Dawgman Radio: A Washington Huskies athletics podcast

Even though they aren't covering camp with us anymore, the Dawgman Interns Emeriti are still connected to their alma mater and continue to pay attention to Washington Football.

Luke Mounger and Jack McCauley got together via the magic of the internet this past weekend to provide their insight as the Huskies finish up the first four practices of fall camp.

To start, they talk about what they're going to be looking forward to, new head coach Kalen DeBoer and his staff instilling a new culture at UW, and new Strength and Conditioning Coach Ron McKeefery getting the team ready for a big season ahead.

Then they dig into three specific position battles, going with spots that may not be as highly covered as the one at quarterback. They start with the running backs, and then after a quick break, Luke and Jack move to the defensive side of the ball with a look at the inside linebackers, focusing on new transfers Cam Bright and Kris Moll, as well as Alphonzo Tuputala, Daniel Heimuli, Carson Bruener, and Demario King.

Talking about one more position battle, Luke and Jack talk offensive line, specifically the positions outside of left tackle. Jaxson Kirkland, provided he remains healthy, will be Washington's left tackle, but are there any other positions that are on lock? Jack has a couple of more players he feels should be 'locks' for Scott Huff's offensive line heading into the season.

After one last break, the guys each pick one player on each side of the ball that they are excited to pay attention to. Jack picks Bralen Trice on defense and Luke picks Ulumoo Ale as his player on defense to watch. On offense it's Giles Jackson for Jack and for Luke it's Quentin Moore.

Next, they each pick newcomers they are excited to watch. For Jack, it's former UC Davis cornerback Jordan Perryman. For Luke, it's freshman EDGE player Lance Holtzclaw.

Jack also gives a shout out to the Parker brothers, defensive tackles Armon and Jayvon. Could one of them, or both, get some playing time this fall?

Luke gives some love to juco linebacker Demario King. Luke is excited to see what he can bring to the table this year.

The Washington Huskies never went through back-to-back practices during the spring, so it was understandable to see some guys starting to struggle just a little bit after the end of their fourth-straight practice, under beautiful Seattle summer skies on Sunday as the Blue Angels flew overhead.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, Scott Eklund, and former intern Jack McCauley - got together after the practice to rehash what UW Head Coach Kalen DeBoer talked about after practice, as well as how certain players and positions stood out.

DeBoer singled out Giles Jackson on offense and Davon Banks on defense as guys that have stood out to him, but there was also a lot of talk between the guys on what the offense didn't do well on Sunday, and that's catch the ball. Almost every skill position group on offense suffered from the drops, and that really hurt the offense's chance to take advantage of some plays where they could have really gashed the defense.

After a quick break, the crew talks about the EDGE group, another position group DeBoer has been highly impressed with so far this fall. They also talk a little bit more about the quarterback battle. Did Sunday's practice move the needle in terms of anyone taking a step forward or back? They also talk about a couple of other defensive backs that have impressed them, namely Jordan Perryman and Dominique Hampton.

After the final break, the guys provide their final thoughts before Monday's day off, as well as Jack gets a chance to preview a podcast he recorded with Intern Emeritus Luke Mounger a few days ago where they give their thoughts on what they want to see during fall camp.

Washington Head Coach Kalen DeBoer met with the media Sunday after Day Four of Fall Camp, and here's what he had to say to the questions he was asked. It's been a whirlwind first four days, with the coaches and players pushing through as they continue to get into game shape.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds and Chris Fetters - broke down what they saw from a spirited Saturday practice at Husky Stadium, a Chamber of Commerce day where the coaches set the tone vocally and by the end the defense responded by making big plays. The guys on the defensive side included cornerback Jordan Perryman, DL Voi Tunuufi, LB Kris Moll and Daniel Heimuli, and EDGE players Bralen Trice, Zion Tupuola-Fetui, and Maurice Heims.

In the first part of the pod, the guys break down the quarterback battle and where it stands. Is the job Michael Penix's to lose? Each quarterback - Penix, Dylan Morris, and Sam Huard - have had a day where they have been the one to shine. Day One it was Penix, followed by Huard, and then today it was Dylan Morris. The sophomore had a number of strong plays, including strikes to Ja'Lynn Polk, Devin Culp and Jack Westover that showed Morris has everything physically it takes to handle the job.

But not one of the quarterbacks looked great during the final team period, the first one during fall camp with referees, chain gang, the whole thing. The defense shut them down every time. So is it a matter of Penix just maintaining a slender lead while all three continue to split reps? Or have Morris and Huard made gains on the former Indiana star?

After a quick break, Grinolds and Fetters break down what they saw from the receivers, running backs, and tight ends. And then they provide their final thoughts on another day bathed in beautiful Pacific Northwest sunshine.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, Scott Eklund, and intern Josh Wodka - recapped an interesting Day Two of Washington's fall training camp under sunny fall skies. Again without full pads - they won't do that for a couple more days - there was still a lot of reps being run when the team was split into two groups. The first and second teams stayed in Husky Stadium while the rest of the team went to the east field.

The talk starts with, as you would expect, the quarterbacks. What you might not expect is that it wasn't Michael Penix, Jr. who stood out. Sam Huard had arguably a better day, but wasn't without a miscue or two. We expect to see more of Dylan Morris Saturday as the coaches continue to cycle through the reps to make sure all three quarterbacks get an even share with the first team.

Talk then moved to the defensive backs, with specific mention to Jordan Perryman, Davon Banks, Asa Turner, and Dominique Hampton.

After a quick break, the crew finish up the podcast with thoughts gleaned from their conversations with the defensive coaches and players they spoke to, namely William Inge, Chuck Morrell, Alex Cook, Asa Turner, Elijah Jackson, Ulumoo Ale, Jordan Perryman, and Alphonzo Tuputala. And then each of us rounds out the pod with our thoughts on what we saw and some overall observations too.

In short, it's amazing having fall camp back the way it used to be, getting to watch a full practice and also a number of players and coaches face-to-face instead of through screens and on Zoom calls. It's something we never will take for granted again.

Washington's first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer met the media after Day One of UW's fall training camp, and there was a ton to talk about during the session that went well over 30 minutes. He talked about his excitement level, how the team hit the ground running from where they left things in April, and a ton of updates on individual players, as well as position battles.

It wasn't exactly clear skies and 90 degrees in Seattle today, but the heat was sufficiently turned on at Husky Stadium, where the Washington football team gathered for their first practice of fall camp.

The first practice is always the one that will generate the most hot takes and overreactions, and this year was no different. The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, Scott Eklund, and new intern Josh Wodka - put all their thoughts out there after watching the Huskies run around for a couple of hours and hearing UW Head Coach Kalen DeBoer break down the day and also take questions from the media.

Of course the discussion started around the quarterbacks and the battle between Michael Penix, Jr., Dylan Morris, and Sam Huard. At least one of the Dawgman guys thinks the job is already Penix's to lose, but will he stay around longer than a year if he gets done what he came to Seattle to do?

The talk then moved to two of the more interesting players out there on the offensive side of the ball, starting with receiver Giles Jackson. Jackson and Morris had some telepathy going on the field, as the former Michigan transfer was catching passes all over the field.

And the offensive coaches wasted no time in trying to get the new running backs up to speed. Wayne Taulapapa was the first running back out there, followed closely by Will Nixon. Nixon is listed as a running back/receiver on the official roster, but he played just running back today and looked the part.

After a quick break, the talk turned to the offensive line, and there was plenty to talk about with that group. Jaxson Kirkland is the biggest storyline, literally, while Roger Rosengarten got all the first-team reps at right tackle. Victor Curne has moved back out to right tackle, while Matteo Mele was the player getting reps behind center Corey Luciano, and Geirean Hatchett was back at right guard behind Henry Bainivalu.

So how much of that movement on the right side of the line was due to an improvement in Bainivalu's health? How much of it was recognizing Curne should be back outside? How much of it was determining Rosengarten was the one that really won the right tackle job out of spring instead of Mele?

As I said, it's easy to jump to conclusions and overreact after Day One, but a lot of questions still need to get answered when it comes to Washington's offensive line.

Switching lines, we talk about Ulumoo Ale's day, and not just inside at defensive tackle. He's also being used as the main guard in the shield on punt coverage, which is interesting. Before hitting another quick break, the guys talk about what they saw with the EDGE players and defensive backs, and whether or not they think ...

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - catch up after their summer breaks to recap all the UW-related comings and goings this past week. And there was a lot to talk about.

Kim traveled to Los Angeles last week for Pac-12 Media Day, and he opined on George Kliavkoff's comments toward the Big-12 and expansion. And just how tenuous is UCLA's move to the Big Ten? Could the UC system throw a wrench in the works? Just follow the money.

After a quick break, we talk more about Pac-12 Media Day, namely Kliavkoff's thoughts about NIL, pay-for-play, and what that means for the student-athletes participating in the non-revenue sports. We talk for a bit about UW's NIL program, namely the recent Dawg Derby.

After another break to play some bills, we talk about our own summers and what we did before getting geared up for fall camp, and then went down the schedule for the next few weeks. The media get six open practices and that's it.

We wrap things up with a recruiting update from Scott, including his take on Washington's newest commit, Kahlee Tafai, what that means for the offensive line moving forward, and the odds on picking up a commitment this week from Texas DB Jordan Sanford, who tweeted two weeks ago that he was going to announce his school choice this coming Thursday.

Scott also gives the latest update on UW WR commit Keith Reynolds, who unofficially visited Oregon and Oregon State this past weekend with his high school teammates. Is he putting his position as a committed player in jeopardy by taking this visits?

The full Q&A session between the media and first-year Washington Head Coach Kalen DeBoer during Pac-12 Media Day on Friday, July 29.

We're currently in the early stages of the summer 'dead period' on the recruiting trail. Coaches and recruits are on vacations for the next few weeks, so there isn't a lot of new news coming out on the recruiting front. However, with Washington's new focus on the midwest, we thought it was a good chance for us to catch up on things with 247 Midwest Recruiting Analyst Allen Trieu.

We rolled through several things during our chat, including how he eventually became a recruiting expert, his thoughts on current Husky freshmen Armon Parker and Jayvon Parker as well as recent commit Lincoln Kienholz, a quarterback from South Dakota, who some thought had enough athleticism to become a safety at the next level.

Trieu also shared his thoughts on two more targets in his region -- Minnesota DL Elinneus Davis and Nebraska wideout Beni Ngoyi -- and where he thinks they wind up. Could both become Huskies before the start of their senior seasons?