Missouri City (Tex.) Hightower weakside defensive end Micheal Johnson tells me that Washington is his favorite.

When asked why the Dawgs have made such an impression the 6-foot-3, 230-pound pass rusher said, "Me and Coach Choate have an awesome relationship."

He went on to say that he hopes to take an official visit to UDUB. There may be some Texans at UDUB's junior day this coming weekend but Johnson will not be there. Still, the Dawgs are in great shape here.

Houston, Illinois, Nevada, Washington, Texas Tech, UL-Monroe and Louisiana Tech are among the schools that have offered the three-star prospect.



Profile: Micheal Johnson

Hawaii's top ranked prospect is four-star offensive guard Michael Eletise and he will be visiting Washington on next Saturday. He will make the visit with linebacker Parker Higgins, one of his teammates. He attended Hawaii's junior day yesterday.

Of Washington Eletise told me:

"Love the Huskies a lot. They are a team that really focuses on integrity and teamwork. Those are important to me."

This post was edited on 4/12 4:14 AM by JRowland

Profile: Michael Eletise

According to West region analyst Blair Angulo the Huskies will play host to an unofficial visitor on Monday --- that'd be three-star Tigard, Oreg., offensive lineman Conner Crist, who will also visit Boise State in the near future.

We've reported on Crist before. From his profile you can access our writeup w/ quotes from his experience at Washington's junior day earlier this year.

Profile: Conner Crist

Washington has offered junior quarterback Dillon Sterling-Cole. That's obviously big news given Matt Fink apparently slipping away. The Huskies are far from the first to offer the Houston, Tex., signal caller.

Hudl video: Dillon Sterling Cole

Profile: Dillon Sterling-Cole

Expected to visit Washington on Tuesday. The Huskies are in his top six.

Story

Richland linebacker Lakota Wills may be one of the more underappreciated players in the state. He said this weekend that he had an amazing 71 tackles for loss and 129 tackles total as a junior at Richland. He attended a Washington junior day not too long ago.

Wills' father, Jerrell Wills, actually walked on with Washington's football team when he was in college. Wills attended a UDUB junior day earlier this year and the Huskies also invited him to all of their home games last year; he attended two.

"I really like the coaches up there," Wills told TDR over the weekend. "The coaches are super nice. I loved all their facilities. The field's nice, I like the surrounding area and I used to live in the Seattle area."

He also said the possibility of following his dad's course to Montlake would be cool. Washington, Boise State and Oregon State are his top three choices. Air Force recently gave him his first offer.

TE Jacob Kizer was offered by Washington & visited recently. No favorites, at least vocally, but it's clear UDUB's on his mind.

"Definitely looking at it"

According to this update from Adam Gorney the Huskies lead for safety Keyon Riley.

Washington leads

I spoke with Salt Lake City (Utah) Brighton four-star inside linebacker Sione Heimuli-Lund last night. He's only a sophomore (2017) but he's one of a few sophomores with an elite ranking now that Rivals.com is handing out those rankings earlier than ever.

Washington is one of five schools to offer him thus far and Kwiatkowski has spoken with Heimuli-Lund a couple of times. There's no set visit date at this point but UDUB is indeed a school he will be visiting. First he visits Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Tulsa; then Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State.

Washington could be sometime in the summer. There's some interest there but there's a long way to go and there will be dozens of schools involved.

Profile: Sione Heimuli-Lund

Yesterday we took a look at what positions the Huskies will target -- by spot and by number, roughly -- on the offensive side of the ball. Today we'll flip our focus to defense.

The front seven on defense is obviously getting a major facelift going into the '15 season, but you don't address this year's depth chart turnover with this year's recruiting class. Ideally you start doing that two years in advance. So it's not as simple as looking at who's going to the draft or who's eligibility is exhausted from the previous year. You've got to look at who the redshirt sophomores and juniors are, as opposed to even just the seniors.

It's also helpful to look at who Washington has signed in recent years. Positions addressed adequately in last year's haul obviously take on less significance than positions where there were some swings and misses.

Let's start with the commitments: Brandon Wellington and Taylor Rapp. Rapp's a defensive back all the way so that's one less spot for the secondary. Wellington's an athlete but very likely will be slotted as a defensive player, and more than likely a linebacker. Given the work Washington did at the linebacker position in the last class that position is a little less of a pressing need than some other spots.

Myles Rice is greyshirting from the last recruiting class so he will probably count against the numbers in the '16 cycle. Keep that in mind. He's a weakside DE/hybrid edge rusher.

But it's still probably a safe bet to assume Washington would take a couple of defensive ends if they're able to find two that they like. So far they have only offered eight defensive end prospects, which isn't as many as some other schools -- but they're also more prone to be selective with offer than some other programs. Not as selective as, say, Oregon -- but selective nonetheless.

At linebacker I'm sure they want the best available -- the best one they can find -- but I do not think the numbers will be significant this year. Between the inside and outside 'backers in the '16 class UDUB has only offered eight players that remain uncommitted. Let's assume to be cautious that Washington takes two more linebackers although if that's where Wellington plays then one more might suffice.

Washington's young secondary will be getting older and you want to start address depth down the road this year. It's not pressing for the immediate future but the Dawgs will want a healthy corps of DB's this year. Taylor Rapp is one safety and we think they will take another. At cornerback we'd expect Washington to sign two players, give or take one as the number crunch becomes more clear.

So in summary it looks like Washington would love a couple of defensive ends, at least one defensive tackle, a couple of linebackers -- possibly in addition to Wellington -- and upwards of three more defensive backs even after Rapp.

TDR will here take a look at positions of need in the Class of 2016 based upon what we're hearing on the ground from people in the know but also from plenty of evidence that's available.

At quarterback, expect them to take one. Matt Fink is someone they'd still consider a headliner and they even believe he's better than his ranking but they aren't putting all their eggs into one basket.

Over at running back I'd expect them to take an all-purpose back as well as a more conventional running back.

At receiver you're usually looking to take at least 2-3. I think this year they're a little flexible with the numbers but it will be a full group. There are so many top targets, that means there are several "takes" that would be takes at any time so really they're just hoping for a monster class here at the very least by quality and hopefully quantity too.

On the offensive line we do not expect a huge haul. That's in line with what we're hearing and the fact that Washington simply has not extended nearly as many offers to offensive linemen - tackles or guards - as most of the nation's other programs. They're being very selective here with no line commits to this point.

Expect them to take another tight end. It could be a conventional tight end with the more hybrid-type Michael Neal from the last class, or it could be a hybrid and a conventional tight end. They will have to hit the reset button as most of their tight end targets have committed to other schools.

From time to time we're going to start taking a broad overview look at some of the biggest story lines for Washington football, basketball and occasionally baseball. These will amount to talking points backed up by substance that give us a big picture look at some interesting trends or developments.

1. Quarterback in the 2016 class?

You got K.J. C-S. Then there was Jake Browning last year. Throw in Miles' uncertainty and your guess is as good as anyone's --- is quarterback a big need, a need, or less of a need in the Class of 2016?

There isn't quite the quarterback talent in the West in '16 that there was last year, when it was just a matter of what big-time signal-caller was going to end up where. With no "proven" commodity behind center at the most important position in the sport, Chris Petersen's success at Washington is largely riding on unknowns, but some unknowns that have potential.

Matt Fink is absolutely someone the staff wants badly but he's made it clear that he would prefer to stay closer to home. That's a precarious situation for the staff. Even if he were to commit, a late offer from UCLA, USC or even someone else could throw things off and cause a problem later in the process.

Washington could cut bait and run with someone else, which doesn't seem likely. They're in love with Fink and for now they're in good shape. If they don't get him I'm expecting them to still find someone else. But the situation is very much up in the air at this point.

2. Forget about Eason ... at this point.

Another oft-mentioned topic is five-star No. 1 phenom Jacob Eason. I'm told that he is not reconsidering his Georgia pledge at all.

There is more of a precedent now than there was just a few years ago for elite QB's to reconsider. TTU has lost top-tier QB's two classes in a row. Tennessee just lost one a little while ago. It's happening.

But Eason picked Georgia as a business decision. He wasn't thinking entirely with his heart. He sees Mark Richt and that offense (and offensive line... and skill players) as the best decision for someone with NFL aspirations, especially with his particular skill set.

Washington could make things interesting if they turn it around and have a season nobody expects, but there would probably have to be a significant shakeup in Athens and we don't anticipate that happening.

3. Romar's future?

This has been discussed ad nauseam everywhere you look in the Washington market, but what does Lorenzo Romar have to do? Is next year make or break? The loud, minority opinion that his time should be up was shouted down from the rooftops by some of his more powerful supporters and perhaps even the normally silent majority.

But the point remains --- coaches at Power Five programs that miss the NCAAT year after year do not retain their jobs for extended periods of time. Romar built up a lot of goodwill at Washington and I think his 2015 recruiting effort is good enough for people to have some hope going into next year.

But does he have to make the NCAAT next year? I don't think so. That will be controversial to some that are fed up, but I really get the impression he gets a pass from his job performance evaluators for this season. The season was moving in the wrong direction before the Upshaw stuff, but I think he gets a very brief blank slate next year to assimilate a lot of new pieces into the program. If he doesn't make the Big Dance in '15-16, then the following year will be win or go home.

4. Is '15 a game-changing class?

So that brings us to No. 4. Is Romar's incoming class actually a "game changer"?

Well, that depends.

If you're expecting the Class of 2015 to come in and restore the Huskies to prominence in their first year with the program you will probably be upset. There will be some significant turnover and the makeup of the team and style will be different going into next year. Washington has several Rivals150 level talents, but no five-star talents. Generally the latter are the kinds of players that you believe could be game changers.

If you amass enough four-star players, history shows, one or two will likely exceed expectations significantly and become go-to guys. "Why wasn't he a five-star?" That kind of thinking will set in. We do expect that. We don't know who but we've done our scouting reports that you can find on those players' profiles and that will give you an idea of where we're at.

The '15 class' impact will primarily hit in the '16-17 year and beyond. Year One will be a learning curve, about learning roles, transitioning to a new level of basketball. So temper expectations this year. Romar probably doesn't want to hear that and if that's how it plays out then it could make for a hot seat the following season.

5. Heck, we'll take a stab. Dejounte Murray has the chance to surprise.

If you want our pick for surprise newcomer of the season in '15-16, look to Murray.

Fresh off a senior season with 25 points per outing and Gatorade POY honors in the state, Murray's got all the tools to come in and take the Pac-12 by storm. In fact, we think he may be one of the most underappreciated players Romar will have signed during his entire time at UDUB. Some of that is our opinion; some is that he's simply expanded his game significantly this year.

Murray can fill it up in a variety of ways, plays with supreme confidence, and is a player that just wills the ball into the basket. That knack for scoring will be badly-needed for a Washington team looking for more scoring options next year and should have plenty of scoring opportunities.

Late last week TheDawgReport.com gave you a big picture look at Washington's top four-star targets. We believe everything there remains accurate.

But to play off that we'll take it a little more in-depth.

What's the realistic best-case scenario for the Huskies? Based on where things stand today?

Here that is:

QB Matt Fink
RB Sean McGrew
RB Vavae Malepeai
WR N'Keal Harry/Javon McKinley
WR Steffon McKnight
WR Darian Franklin
TE Devin Asiasi
OL Luke Wattenberg/Michael Alves
OL Toleafoa Auwae
OL Michael Eletise/other
DE Amandre' Williams
DE Kevin Meitzenheimer
LB Camilo Eifler
LB Brandon Wellington
DB Taylor Rapp
DB Isaiah Gilchrist
DB Lamar Winston
ATH David Long

Those numbers might not necessarily fill out the class and there's a lot of uncertainty even if you're striving only for a blind, mildly accurate prediction. But Washington is at or near the top of all of those players' lists and something like the above would clearly be one of the best classes in the program's modern history. Key will be getting a few commitments in April/May to jump start things even more going into the summer.

Washington has two commitments from the Class of 2016 -- four-star Brandon Wellington, a versatile and talented athlete, and three-star safety Taylor Rapp. It should be noted that although he's a three-star, Rapp had offers like that of a four-star recruit in many instances. So it's about taste, but Oregon, Stanford, etc., are pretty high on the kid. You can read our scouting report on him yesterday and can easily surmise we're high on him, too.

So you're probably wondering -- Just how good can this class be? Well, that's going to be determined by how Washington fares with their other four star targets. Because, really, the difference between a good class and a great class is the number of four-star players a school gets. That's the main difference-maker in the rankings, all things considered.

Here we're breaking down every four-star that Washington has a legit shot with. Yep. Every single one.

Unfortunately, the nation's top-ranked player (Jacob Eason) is in UDUB's backyard but won't be a part of the Dawgs' signing class. He's solid with Mark Richt's program and is helping recruit on their behalf. Tough to imagine him flipping.

Let's also note that players like Matt Fink and others could easily be bumped to four-star status. Fink has already risen significantly, from a 5.5 Rivals Rating to a 5.7, just on the cusp of a four-star ranking.

Melquise Stovall - Once it was Washington and Miami. That was probably too early, as talk. He doesn't have a super tight relationship with those school as some assumed. He's more 'in the know' re: UDUB than "the U" but recently USC and UCLA have emerged as significant players. He wants to be a receiver, of course. Washington will cater to his all-purpose desires. USC has talked more about running back. Stovall likes how UCLA sees him in their offense.
Outlook: Still in it, but UW has dipped a bit lately as others have stepped up.

Javon McKinley - The four-star receiver has five favorites: Washington, SC, Oregon, Stanford, Notre Dame. All have offered. McKinley is strong in the classroom and academics will be a big factor. He's been to Seattle (last year) and will likely return. He can't make the April 18 junior day. He also likes Washington's offense and believes it would prepare him for the NFL.
Outlook: Clear cut here. Top five.

Jack Jones - The four-star receiver has backed off his list of five favorites, conversely. That's good news for schools like USC and Washington, who were not originally included. He'll listen.
Outlook: Bit of a long shot but in the conversation.

Darian Franklin - Situation to watch closely: UCLA and Washington lead. UCLA is in strong with some other elite recruits (as is Washington) and he could see more of an opportunity to step up early and be "the guy" in Seattle.
Outlook: Washington has a truly great shot here.

Steffon McKnight - Yet another four-star receiver that's high on UDUB. Only in this case, Washington's the clear cut favorite, per a recent tweet from McKnight himself.
Outlook: Washington leads.

N'Keal Harry - This kid was phenomenal at recent camps and could really soar in the rankings, per Rivals.com's analysts themselves. Very high ceiling. USC, Texas A&M and Washington are his favorites. Unfortunately, he seems to like the more spread attacks at USC and A&M (note: MORE spread-- to a greater degree) than Washington, but he'll visit Montlake.
Outlook: Clear cut. Top three.

Michael Eletise - Hawaii's top-ranked prospect is a four-star offensive guard and the most we can say is he's likely to visit Washington in the near future - possibly in May.
Outlook: Ground to make up but in the mix.

Michael Alves - The four-star OT has spoken highly of schools with strong academics so on the public school/bigger school side Washington rates highly in that regard. He's also considering schools across the country including smaller, private schools like Vandy and BC.
Outlook: One of several most in the mix.

Luke Wattenberg - Another four-star tackle, Wattenberg can just about have his pick. Washington's in there but so is Stanford and so is USC, among others. Washington's been recruiting him for more than half a year.
Outlook: Not at the very top. Somewhere in the middle.

Byron Murphy - The Rivals100 safety includes Washington in his no order top five along with FSU, A&M, USC and UCLA. That's a tough field but at least the Huskies are in the conversation.
Outlook: Top five but tough competition.

Camilo Eifler - Here's a player that has liked Washington right from the start. Now that a lot of time has passed his stock has really soared and there are many more schools involved, like Michigan, UCLA and a bunch of others. But we think Washington's actually in pretty good shape here.
Outlook: Washington is probably on his very short list.

Isaiah Gilchrist - There's no doubt, and there hasn't been for some time, that Gilchrist is one of UDUB's top recruiting priorities. Keeping him close to home is a personal matter for the Huskies' staff. He has gone quiet for a long time so it's tough to get a read on him, as it is with some other Bellevue recruits. His teammate Isaac Garcia is committed to USC and he claims a USC offer, too. Washington did not offer Garcia and is not recruiting him now, either.
Outlook: Favorable for Washington. We like their chances.

Chase Lucas - This is a kid that has spoken highly of Washington in the past. The four-star DB recently was abuzz after visiting UCLA. He loves their coaching staff. That's a theme to watch going forward but he didn't commit so that's great.
Outlook: Ground to make up.

Lamar Winston - Could Washington go into Oregon and snag one of the state's top players away from the Ducks? It's possible. Winston has been around Washington a lot. He's got serious family ties to the school and the state. He's visited the football program and even recently. There are those who believe the more recent Oregon offer was a game changer. They're making the case that he's one of their most important in-state recruits in years. Washington has a lot of built-in advantages that will at the very least keep them on the very, very short list throughout.
Outlook: Team to beat?

Curtis Robinson - USC has made a big impact on Robinson since they offered, especially of late. On the other hand, his mother is a professor at UCLA. The deck is stacked against the Huskies a bit here.
Outlook: Long shot.

David Long - Here's a great opportunity for Washington to dip into Los Angeles and steal a great player. Long has visited UDUB before and he'll visit again. He could visit this spring or (more likely) this summer and when he returns he's bringing his parents.
Outlook: Front runner but a lot can change.

No, not the basketball version.

Monday will see several Washington targets announce their decisions.

Four-star linebacker Lokeni Toailoa has Washington counted among his seven favorites but it's widely expected that he will choose UCLA.

Damian Alloway announces Monday and the safe money is on the Bruins for him, too.

The one that might sting the most, should he also pick UCLA, would be Demetric Felton. There was some positive chatter about UDUB's chances there but more recently common thinking in both Seattle and L.A. seems to be that Jim Mora's program is ahead of the curve there.

If you're scoring from home that would be 0-for-3, but it wouldn't be a big body blow. UW was not "expected" to land any of those guys and almost all of the elite players they're "expected" to really contend with are still on the board. And that mid-April junior day should give the program a substantial boost.

This may have passed through your gaze before but Hawaii's top-ranked prospect, Michael Eletise, will visit Washington probably sometime in May. I do not think he will be at the junior day mid-to-late April but he will visit UDUB. He's nation's No. 13-ranked offensive guard.

Profile: Michael Eletise

Anselem Umeh does not have an offer from Washington but he's a highly-rated three-star prospect who will visit next month so he's worth a very close look. Here he previews his upcoming visit.

Umeh Previews Visit

Just read Rivals250 all-purpose back Sean McGrew's comments and it's clear where he's leaning. We'll know how it will play out in a month or slightly more.

Commitment Watch?

This is not coming from someone close to the kid, rather, from a source close to UDUB. The feel was, during BYU commit Hirkley Latu's visit to Washington, that an offer would go a long way towards flipping him. Washington's got the potential for a huge class and could get several commitments in the April-June time period. Things can domino quickly so they're playing a few situations -- this one included -- carefully and making sure they've got their recruiting board in order.

But it's worth noting that I'm told the kid was blown away on his visit and absolutely loves Washington. Personally, I think they could get him rather quickly with an offer, but it's a matter of whether they decide it's time to move on him.

Hurting his chances? Taylor Rapp's commitment. That's one less available safety spot.

Profile: Hirkley Latu

For the weekend of April 17-19.....

Four-star RB Sean McGrew
Three-star DB Mykal Tolliver
Three-star ATH Anselem Umeh

Three-star safety Taylor Rapp of Bellingham (Wash.) decided to stay close to home, committing to the Huskies while on campus Friday... He discusses his choice here:

https://www.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1746436&PT=4&PR=2

Covington (Wash.) Tahoma three-star defensive end Amandre' Williams tells me he's visiting Washington on Friday. He was the DL MVP at the Rivals Camp in Las Vegas last month...

There's enough out there to go on this. If USC offers, Matt Fink goes there. If UCLA offers, very likely he goes there (absent the USC offer). Of his current offers Washington might hold the lead because it's, in his mind, his best west coast offer. He wants to be close to home.

On June 7 Washington will host Greg Johnson and Joseph Lewis for unofficial visits. The 2017 recruits from California were recently offered by USC. They had previously been offered by Washington, UCLA and many others. Big-time kids. Their coach, Malik James, told me they're wide open and just as interested in UW as USC and UCLA.

Spoke with Los Angeles (Calif.) Loyola athlete David Long and he told me Washington is one of the schools still recruiting him the hardest. Oregon would be on that list, too, although the Ducks have not offered. Michigan, UCLA and Duke are the other main schools talking to him on a regular basis.

Long's last unofficial visit was to USC more than a month ago for junior day but the USC coaching staff hasn't hinted they will offer yet. This is a kid that has spoken very highly of the Huskies in the past.

Profile: David Long