UW Football | It's time to see if muddled look suddenly clears

A day before the season finally kicks off, the outlook for Washington's football team remains as muddled as an answer from Miss Teen South Carolina.

Will Jake Locker be able to immediately fulfill all that potential, or will it take a little time? Will the young kids come through in the secondary and on the left side of the offensive line? Will Louis Rankin finally blossom into a 1,000-yard rusher? What about the special teams?

While we don't have any maps to help us through the maze, we do have almost four weeks of training camp to give us an indication what might be ahead.

So here's a look at each position grouping, with an assessment of whether the outlook at that spot has improved, regressed or stayed on the same level as it appeared heading into camp:

Quarterback: Improved.

Coaches have raved about the attitude and improvement of all three scholarship quarterbacks (Locker, Carl Bonnell and Ronnie Fouch) and also have said Locker has improved his accuracy, which loomed as his biggest weakness heading into camp. All three have stayed healthy, which is important with so little depth.

Running backs: Improved.

Rankin came to camp in such good shape that he won the team's conditioning test. Several of the true freshmen have shown enough to indicate they might live up to all the hype, particularly Brandon Johnson and Curtis Shaw. The one negative is J.R. Hasty, who has been slowed by an ankle injury and is in danger of being passed over by some of the freshmen. Fullback also is a position of real strength with Paul Homer and Luke Kravitz likely to get more carries this season.

Receivers: The same.

This was expected to be a strength heading into camp, and it appears it will be. All five of the seniors have had solid camps, particularly Corey Williams, who finally seems ready to emerge as a star. One down note — Anthony Russo (little finger) and Cody Ellis (hamstring) each battled injuries that held them out, and Marcel Reece also battled some leg issues. All should be ready to go against Syracuse, however.

Offensive line: The same.

Actually, the depth should be better than it's been in a while, which could result in an improved grade. But it's hard yet to say this area is better than predicted, due mostly to the uncertainty at left tackle, the most important position on the line. Returning starter Ben Ossai reported to camp having missed a targeted weight and was relegated to the second team. He is listed as a co-starter with redshirt freshman Cody Habben. And that means UW could start two redshirt freshmen on the left side — Ryan Tolar at left guard being the other — a dicey proposition. The right side is more stable, with senior Chad Macklin at tackle and junior Casey Bulyca at guard, and center is set with Juan Garcia.

Tight ends: The same.

Coaches hoped one of the three returnees — Johnie Kirton, Michael Gottlieb or Robert Lewis — would have such a good camp that he would become the unquestioned starter. That didn't happen. But coaches seem satisfied that a rotation of all three, utilizing each to his strengths, will give the Huskies what they need.

Defensive line: Improved.

This could be the strength of the team, with four set, solid and experienced starters — Wilson Afoa and Jordan Reffett at tackle, and Greyson Gunheim and Daniel Te'o-Nesheim at ends. There also is emerging quality depth, with Erick Lobos and Cameron Elisara at tackle and De'Shon Matthews and Caesar Rayford at ends. For the first time in a while, the Huskies might be able to rotate liberally and keep everyone fresh enough to be the stronger team in the fourth quarter.

Linebackers: Regressed.

Dan Howell is a savvy and solid player at strongside linebacker, but much of the excitement heading into the season revolved around the inside duo of E.J. Savannah and Donald Butler. Butler has been slowed by a knee injury much of camp that could still hamper him once the games begin. Savannah had a rough beginning to camp before turning it on at the end. Hard to know yet how well this corps will work together, given some of that uncertainty. Good news is the emergence of Trenton Tuiasosopo and true freshman Maston Foster as backups in the middle.

Defensive backs: Regressed.

The travails at cornerback since camp began have been well-documented and until proven otherwise, that position remains the team's biggest question mark. Byron Davenport still is hampered by hamstring problems and won't make the trip to Syracuse. Some good news is Vonzell McDowell Jr. appears more ready than some players in his situation would be. Also, the switch of true freshman Nate Williams to free safety improves the depth in the secondary, though the Huskies are still razor-thin.

Special teams: Regressed.

That assessment is due mostly to the kicking situation and the fact Erik Folk, expected to be the answer at kicker, has instead been waylaid by a back injury that is becoming increasingly worrisome. Jared Ballman is the punter, but has been inconsistent when media members have been allowed to watch, and Ryan Perkins, coming off a major knee injury, is the likely kicker. Brandon Johnson could be the answer on kickoff returns, with Russo likely handling punts.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Read his blogs on Washington football at www.seattletimes.com/huskies