Can Washington's Defensive Line STEP UP And DOMINATE In 2026?

0:00It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This is Nick Gangsta with the Lockdown Mavericks Podcast. This message is a paid partnership with AppleCard. I love that I can run up to 3% daily cash back on every purchase of my AppleCard, which can be automatically sent to my high yield savings account through AppleCard right in the wallet app. With my iPhone, I can use AppleCard with ApplePay basically everywhere I go. You can apply for AppleCard too, right in the wallet app on your iPhone. Subject to credit approval, savings is available to AppleCard owners, subject to eligibility, savings in AppleCard by Goldman Sachsbank, USA Salt Lake City Branch member FDIC, terms and more at AppleCard.com. I'm Joey Erickson of Lockdown Stars. In business, there's no room for guesswork. Every shipment matters, every deadline counts. When you're trying to keep operations running smoothly, the last thing you need is uncertainty. That's why reliability is at the core of USPS Ground Advantage. Each package moves through a secure nationwide network tracked from dock to door with affordable upfront pricing. A delivery you can depend on because knowing your logistics are handled lets you focus

1:03on everything else. Visit usps.com slash Ground Advantage to start shipping with confidence. USPS Ground Advantage, we mean business. It's no secret, Washington's defensive line has a ton to prove in 2026. You are locked on Huskies, your daily podcast on the Washington Huskies, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back into another edition of the Lockdown Huskies Podcast. I'm Roman Thomas-Shoff. I'm the site editor with HuskiesWire, that gentleman right there, that's Nick Lemcow. He's with last word on college sports. Thank you for making this your first watch or first listen to the days we are part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. The number one sports podcast network in today's episode is brought to my Fandall. Fandall is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a college basketball parlay profit boost head to Fandall.com to get started. Just a quick reminder to all you every day is out there wherever you get in this podcast,

2:05YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, wherever that might be, please make sure click that subscribe button. Click that little bell as well. You should never miss any post new show plus you're in the audio only sad things. Please make sure to leave us a five star review as it does up the show and a lot. Now Nick, we got a great show coming out. We got all our everydayers out there where we're going to spend some time talking about word to mod Williams ranks among the nation's top quarterbacks, the big tennis top quarterbacks, and more specifically what he needs to do to improve. But before we get there, there are a whole bunch of positions that have a lot to prove for Washington 2026. We're going to single some out later. But the one that we agreed on is like, hey, and you know, it's no secret, right? That needs to be talked about is Washington's defensive line needs to take a massive step forward in 2026. Absolutely. Just one returning starter. Elenias Davis played in all 13 games, started 10 of them. But outside of that, this is a group that really has a lot to prove. I mean, you look at big 10 defensive lines. You want to have a lot of experience. You want to have guys that kind of know what they're doing, specifically size up front. And I think that that's an area where this team really has a lot to prove last year.

3:06I think they took in some transfers like Ontario Thompson, you know, Taita, you were young to LA. Those guys really stepped up in year one. And they did their jobs. They filled their assignments. And I thought it was a pretty decent run defense in general and defensive line overall. But I think the run defense ranked third in the big 10 last year. So they performed well, but you lose a lot of that production, really a lot of question marks up front this year. We got to see what some of these transfers look like when spring practice gets going. Yeah. And that's the biggest thing, right? Because you're right. It was third in the big 10 12th nationally with 100.08 yards per game allowed on the ground last season. But you need to make up a lot of that obviously. You need to make a lot of in the pass rush as well, where you recorded 24 sacks, which is 12th, the big 10. And if you want to take that step for where jetfish has been talking a lot about the college football playoff and getting back to that, that's not enough. You need to do more in that department to take that step forward. And as you mentioned, you are going to need to see a lot from these transfers. Let's start on the interior because you highlight Olympus Davis. We've highlighted some of these other, you know, returners and, you know, newcomers in the room, like from the high school ranks, whether it be Omar Khan, who'd be an interesting

4:09guy to step up this season. T.I. Mukai is another one that I'm really intrigued by, who I think could make a big impact as a true freshman. But on top of that, this room is going to rely very, very heavily on these transfer bodies, whether it be Darren Connelly from Ball State, Dishon Watts from Sacramento State and Kyme Clenden from Mississippi State, I must combine their two names there in my head real fast. But I look at that trio, guys, plus Logan George, the outside linebacker transfer from Ohio State, who could also play a little bit for you on the interior. Washington is asking a lot of those guys and they seem very comfortable doing that at this point in time. Yeah, well, we saw, like, think about Dishon Lynch from a couple of years ago coming over from Sacramento State. He, same transfer spot, elevates at the edge spot, but now you have Dishon Watts coming on the interior, a guy who played junior college football prior to Sacramento State, really played well there, transfers up to Sac State for a year and becomes the top run defender among defensive linemen in the FCS last season. So that's significant.

5:10You're seeing that he's able to take that step from level of competition up to the FCS. Can you do it again into the power for conference? I think he can. I've labeled him as kind of a plug and play guy for that reason going into spring practice. He's someone that I want to see kind of be inserted into that defensive line and really take that initial step forward. But it's not just him. I think like you mentioned Darren Connelly and Kyme Clenden, those are two guys that can be versatile on the inside Darren Connelly, six, three, two, eighty, five. I think he's a little more versatile. He played a lot of defensive tackle at Ball State, 12 starts in 2025, played in all the games in 2024, 850 defensive snaps at defensive tackle. So he brings a lot of FBS experience to the position and that's important too. And then Kyme Clenden, a little bigger, three, fifteen, he didn't play last year because of the ACL injury. So, you know, he's got to come from what he did in 2024, five starts, played in all 12 games. So pretty solid at Mississippi State two years ago, but we're going to need to see what he can do coming off an injury in that defensive line rotation.

6:11I think it's a good group. We just have to kind of wait and see to how they, how they kind of work themselves out this spring. So I really like where he goes with that because the one guy who I really wanted to highlight from this group is Dishon Watts, where this is a guy that Washington identified really early, got him on campus right away and it's just, you know, I say all that to make it very clear that this was a guy who was one of their top targets at the position in the transfer portal. And I think that he's one of those high floor players where you look at him at whatever six foot two, three hundred and eighteen pounds, whatever it is he might be up to now that he's in Washington strength and conditioning program as a high floor one defender kind of guy. And then if you can unlock something with that size and that strength as a past pressure, that's great. But he's somebody who you can plug in at a couple of different spots along the defensive line. I'm curious to see how much they might want him to play like a true no spot versus just a couple other positions along the interior. But that's a guy where you know what you're going to be getting from a player like that assuming that he can make that jump physicality wise from the FCS to the FBS. But I wanted to move around this outside linebacker room because the like there's obviously

7:16some experience we talked about Logan George who didn't play a whole lot at Ohio State last year because of an injury but was really productive at Idaho State the year before that we know where we're getting from Jacob Lane. We've seen that Russell Davis and Isaiah Warner, a couple of guys who certainly have high ceilings but have been injured. So we haven't gotten to see just the full complement of skill sets from either of them. But I look at Derek Coleman, Bruce as somebody who can change everything in this defensive line room because at whatever he might be up to now 280, 285 pounds, he's not only somebody who can give you that flexibility to the inside, but you look at his tape from his senior year high school, the size, the speed, the strength, the athleticism, everything he brings to the table is what you need from a guy who, you know, has some big expectations coming into this program as a top 150 recruit and just big time prospect who I don't want to say is going to be a chewing day one starter because that's unfair. But that seems to be the path that Washington is trying their best to put him on and is

8:17going to give him every avenue to take as he, what are we doing? I don't know. Guess what? Yeah, my cat just decides that no, get out of here. That's crazy. That's crazy. All our audio listeners need to miss a good one, too beside the things. That's crazy. But yeah, no, that's somebody who, you know, has the quickest of a cat, if you will, just to throw that in there. And is somebody that Washington wants to find a way to get on the field early and often this year? And if he can, I mean, think about what that does to open up the edge position. I mean, you're obviously, if Jacob Lang coming back, you mentioned we know what he can be. I think he led the team in quarterback pressures along with Zach Derpy last season. So we know what he's going to be in terms of a leader at the position. If you can have a young player like that step up right away at six foot five, very physical player on the outside, that's key and it kind of opens up more rotational opportunities. And again, with, with health, I mean, we've seen health at the edge spot, affected the defensive front over the last couple of years. So you want to have as many guys available as you can during spring and kind of see where

9:20they can level up. And that's another, you know, Devon Hyde, we talked about on a previous show at that edge spot. Can he rotate in and become a player on the end that can make an impact in the spring as well? It's just another name, another six foot five edge rusher that can really open up things, get in passing lanes, drop into zone windows. It can be a really solid room. And I think that'll complement that interior. The interior can do their job, hat on a hat. I think that opens up pressure on the outside, linebackers can fill, you know, their gaps and play the ball more when you have those more hat on a hat, kind of matchups along the defensive line. I think it really opens things up for this group. No, absolutely. I'm ashamed of myself for not mentioning Devon Hyde because this coaching staff very clearly has such high hopes for him coming into the season. That's just another guy where, you know, talk about Derek Holman-Brusa as somebody this coaching staff wants to get in the rotation for every single game. We saw that from Devon Hyde last season, whether it be on special teams or as part of this defensive line rotation. So that's just another guy where, you know, you talk about the size and the length and

10:20all those things he brings to the table. He was another one where coming out of high school, he showed to have such a high floor because of his background as not just somebody who understands how to defend the run, but his background is a rugby player too. And if you can find ways to tap into that technique and get him to just get after the quarterback a little bit more at the college level, he was absolutely somebody who could turn into a productive player for you at that level. And while there's a whole lot that we want to see from the defensive line, it's not the only position that Washington needs to see a lot more of from in 2026. Right after message from our good friends over at Robin Hood, what of sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood prediction markets. It's not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long, use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter Robin Hood prediction markets changes the game. It's people move in the action. So in the moment of shifts, you can move with it. I always knew the game, but never had a dynamic way to apply that knowledge.

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12:25com slash local to find a store near you and book your appointment today. And just quick matter to all you every day is out there. If you've been thinking about joining the everyday club now is the time again, you get ad free access to locked on Huskies and access to our group chat on discord as well. And if you're signed up before the NCAA tournament tips off, you can get into our everyday or club bracket pool on discord for a chance to win locked on March. It's going to be a blast right now. You can use code March to get your first month free, head to locked on Huskies that supercast.com or tap the link in the show notes to learn more. So Nick, as we move right along here, we've each brought one position group to the table that we're looking at and saying, Hey, we need to see more out of these guys for one reason or another in 2026. Which one are you going with? Well, I think the outside cornerback position is one that has a lot to prove going into next season and not just because you lose two draft picks at six foot four really solid players last year for Washington. But because of what that group specifically in the past defense, what that group looked

13:29like last season, Washington ranked 11th in the big 10 in past defense. They give up 211 yards per game. They give up 36 passing plays of 20 or more yards on the season, which was fifth most in the conference. So passing wasn't, past defense wasn't the defense's strength. And I think that when you have some young players in that room and you bring in a manual currently, the transfer at six foot three from Virginia, I think they can, they have potential in the room. But we need to see how that all kind of comes together. I think there's a lot to prove. So I wanted to point out those two players in manual currently and then Dylan Robinson as well, who played some significant snaps for Washington's defense last season at six foot three, two, five. So you have two tall corners again, something that everyone's used to seeing at that corner position at Washington. And they both have experience, carnly played, you know, over a thousand snaps of college football in the last two seasons with 13 pass breakups, 42 tackles, very experienced. He's also familiar with the jetfish with jetfish as the head coach played for him at Arizona in 2023. And John. And John. And John Richardson. Yep.

14:29Exactly. So there's a lot of familiarity there and experience. So I think that really bodes well for that cornerback room. And then Dylan Robinson who started five games last season played in all 12. That's also really good. But he did. Okay. So Dylan Robinson allowed the most yards per reception last season among cornerbacks on the team, 13.9 yards per reception on 26 targets. So that's an area where where he'll look to improve, but he was a true freshman. He's got three years of eligibility in front of him. And I think that's really solid. He kind of knows what he was last year behind a couple of tall cornerbacks and he kind of fits that mold and now he kind of knows where he needs to improve going into that second year. And I think that's really solid. Despite having not played a ton compared to the other starters last season. He did get five starts. And he does kind of know where he needs to fit to become a full-time starter at that outside corner position. I think that's great. So I love really going with that, especially when you're talking about Dylan Robinson there, because I think one thing to note is, especially in that matchup with Oregon, they targeted him a lot. They really tried to pick on him at different points in that game where, you know, a veteran quarterback with some really talented receivers, where I know Jeremiah McCallum made a really

15:33nice catcher to downfield on Dylan Robinson. And those are the sorts of things that moving forward, you do have to keep in mind that, as you said, Nick, he is a true freshman. So those are things that moving forward. I want to see a little bit more of because one of the things in particular that I've talked about a lot on the show that I really like about what Dylan Robinson brings the table is that not only the size, but you mentioned with a manual, calmly a little bit as well, physicality, where he's not just somebody that is going to drop into coverage and can do a nice job for you against, you know, the bigger, stronger receivers, he's a really nice athlete, moves well in space. But he comes down hill and he hits with authority, like we saw it on the sack of Dante Moore in that same game. And if you want to run different corner blitzes and Simpressures with him, like we know Ryan Walters will get exotic with how he just uses his cornerbacks as pass rushers where, you know, Devon with a spoon in Illinois is a great example of how he like to do that. I think we can see a little bit more of that from Dylan Robinson as well, but just keeping in mind that he was a true freshman with all of this is very, very important.

16:35Exactly. And then trusting those corners, you kind of brought that up. What this defense tends to do when they stack the box five guys on the defensive line, you're putting a lot of trust in the cornerbacks. And that's something that if those cornerbacks are built for that is very effective. This can be a really good defense. We saw what Ryan Walters was able to do in that kind of situation at Illinois, one of the top defenses in the country. I think it was number two in 2022 or 2023, one of those years, really solid defenses. So that's certainly on the table here at Washington to kind of fine tune the skill sets of those cornerbacks. They're talented cornerbacks, but Ryan Walters ability to kind of fine tune that talent and create elite players. That's something that's certainly on the table. And then there's a couple of other names I wanted to quickly bring up at the quarterback position. There's two on the roster and then a 2026 guy who's just showing up. I think Ramon's Adams, I talked about him in the slot on a previous show. I think he could also play on the outside. He did play on the outside 24 snaps last season. So I mean, he certainly got that could project on the outside there.

17:36And then, you know, Roshan, Roshan Duncan coming in in the class of 26. He was a four star. I think he could certainly see himself getting in on the rotation. And then a name I don't want to forget about as we go into 2026 is Elias Johnson. He's six foot to 170 pounds. And one thing I want to point out about Elias Johnson was how I saw him improve last spring. I mean, we saw at the beginning of spring, he got beat a couple of times on some touchdown throws. Remember, O'Mari Evans cuts in those touchdowns on the near side that first day of spring practice. I think Elias Johnson was in coverage on a couple of those and he got beat. But you know what? Towards the end of spring, he really started to play better. And he had in the spring game and interception to open that spring game. He also had a pass break up and I also had him getting a pass break up in the mock game in the fall. I really saw him take those necessary steps to get a little bit better at that cornerback position. I think if he gets a little bigger, he's listed it six foot to 170. I think that's a player that you can't forget about in that cornerback room going into this year as a backup, maybe rotational guy. No, I love we're going with that. We're going to switch gears here a little bit though because I wanted to bring wide receivers to the table for this. And I feel like every single time you've been on the show, we've had to have some kind

18:39of discussion about the wide receivers because this is just a really fun room to think about where, you know, similar to why you brought up cornerbacks because you're losing a pair of NFL guys into cardio, Davis and Ephesians for Isaac. You're losing a first round pick in Denzel Boston. You're losing another guy who started 1112 games for you last season in Raiden Vinesbright as well. So you need to find ways to make up that production. And you know what you're getting from Desmond Roebuck as someone who proved to be really productive as a true freshman, he's going to play more in the slot this year. But what are you getting around him? And I wanted to just kind of go back and talk about some of these freshmen that are coming in because the one I really wanted to highlight that I am most curious about, I would say, is Trez Davis because I look at what he brings the table. I think he's a really explosive athlete as somebody who can move inside and out in just the same vein that Washington looks at a lot of these receivers where yeah, he can play in the Z forest, but he can also move down and play in the slot and give us that kind of production because he's somebody who can be really good just with the ball in his hands on drag routes and different things that we know this offense likes to run to get these

19:43good athletes that they're recruiting at the wide receiver position into space. And I think that if you're going to get that from whether it be him or Chris Lawson or Rashid Williams or whoever that Washington just, you know, through spring ball and in a fall camp, identifies as the guy who steps up at that position. There's so much to be had with all the guys that left the room, you know, obviously again, Denzel being the biggest piece by far, but I look at what this freshman class can do. And Chris Lawson and Rashid Williams, I don't doubt the talent that Washington has at wide receiver. The question is, A, can it stay healthy and B, who's going to step up? Well, there's a lot of guys that could step up. I mean, you bring up Chris Davis at six foot. I mean, he kind of fits into that mold with Chris Lawson at six one Rashid Williams is a six one, six two. So, you know, he kind of fits into that mold that this offense likes to get the football to and then you know, Desmond Robon could five, eleven. It's a smaller, kind of quicker, kind of versatile inside outside physical player that they like to get the football to a receiver. And we've seen that pay off, especially last year with the

20:45amount of times that true freshman were able to get significantly involved in the past game, not just showing up for a snap here and there. But I mean, Desmond Robock, second leading receiver, Raid and Vinesbury played in every game just about. And, you know, even though he transfers, it's a really good indication that this staff knows what they're looking for in receiver. It's something that I think that you shouldn't worry too much about going and getting a replacement, quote unquote, from the transfer portal for Denzel Boston. Well, I do think you need that kind of tall X guy on the outside to win those 50, 50 kind of downfield passing battles. I think that this staff knows what it wants at receiver and they have it. They have a lot of talented guys and that's really promising going into 2026 now, third year here for Jetfish. So, let's talk about the exposition for a minute because I wanted to highlight those true freshmen because we know that Jetfish wants to get them involved. As you said, but that doesn't mean that they're not going to try to utilize Christian Moss or they got out of the transfer portal from Kennesaw State. That doesn't mean they might might not try to find ways to get Bob Penn Miller involved after bringing him in from Ohio State, Justice Williams being another big piece on the outside

21:49as well, where it's very clear the talent in the room is there, but keeping it healthy and just finding out who's going to step up is going to be a very different story. And the reason I keep coming back to Justice Williams is you saw it as well as I did in spring practice in fall camp. He was someone who was able to win in a variety of ways. He is a strong route runner. He's a big strong kid as well. It's six foot four and 210 pounds. And as he continues to develop as long as he's able to stay on the field, like Nick, I'm not going to be shocked if he wins the starting job by the time the season rolls around because he does have that kind of upside. I certainly agree. I mean, we talked about this last spring. He was your guy to watch. We talked about that on the sideline. Remember Justice Williams, this is a guy who can really take that stuff forward. He was hindered by injury a little bit. So that hurt things. But I mean, he's got that physical body. He can make those physical catches down field. I remember him catching two passes. I think it was during either one of the mock games during the spring sideline passes really elevating above the corner back pretty well and keeping his feet in bounds and maintaining leverage

22:54and getting up field. He's aware. He's spatially aware of like his body size when he's going up to make those catches, which I think is really good. Having that body control. It's something that I asked Denzel Boston about after one of the games last season where he's able to kind of explain how the receivers practice going up and catching the ball and using their strong hands and being spatially aware. And that's something that you can see with Justice Williams. I certainly think he can elevate his game. Just got to stay healthy and be available. That's the biggest thing in the spring is availability. And the guy that going to be catching passes from is going to be one of the best quarterbacks in the nation this fall. And we'll get to that right after message from our good friends over at Fandole College Basketball is nonstop big games tight spreads momentum swings every single night from early tip-offs to late night West Coast shootouts. There's always action on the board. And now Fandole is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a college basketball parlay profit boost. You can build any college hoops parlay you want rivalry games, right matchups, whatever fits your read. You can express totals and player props

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24:59or on Amazon. And we've got a message from our good friends over at the Space Needle at your 4 p.m. The Space Needle's pint and a pie gives you the whole package entry. Us every or sweet tip top pie and a pint of beer, wine or not alcoholic drink, all for just 35 bucks per person. Minimum purchase of two required space needle is Seattle's most iconic destination, not just for the views, but for evening fun. Create a pregame story as iconic as the Space Needle itself. Look out over the city, look down at climate punch arena before you go inside, toast the home team, then roll into climate pledge with the best pregame story in Seattle. Well, in $35 per person, limited time offer, 21 plus only ID required to get tickets at space needle dot com. Minimum to required. So Nick, we've seen a couple of lists come out in recent days of where Dimon Williams ranks among whether it be the nation's top quarterbacks, according to ESPN's Bill Conley, who had him at number 20 or the big 10s top quarterbacks is CBS ranked the other day. I think they

26:00had him at number five or six. We talked about it on the big 10 squad shows last week. I should know that. But this is one of those scenarios where I don't mind the ranking, but it's something where obviously with everything that happened in January, it all feels a little bit overshadowed. And something that stood out to me was reading Bill Conley's article over at ESPN, where in the nine wins that Washington had last season, has these average 45.1 points per game. And then in the four losses, they average 9.4 points per game. And it's something that we asked him on about when he had his press conference in February. And it's been a big talking point throughout. Now, Jim, this is 10 year. And, you know, especially when you look at how that season played out with the losses to Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Oregon, one thing that, you know, I would say might simmer some of the vitriol of the transfer portal flirtation is finding ways to perform in the big game. Like,

27:00there's no way around it. Yeah, when you look at those rankings too, you kind of have to look at how is the person ranking these quarterbacks? Are they looking at potential or are they looking at what we know about them? Because I think demand kind of falls into two different categories. I think if you look at potential, he could certainly be one of the top quarterbacks in the conference if not in the country. But if you're looking at what he's done, I don't think he's a top five quarterback. I don't think he's a top three quarterback in the day 10. I think he's in more of that five range. The reason for that is you looked like you mentioned at these road games and big games, specifically four games he had this year under 210 passing yards. It was Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Oregon. And in those four games, he had three touchdowns and six interceptions. And he only had two big time throws. I was going to say, I know I have those written down somewhere over here. Yeah, exactly. And he only had, PFF does like big time throw percentages. And he had only two big time throws in those four games and he had 14 all year. So he's not make, I just feel like he's not as maybe playing with as much confidence or, you know, adapting to

28:01those big game situations. I remember at the Wisconsin game, I was there last year in the press box watching him make throws. There were somewhere you're just like, he doesn't miss that normally, but he missed the receiver by five 10 yards, you know, threw him over his head or something like that. And you just kind of like, well, he just missed that when he kind of chalk it up as a miss. And then he does it again. And you're like, okay, I don't know what it was snowing in that game, granted. But it's these big games where you see those mistakes being made. And it's putting the team in a position not to win. And that's one of the things that I think is, you know, makes these quarterbacks the top in the conference. You look at a Julian saying you look at a Dante Moore quarterbacks that aren't necessarily putting their team in position to lose with the frequency that demand Williams did last season, the Michigan game three interceptions, the Wisconsin game of fumble inside the five yard line that led to Wisconsin's only touchdown of that game. So you can't make those mistakes. And while I do think demand Williams is a very talented quarterback. I mean, we have seen on the field game day and in practice, I mean, he can play and he's physically, even for his size, I mean, we saw him run over that Illinois safety at full speed, you know,

29:05downfield on a run play like the guy can play. He's very physical, very accurate. It's just a matter of trans like that translating to the big game. And I think if you look at from a projection standpoint, he certainly can do that. He has the arm strength. He's got the arm talent. He's got the escape ability, the versatility to make big plays in those big games. But we haven't seen it yet. So that's why I can't put him in that top, you know, two to three quarterbacks in the big 10 for me. He's more on that four to five range in the conference right now. No, I'm absolutely with you. And so one of the biggest things and I know I've highlighted on the show you and I have had discussions about those off air as well is all of those four things. Those four teams had one thing that I think is probably the secret sauce in this case. And now it's on not just them on Williams, but jetfish as well to readjust where all four of those teams have big, long athletic outside linebackers who can hang with him where we know that if demand is in the open field, he can run away from anybody. We've we've seen that in games. We've seen that in

30:06practices. But before he gets there, he needs to be able to outrun some of these big long outside linebackers like Mason Posa at Wisconsin. It was a great example. Arville Reese sunny style. We're both going to the top 10 of the NFL draft now. Like and it's it's a I just have to have 10 seconds here. It's fun to see Washington build the linebacker room now in that same way when you look at the dangerous rainy solid and ram's act for an X-ray Alexander and is a Tokyo and the list goes on and on and on. But it's it's very interesting to see how that is just kind of what the big tens answer to these athletic quarterbacks isn't always has been. I don't think it's a shock by any means. But I wanted to highlight that because that's what we need to see again, not just a mod Williams but jetfish adjust back to and a lot of that is just I think it's being a little bit more on time in the passing game and having a little bit more confidence in throwing over the middle of the field and just getting the ball out quickly to whoever might be open and not just

31:06trying to hold on to the ball and make a big play, which I think we saw in some of those moments as mistakes started to compound in those big games last year for one reason or another. And especially when, you know, we see opponents getting past brushes. That's not a demon Williams, you know, the password is at home with with four guys on a regular basis. That's certainly not exclusive to him. And it's why we spent so much time at the start talking about the defense of line. But that's one of those things that now that he is a full year of starting under his belt, he needs to improve on. Yeah, our Val Reese is going to get pressure no matter who's blocking him. Oh, absolutely. That's just kind of the thing. And that Ohio State game specifically, I noticed like those outside linebackers getting a lot of pressure, but I really think it is just a split second of difference between he needs to make the decision to get rid of it or run or, you know, make the pass a split second before these long edge rushers and linebackers get into those windows because I really think it was it was close on some of those those that Ohio State game, you know, Ohio State was in control basically the whole time. It was close at the beginning, but you kind of felt that Ohio State was in control. But still that offense, there was there was times when I was

32:11like, okay, you know, if the mom can make just a quicker adjustment in like during the play, I think that he can get out of that situation. I think if he throws it away quicker, if he decides to run quicker, it's split second decisions and it's really close and you saw it in games like at home, you know, against Illinois, against Rutgers, other these other teams where it's clicking and it's going really well. But it's can that translate to the road unfamiliar environment, you know, bad weather situation? It was constant, you know, even at home against the number one Ohio State kind of team. It's just that split second of difference. I certainly think he has that ability. I mean, we've seen it to practice countless times. It's just translating it to the game in those big games. It's got to happen. Yeah, absolutely. It's that higher level of talent because, you know, Wisconsin might not have that on the offensive side of the ball, but that front seven is certainly legit. And we saw that and it showed in that game. And now that is the adjustment back that needs to be made where, you know, I think it's something we've seen with different players that it was very evident in 2025, you know, not to like try to pick on anybody, but a lot of these young players where for a long time, they were very clearly the best athlete on the field for one

33:16reason or another. And whether they're just bigger or stronger or faster or whatever. And I think it was very clear that in those four games, as demand has continued to feel out that process of, okay, what can and can I not get away with at this level of football, running into those Arville races and sunny styles who we saw jump out of the gym and just test out of this world every single way in Indianapolis. It's, oh, okay, some of these guys are as good of if not way better athletes than me. And now how am I going to find ways to beat them? And in 2025, it's still frustrating. And you know, you still don't want to excuse it. But if you see it again in 2026, it's like, okay, now there's a real problem here because adjustments were not made. And that is the side effect of playing young players on a, you know, power for roster immediately. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. Jetfish is used to doing that. He knows how to handle that kind of adjustment for these players. But that is something that can happen. You put these guys up against, you know, a veteran defensive front like like Ohio State had last season,

34:16a really talented, you know, good defensive front at Wisconsin last season. And you have these younger players that haven't been in that situation as much. Like you said, they were talented. They were better in high school than their competition. And they're still really good in college. I'm not saying they're not. But it's that translation piece of being able to recognize, you know, that the other, the players on the opposition are just as good if not better. How do I adapt to that? How do I get better? That's just part of that growing process. That's why when you play these freshmen, it's something you've got to live with. And Jetfish has said he's okay with that because they know how to handle it. It's just got, you know, Demand's going to be a junior this season. I think he's certainly primed to have to take that next step and to overcome those road game tough situations, those big game jitters. I after, you know, a year under his belt as the starting quarterback at Washington, I certainly think he has that capability. Nick, absolutely. It's about making sure those mistakes don't compound and that you learn from them and move forward. And as always, thank you so much for doing for being here. I really do appreciate it. It's all you every day is out there. Thank you so much tuning in. And if you like what we have to offer here on Lockdown Huskies, please make sure to subscribe wherever you get your

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