Making the grade: the 2007 football season at a glance

Quarterback:

The beginning of the Jake Locker era pretty much revealed what we already knew [HTML_REMOVED] he needs some work on his accuracy, but the kid can outrun anybody. In his first year on the field, Locker broke the Pac-10 record for rushing yards by a quarterback, and fell just shy of reaching 1,000 yards. Critics will say that his inability to connect on deep throws and his poor completion percentage hurt the offense, but the bottom line is this: If Jake Locker is on the field, the defense has to respect his running ability. He's only a redshirt freshman, and the accuracy will come (it helps that he has a cannon for an arm, too). His interception total was a bit high, and he definitely has some work to do on his touch and mechanics, but Locker was one of the reasons why the Huskies were in just about every game this year.

GRADE: B

Running backs:

For as much criticism as Louis Rankin received throughout his UW career [HTML_REMOVED] he turned in a hell of a season. Not a lot of people thought that Rankin would be the guy to break Washington's 1,000-yard rusher drought, but he really amped it up midway through the season, and will probably get a decent amount of serious NFL looks. Still, better defensive teams seemed to bottle him up completely, and the Huskies' inability to run the ball cost them dearly in early season losses to USC, Ohio State and UCLA. Don't forget that Brandon Johnson put up some decent numbers in mop-up duty as well. A positive season for this unit, to be sure.

GRADE: B+

Receivers/tight ends:

It's hard to have eye-popping numbers as a receiver when you play in a run-heavy offense, but you can still do the little things. Unfortunately, those little things didn't get done very often. A critical fumble against Washington State and a dropped pass against Hawaii come to mind. This was supposed to be the strength of the offense this season, but these guys just didn't step up when it was needed [HTML_REMOVED] which is especially frustrating when you consider that five of the UW's receivers are seniors (most of them in their fifth year in the program). Anthony Russo and Marcel Reece put up some decent numbers, but nobody seemed to turn in that big play in crunch time. It was kind of a disappointing season for this experienced group.

GRADE: C

Offensive line:

Early on in the season, it seemed like Jake Locker was running for his life a lot more than he should have been [HTML_REMOVED] but this group progressed steadily as the year wore on. Juan Garcia and Ryan Tolar spearheaded the progression, bringing a nasty, mean attitude to a unit that had been missing that passion for so long. For their efforts, they nearly produced two, 1,000-yard rushers. UW opponents recorded 24 sacks [HTML_REMOVED] just under two per game. That's not a bad season by any stretch, but early season troubles kept this grade from being higher.

GRADE: B

Front seven:

A very, very troubling season for the defensive line and linebackers. The numbers are staggering [HTML_REMOVED] the UW allowed 11 backs to rush for 100 yards, including three games in which two separate running backs accomplished the feat (UCLA, USC and Oregon). Washington finished the season with the worst run defense in the Pac-10, and set a school record by allowing 465 yards on the ground to Oregon. Statistically, this was the Huskies' worst defensive season in school history. An early season shutdown of Syracuse saves this group from failing.

GRADE: D-

Secondary:

The youth of this group really showed this season. Soft coverage and a lack of speed allowed Arizona, Washington State and Hawaii to pick the UW secondary apart. The Huskies finished ninth in the conference in pass defense, which is startling considering how much opponents ran the ball early in the season. The Huskies appeared to apply a bend-but-don't-break strategy to some degree of success, but in crunch time, this group just never could make a play [HTML_REMOVED] a dropped interception against USC, an inexplicable communication error against WSU and a complete inability to defend the passing offense against Hawaii all made the difference between winning and losing. I hope this unit progresses with age.

GRADE: D

Special teams:

Kickoff coverage was awful for most of the year, though it did get slightly better in the last three games. Jared Ballman did a solid job punting the football, and Anthony Russo turned out to be one of the better punt returners in the Pac-10. Ryan Perkins proved to be a fairly reliable option as a field goal kicker, making good on 15 of his 20 attempts this season. The Huskies definitely did some things better this year, but the kickoff coverage was bad enough to bring this grade down considerably.

GRADE: C-

Coaching:

If you don't have top-notch talent, it makes it hard to win football games. Sure, the Huskies may not have enough "bullets," and they did play the nation's toughest schedule, but they were in every single one of these games at halftime. How do you account for the myriad second half meltdowns? Why do the coaches' defensive adjustments never work? Kent Baer seemed completely unwilling to change anything scheme-wise on defense, and opponents benefited greatly from that. Removing Tyrone Willingham would be a catastrophic mistake at this point, but Husky fans are beyond tired of losing. If Willingham wants to be at Washington for any extended period of time, he needs to take a long, hard look at whether or not his assistants are putting the players in the best position to win. Time is running out for this staff, and this season only sped up the hour glass.

GRADE: C-

[Reach reporter Christian Caple at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.]