clear that he’s a big fan of his game, complimenting his pocket presence and ability to make every throw.

Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon was a guest last night on the NFL Draft Week space on Twitter, and he was asked for his opinions on some of the top quarterback prospects in the 2024 draft class – some of whom he competed against personally. On the subject of Michigan’s JJ McCarthy, Witherspoon said he sees his skillset translating well to the NFL, especially his mobility.

As for Washington QB Michael Penix Jr., Witherspoon made it clear that he’s a big fan of his game, complimenting his pocket presence and ability to make every throw. You can listen to the full recording at the link below:

Penix is easily the best fit for Seattle in this draft class given his experience with offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. The only question is if he’ll still be available when the Seahawks are on the clock at No. 16 overall. Our best guess is that he won’t be – the x-factor being the Raiders, who pick at 13. While they signed Gardner Minshew in free agency his contract is far from a long-term investment and Penix has been heavily connected with them throughout draft season.

Nothing is certain, though. Far weirder things happen every year in the draft than a prospect like Penix sliding a few spots lower than he’s projected for. We’ll find out tomorrow night if it’s meant to be for Penix to stay in Seattle.

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2024 NFL draft: Washington OT Troy Fautanu has medical flag

However, there’s a late flag regarding Fautanu’s health.

One of the prospects who has been most frequently connected with the Seahawks has been Washington left tackle Troy Fautanu. He is by far the most popular mock draft pick at No. 16 overall and at least in theory would fit in like a glove with Ryan Grubb and Scott Huff, who he worked with the last two seasons.

However, there’s a late flag regarding Fautanu’s health. According to Albert Breer at Sports Illustrated, Fautanu has a knee issue that could affect his longevity in the NFL:

“Washington OT Troy Fautanu’s knee was flagged. That one was described to me as the sort of issue that shouldn’t be a problem in the short term, but could wind up impacting his longevity in the pros…”

This is pretty far from ideal, especially considering that Seattle’s starting right tackle Abe Lucas has a long-term knee problem of his own that kept him on the sidelines for 11 games last season.

Fautanu is still an excellent prospect overall and a great fit for what Seattle wants to do, but this could be disqualifying – especially considering the depth at offensive tackle in this draft class there’s no need to roll the dice on a prospect with a medical red flag.

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Jabbar Muhammad explains decision to transfer from Washington to Oregon

Going from Washington to Oregon is not an easy decision to make. Jabbar Muhammad details his process.

When it comes to rivalries in the world of sports, there are few breeding grounds as fertile as college football. And when you talk about some of the best rivalries in the world of college football, the “Cascade Clash” between the Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies deserves mention.

So when one of the best players on a team in that rivalry decides that a change of scenery would best suit him, and decides to move on over to the other team in the rivalry, what happens?

That’s something you could ask Oregon cornerback Jabbar Muhammad. He was one of the best players for the Huskies a year ago, beating the Ducks twice in the season. After the destruction of the Washington roster took place following their loss in the national championship game, though, Muhammad chose to join the Ducks.

“As a kid, everyone dreams of coming to Oregon,” Muhammad said on Tuesday after practice. “When I got into the portal I got in contact with the coaches about what they had building here and what they could do for me and it’s something that attracted me.”

This isn’t the first time that Muhammad has changed schools. He started his college career at Oklahoma State, where he spent three seasons with the Cowboys before heading up to the Pacific Northwest. However, moving from one rival to the other is something that has certainly had fans get after him.

“You can’t please everybody,” Muhammad said. “You know, you’re gonna look at the people who want to talk about you, people say don’t do this, do that. But at the end of the day, you know, it’s about what’s best for you. So I kind of have some blinders on this last time knowing that, you know, this decision is gonna be pretty tough.”

Now, Muhammad projects to be one of the stars of Oregon’s defense. He’s proven that he can be impactful on the field, racking up 46 tackles and 3 interceptions last year with the Huskies alone. Can he have that type of impact in Eugene?

Duck fans would like to see it, this time with their support.

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald wants to see ‘shocking effort’ from his players

Recently we got to hear more about his core philosophy at Washington’s Be A Pro Coaching Clinic.

Little by little, we are getting to know Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald more. Recently we got to hear more about his core philosophy as a coach at Washington’s Be A Pro Coaching Clinic. For one thing, Macdonald says he wants to see “shocking effort” from his players.

What does that mean exactly? Here’s how Macdonald explained it earlier this month, per John Boye at Seahawks.com.

“Well you’ve got to be in great shape, you’ve got to have guys who love each other and want to play for one another—you can’t be selfish. What you’re asking them to do is be incredibly clear, and in order to do that, you have to build confidence. And when you build confidence, guess what happens? They communicate, because they know what the hell they’re doing… We’re talking pre-snap alerts, post-snap alerts, we’re communicating, everybody knows exactly what we’re doing, we’re flying around, we’re leveraging the ball, then you have, and then it starts to look like shocking effort. But it doesn’t just happen overnight.”

Macdonald seems to have had a positive affect on his roster so far – Leonard Williams for one claims the team is locked in on a different level since his arrival. While we expect a modest improvement in 2023, most head coaches don’t see a big leap with their teams until Year 2 in the NFL. If they make the right picks in the draft later this week we could see Seattle emerge as a true contender in 2025.

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Watch: Robert Griffin III pounds the table for Washington QB Michael Penix Jr.

Watch RGIII pound the table for Penix, who he calls the best pure passer in this draft class.

With two days to go before the 2024 NFL draft, once again the biggest question surrounding the Seahawks is will they or won’t they pick a quarterback prospect this year. The latest reporting seems to suggest they won’t, as ESPN’s Adam Shefter says the team is high on Sam Howell and feels secure at the position going into the draft.

However, we can’t rule out a QB pick – especially when one of them is such a perfect fit for Seattle’s offense. Watch Robert Griffin III pound the table for Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., who he calls the best pure passer in this draft class.

As far as Penix goes, the latest buzz is that he’s a lock to be a first-round pick and won’t last past 16…

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Kalen DeBoer is just behind Kirby Smart in latest SEC head coach rankings

Kalen DeBoer sits behind only Kirby Smart in the latest SEC head coach rankings, but that may not last long.

The Alabama Crimson Tide begin the 2024 college football season against Western Kentucky, and it will be the first time in over 17 seasons that the Tide will take the field without the legendary [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] on the sideline. Saban’s retirement still doesn’t feel real, but seeing new head coach Kalen DeBoer on the sideline could be a breath of fresh air too.

Losing Saban was always going to be incredibly difficult, but athletic director Greg Byrne reacted quickly and landed a phenomenal head coach in DeBoer.

In two seasons with the Washington Huskies, DeBoer was 25-3 with a PAC-12 title and national championship appearance. Between NAIA and D1 football, DeBoer has posted an outstanding career record of 104-12. It was just a matter of time before other programs started calling on DeBoer, so while Saban’s retirement wasn’t a great thing, the timing definitely could have been worse. DeBoer has also shown he can beat the best coaches in the country as he is a combined 5-0 against Dan Lanning and Steve Sarkisian.

Heading into the 2024 season, ESPN ranks DeBoer as the second-best coach in America behind only Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs.

Even in Saban’s later years at the helm of the Alabama program, Smart had begun to catch up. Now, Smart is the undisputed top head coach in the conference, but it may not take long for DeBoer to overtake him. Though, there’s also the risk that some slip-ups lead to DeBoer falling in the rankings.

With a new-look coaching staff and a roster that lost plenty of last season’s playmakers, there’s much unknown about the 2024 Alabama team. While some may see this as a negative, there’s a good chance this can be utilized to the Tide’s advantage. A certain level of unpredictability can boost the team against the strong opponents on the upcoming schedule.

Fans won’t have to wait long to see DeBoer and Smart go head-to-head, as Georgia visits Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama in a regular-season matchup on  Sep. 28, 2024.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow DeBoer and the Alabama football program as the 2024 offseason progresses.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

Former Andy Enfield USC assistant coach hired by new Washington coach

Tony Bland gets a fresh start in Seattle with Danny Sprinkle.

Andy Enfield is starting his tenure at SMU, but some of his former assistant coaches at USC are being hired elsewhere. One is Tony Bland, who has just been hired by new Washington Huskies head coach Danny Sprinkle, who had coached Utah State to the NCAA Tournament this past season. Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 had the story.

Goodman wrote about Bland:

“Bland hasn’t coached since being fired by USC in January 2018 after being one of 10 individuals arrested in September 2017 in connection with the FBI’s investigation into corruption. Bland served a 3-year show-cause, but has been out for nearly 7 years because the investigation moved so slow. Bland was previously the head basketball coach at St. Bernard High School, and also coached AAU basketball and worked with troubled youth in the Los Angeles area in his time out of college basketball.”

Washington is a USC competitor in the Big Ten, so Bland will be competing against USC next season.

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