Tag: Washington Huskies

2021 NFL draft: Washington’s Joe Tryon is perfect EDGE to replace Melvin Ingram

The Los Angeles Chargers should have Washington edge defender Joe Tryon high on their draft board.

The Chargers have gotten strong play out of edge defender Melvin Ingram since he entered the league in 2012. However, Ingram is a pending free agent and his future with the team is currently up in the air.

If Los Angeles lets Ingram walk, they will be in search of a player who’s capable of playing the outside linebacker role in head coach Brandon Staley’s system this offseason.

Luckily, this year’s draft offers a prospect who offers a skillset that’s ideal for that role, with that being former Washington EDGE Joe Tryon.

Tryon was ranked as a three-star prospect out of Hazen High School in Renton, WA. 

After starting two games in 2018, Tryon broke out in a big way the following season — totaling 41 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks in 13 games to earn second-team All-Pac-12 honors. Following that year, he opted out of the 2020 season to prepare for the draft.

In 25 career games, Tryon compiled 61 tackles with 14.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks and two passes defended.

Standing at 6-foot-4 and 262 pounds, Tryon is blessed with a lean and defined frame.

In the Huskies’ multiple defense, Tryon played as both a 4-3 defensive end and 3-4 outside linebacker. Moved all over the formation, he was primarily tasked with rushing the passer and setting the edge.

Last season, the Chargers struggled to get after the quarterback, finishing 25th in sacks. The team would benefit from Tryon, who has a knack for generating pressure from a multitude of ways.

Tryon shows a quick first step to burst off the line of scrimmage, not wasting any steps and attacking with an aggressive mindset.

A speed-to-power menace, Tryon often fires out of his stance and shows length, hand strength and lower body power to drive linemen back into the pocket to disrupt the play.

Given his physical traits, Tryon can eat up a lot of grass in a hurry, showing the ability to beat linemen to the spot and close fast to the quarterback.

Tryon can counter well off his rush with the quick instincts to swim and the body control to get skinny between blockers.

Tryon plays with a high motor and regularly chases after plays well downfield and outside his expected area.

In the run game, Tryon can set the edge and displays sufficient play strength at the point of attack to negate his opponents’ strength with force.

Tryon occasionally dropped into underneath zones, where he shows smooth hips and lateral agility to cover running backs out of the backfield.

While there’s a lot of things Tryon does well, he does come with some weaknesses.

While he’s physically gifted, Tryon doesn’t use his hands exceptionally well right now and needs to develop more counters, especially against double teams. He can also be late to react to the run and gets sucked in on play-action often.

Also, Tryon has a limited amount of starting reps, especially after deciding to opt out of the 2020 season.

Head coach Brandon Staley has worked with the likes of Von Miller, Khalil Mack and Leonard Floyd. While he’s not on that same level of talent as them at the moment, Tryon fits that mold of an athletic and lengthy outside linebacker that Staley has done wonders with.

Overall, Tryon has an ideal frame, and his length and athleticism contribute to a set of tools that profile as an impact edge rusher at the next level, especially if his technique can match his gifted toolset. His size, toughness, and range suggest he could be a solid special teams contributor, too.

With the traits and athletic profile that Tryon possesses, he’s most likely high on a lot of team’s draft boards. The first-round is a bit rich, but Tryon should be strongly considered if he’s on the board when the Chargers are on the clock with pick No. 47.

If everything pans out, Tryon is a high ceiling prospect who has the ability to develop into a game-changing pass rusher at the next level.

Todd McShay’s updated mock draft has the Saints reaching for a pass rusher

The New Orleans Saints reached on a pass rusher in Todd McShay’s 2021 NFL mock draft update, adding Washington Huskies DE Joe Tryon.

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Where will the New Orleans Saints go in the 2021 NFL draft? There’s still months of speculation and scouting ahead to figure it out, but mock drafts can be a fun exercise to at least learn about new prospects.

The latest mock comes from ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay. He linked the Saints to Washington Huskies defensive end Joe Tryon, who opted out of the 2020 season after creating just 9 sacks in his first 23 games. Here’s what McShay wrote to justify the pick:

“I considered Missouri’s Nick Bolton here to fill the inside linebacker role, but the edge rush could also use some support. The Saints did have 45 sacks last year, but age concerns and free-agency exposure might flip this unit sooner rather than later. Tryon opted out in 2020, but he’s versatile and quick on the edge. He had 12.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks in 2019.”

So, yeah, this feels like a bit of a reach. Tryon underachieved on a loaded college defense and hasn’t played a single down since Dec. 21, 2019. I’m not knocking him for opting out, that was probably the smart thing to do for his health and job prospects. But did McShay just want the Saints to end up with a front seven defender and draw a name out of a hat?

To his credit, Tryon came along stronger near the end of his Huskies career. Pro Football Focus credited him with 29 pressures in his last seven games after creating just a dozen pressures in his first six games. He was figuring things out and becoming an impact defender. But that isn’t someone you invest a first round draft pick into. We’ll see if McShay can come up with a better match in his next mock draft update.

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Ravens address their biggest needs in Draft Wire’s 3-round mock draft

The Baltimore Ravens could look to free agency to fill their biggest needs but this mock draft of the 2021 NFL draft offers options as well.

The Baltimore Ravens enter this offseason with a few significant needs that have to be addressed by the time they get back on the football field later in the summer. As is seemingly always the case, wide receiver and pass rusher are at the top of that list. While Baltimore could choose to acquire players in free agency to fill the void, using the 2021 NFL draft to either find starters or even capable depth is still going to be a necessity.

Luke Easterling of Draft Wire recently released a three-round mock draft that took into account the Ravens’ biggest needs and paired them with some great value selections. Let’s take a closer look at Draft Wire’s mock draft to see who Baltimore could find available.

Report: Saints to virtually interview big-time DT prospect Levi Onwuzurike

The New Orleans Saints plan to virtually interview Washington Huskies DT Levi Onwuzurike, a top prospect in the 2021 NFL Draft.

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The Draft Network’s Justin Melo reports that the New Orleans Saints are doubling back to speak with Washington Huskies draft prospect Levi Onwuzurike, one of the top defensive tackles in this year’s class. Melo adds that every team met with Onwuzurike at the Senior Bowl in January, so this would be New Orleans’ second chat with the Huskies standout.

It’s easy to see why they’re interested. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 283 pounds, Onwuzurike created 95 tackles (47 solo, 16 tackles for loss) in 34 games with Washington before opting out of his senior year to prepare for the 2021 NFL draft. While it’s early and draft boards are taking shape across the league, he’s a viable first-round prospect, as is N.C. State’s Alim McNeill, who Melo reported New Orleans also plans to interview.

Big changes are on the way for the Saints defensive line, so looking at high-profile options in the draft makes sense. Sheldon Rankins is a free agent, and Malcom Brown could be a salary cap casualty. Rankins played the second-most snaps among Saints defensive tackles last year (472) while Brown placed third-most (390). If New Orleans loses both players, they’d be left with David Onyemata (666) and a combination of Shy Tuttle, Malcolm Roach, Ryan Glasgow, and Jalen Dalton (639 combined snaps) under contract.

Onyemata is a force and that group has some promising youngsters, but adding a blue-chip prospect like Onwuzurike would help build some confidence. He logged a career pressure rate of 14.2% at Washington, per Pro Football Focus; for context, Onyemata led the Saints defensive tackles with a 7.3% pressure rate in 2020. So remember his name on draft day.

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Steve Sarkisian has “zeroed” in on Washington’s Pete Kwiatkowski as next Texas DC

According to TFB Texas, the Longhorns have zeroed in on Pete Kwiatkowski, the current defensive coordinator at Washington.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian continues to fill his coaching staff. Arguably the most important position on his staff will be defensive coordinator. Candidates such as Will Muschamp, Barry Odom, Pete Golding and Zach Arnett have been rumored to be in consideration.

Now, a name has come out of left field from the West Coast.

According to TFB Texas, the Longhorns have zeroed in on Pete Kwiatkowski, the longtime defensive coordinator at Washington. He has been in Seattle for seven seasons working for both Chris Petersen and Jimmy Lake.

During his seven-year stint with the Huskies, Kwiatkowski has produced some of the top defenses in the Pac-12. Only twice did Washington’s defense give up more than an average of 20.0 points per game with Kwiatkowski running the show. His best scoring defense came in 2017 when opponents only averaged 16.1 points per game.

Developing players and turning them into high NFL draft picks has been a staple at Washington. Since Kwiatkowski took over in 2014, nine Husky defenders have been taken in the first round. Zero from Texas have been selected.

An announcement is expected soon according to TFB. At first glance, this seems like a huge win for Sarkisian and the Longhorns. Kwiatkowski was destined to be at Washington for as long as he wanted. Instead, Texas pulled one of the top defensive coordinators in the country to Austin.

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Washington out, Oregon in Pac-12 Championship vs USC

Washington is out and USC is in the Pac-12 Championship game against USC

The ever-revolving schedule dance of college football in 2020 has seen a major shift in the Pac-12 Championship Game

Washington is out due to COVID-19 issues and second-place Oregon will get a chance to spoil USC’s undefeated season.

The contest is scheduled for Friday at LA Memorial Coliseum.

 

NFL Draft: Texas’ Samuel Cosmi made the right choice in declaring

On Sunday the Texas Longhorns starting left tackle Samuel Cosmi opted out of the season. Was it the right call for him?

When the Texas Longhorns next take the field against Kansas State on Dec. 5 they will do so without offensive tackle Samuel Cosmi. Continue reading “NFL Draft: Texas’ Samuel Cosmi made the right choice in declaring”

Washington DL Levi Onwuzurike opts out of 2020 season

Washington defensive line prospect Levi Onwuzurike is opting out of the 2020 college football season to prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft

Another top prospect is opting out of the 2020 college football season to prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft.

Washington defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike is the latest in a long line of top prospects choosing to get an early start on their preparations for next year’s draft, regardless of whether or not the Pac-12 ends up playing football this fall or in the spring.

One of the top interior defensive line prospects in this draft class, Onwuzurike could end up putting himself in the first-round conversation with a strong performance throughout the predraft process.

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One Pac-12 coach believes all of FBS will cancel in due time

According to Washington Huskies head coach JImmy Lake, it is all just a matter of time before all of FBS cancels their season.

The Pac-12 canceled their 2020 football season on Monday, following the Big Ten. There has been controversy around the decision, with players and coaches from around the country feeling as if football can be played.

However, there is one head coach who feels like the ACC, Big 12, and SEC are heading in the same direction as the Big Ten and Pac-12.

Washington’s head coach Chris Petersen stepped down after the 2019 season and was replaced by defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake. The first-year head coach thinks the other three Power Five conferences will be heading down the same direction as the Pac-12.

“I believe all three other conferences are going to follow suit (canceling) in due time.”

The Big 12 took a major step towards playing on Wednesday, releasing its 2020 schedule. Commissioner Bob Bowlsby has done an excellent job making sure players and coaches are as safe as possible.

Given so many conversations have occurred between Bowlsby, student-athletes and medical staff it would be hard to fathom that they would change course now. At least not without new information being provided. As Bowlsby stated “reasonable people can disagree.” That seems to be the case here.

Provided that the three major conferences left proceed, then the questions comes about if there will be a College Football Playoff. The short answer being that seem poised to continue down that road. The committee has given no indication that they won’t move forward given the teams still planning on playing.

The commissioner did mention there is a call next week with the committee so they can hash out the plan. The next question that make come is will the future champion being considered legitimate? If you asked Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, he thinks so.

“Whoever wins it wins it, that’s the champion.” – Swinney to GoUpState.com

What did the Washington Huskies do to enrage the Pac-12?

People in Seattle have to be annoyed, if not worse.

This website is called Trojans Wire, so we aim to cover USC sports, but we are the only Pac-12 site in the USA TODAY College Wires network, so we do have an obligation to cover the Pac-12.

If there is a significant school-specific drama attached to the release of the new Pac-12 football schedule which doesn’t have anything to do with USC, it is the continuing split between the way the Pac-12 treats the University of Washington and the University of Oregon.

Let’s go back to 2018:

Washington played a road game at UCLA and then had to go to Eugene to play the Ducks, who had an off week before hosting the Huskies.

Last year, Oregon had an off week in late September. Washington didn’t have its first off week of the season until the final Saturday of October. Washington hosted Oregon after a draining two-week road trip to Stanford and then Arizona. Oregon went to Seattle to play the Huskies after the off week and then two straight home games. Oregon played a Friday night home game the week before Washington, giving the Ducks an added day of rest for UW.

Now look at the 2020 schedule:

GUESS WHAT?

Yup, Oregon once again has an off week before hosting the Huskies.

Come on. This can’t be an idle coincidence when it keeps happening over and over again.

We could reasonably view it as an accident or an isolated failure to schedule well when Oregon — in 2018 — got the home date against Washington after an idle week. A one-time mistake? Not great, but not a pattern of systemic bias. It wouldn’t be a big deal if it didn’t happen again.

BUT…. IT HAPPENED AGAIN! More precisely, it happened again the VERY NEXT TIME OREGON HOSTED WASHINGTON!

In other words, this wasn’t a mistake made twice in a six-year span. No! This mistake has now been made in consecutive years when Oregon hosted Washington.

Every school in any conference — not just the Power Five conferences, and not just the Pac-12 — should expect to receive competitive balance and fairness in relationship to other schools. That Washington plainly fails to receive those basic items is bad enough; that the Huskies fail to get decent treatment relative to their fiercest league rival, Oregon, is that much more irritating and — moreover — conspicuous.

What did the Washington Huskies do to enrage the Pac-12? The league could not do a better job of unreasonably tilting the playing field in one school’s favor, at another school’s expense.

It’s yet another reason Larry Scott can’t be allowed to continue on as commissioner. These amateur-hour displays can’t be allowed to keep happening.