Senio Kelemete to Cardinals

With their fifth-round selection, the Cards took Washington G/T Senio Kelemete (6-4, 307), who played his final two seasons with the Huskies at LT but is viewed by scouts as a better fit at G. The Cards are set for starters at RG and LG with Daryn Colledge and Adam Snyder, but Kelemete provides depth after the Cards lost Deuce Lutui to the Seahawks in free agency and released last year's RG starter, Rex Hadnot.

Kelemete is the ideal size for an offensive guard at 6'4" and between 305-310 pounds. He also has good hands and feet and a powerful lower half. Fires off the ball quickly. Has a mean streak befitting a former defensive player, and he will be a solid run-blocker. Beefy enough to handle inside pass rush and can help his tackle with defensive ends rushing inside shoulder.

He needs more experience and needs to work on his technique. He sometimes plays too upright and appears off-balance when he stands up to pass block. Lacks elite footwork or size needed to play offensive tackle in the NFL.

Kelemete is inexperienced at offensive guard and has only been playing on the offensive line since 2009, so he may be a bit too raw to step into a starting role in his rookie season. 

Given a couple years of coaching and game experience, Kelemete should be a solid offensive guard in the NFL for many years to come.

On paper, this seems like a prudent pick for the Cardinals. The ball can't get to Larry Fitzgerald unless the QB is protected, and Kelemete could evolve into a starter in that role. 

(Senio Kelemete's 2012 NFL Combine video link)

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Steelers Trade Up To Take DT Alameda Ta'Amu

The Pittsburgh Steelers have selected Washington defensive tackle Alameda Ta'Amu in the fourth round of the NFL Draft.

The Steelers moved up 10 spots to grab Ta'Amu, exchanging fourth-round picks with the Washington Redskins while also giving the Redskins a sixth-round choice.

The 6-foot-3, 348-pound Ta-Amu gives Pittsburgh needed depth at nose tackle. Longtime backup Chris Hoke retired in January and veteran Casey Hampton is recovering from knee surgery.

Ta'Amu had 30 tackles and four sacks during his senior year with the Huskies and was an honorable mention All Pac-12 selection.

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Washington DE Daniel Te'o-Nesheim Taken by Philly

Washington defensive end Daniel Te'o-Nesheim has been selected by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Te'o-Nesheim was taken with the 22nd pick of the third round on Friday night. He was the 86th overall selection, coming seven picks after former Washington teammate Donald Butler was selected by San Diego.

Te'o-Nesheim was projected to be a third- or fourth-round pick and has been praised by coaches and scouts for his nonstop effort on the field. He is Washington's career leader in sacks with 30 and had 11 in his senior season.

Daniel Te'o-Nesheim Finds Spotlight on Washington Pro Day

Blame the alphabet.

It's the reason Daniel Te'o-Nesheim's performance at last month's NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis wound up being overlooked.

Alphabetical order placed Te'o-Nesheim after Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh in the workout schedule at the combine, which meant that the NFL Network was showing replays of Suh's performance in individual drills instead of capturing Te'o-Nesheim's performance.

"I knew it was going to happen as soon as I saw who was in front of me," Te'o-Nesheim said.

So here's a thumbnail sketch of what happened: Te'o-Nesheim performed 29 bench-press repetitions at 225 pounds, and he was timed as fast as 4.73 seconds in the 40-yard dash, though his official time was not among the top 10.

Well, he was timed running the 40-yard dash in 4.67 seconds at Washington's pro day on Wednesday, according to his agent. The scouts in attendance all had him in the 4.6s.

Where the 6-foot-4, 267-pound Te'o-Nesheim fits on an NFL roster remains a question. Those teams that run a 3-4 defense see him as an outside linebacker; those in a conventional 4-3 alignment see him as a defensive end.

What's becoming clear, though, is that he will fit somewhere in the NFL.

"The one thing I always want to say about him is amazing effort," Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian said. "I've never seen a guy work, practice, play the way he plays with the effort that he plays with. And it shows. That's why he's so productive. That's why he's the all-time sack leader in the history of this school."

In scouting terms, Te'o-Nesheim has great hips, which make him explosive when changing direction. NFL scouts use a three-cone drill to measure a player's agility and change of direction, and Te'o-Nesheim had the second-fastest time of any defensive lineman at the scouting combine.

Of course, not everyone got to see that. He was following Suh in that drill, after all, who cast quite a shadow in television coverage.

But Te'o-Nesheim has performed well enough to solidify himself as a player many now expect to be chosen in the draft along with linebacker Donald Butler, his Washington teammate, after the Huskies have not had a player drafted either of the past two years.

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Andrew Pulu Suspended Indefinitely

UW defensive end Andru Pulu has been suspended indefinitely from the University of Washington football team due to a violation of team rules, head coach Steve Sarkisian announced today in a statement just released by the school.

The release stated that the UW athletic department, nor the coach, will have any further comment on the matter.

The Times has learned that Pulu was allegedly involved in an altercation at an off-campus party late Saturday night in which another student was injured.

Times news reporter Sara Jean Green reports that after The Seattle Times requested a police report detailing an assault investigation involving Pulu, a redacted narrative of the incident was faxed to the newspaper with the names of the alleged suspect, victim and witnesses blacked out.

According to the report, a 22-year-old man was attacked after trying to break up a fight between two people he didn't know at a house party just north of the University of Washington campus early Sunday. He was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken nose and possible cheek fracture, according to the police report.

Police spokesman Det. Jeff Kappel said homicide detectives, who investigate all serious assaults, are actively working the case. No arrests have been made, he said.

An officer wrote in the report that he was dispatched to University of Washington Medical Center just after 3 a.m. Sunday and interviewed the 22-year-old man in the emergency room.

The 22-year-old told the officer that he was at a party in the 5000 block of 15th Avenue Northeast and saw a man in a verbal argument with another person just after 12:30 a.m., the report says. He tried to break up the fight, telling the man, "It's not that big of a deal," at which point the man grabbed the 22-year-old's neck, telling him, "It is that big of a deal," according to the police report.

The 22-year-old, who told the officer the man was a stranger to him, "does not remember anything after this occurred," the report says.

Two witnesses told a friend of the victim what happened and the friend took the victim to the hospital, the report says.

According to the witnesses, the man struck the 22-year-old in the face, knocked him to the ground, and stomped on the his right temple, causing him to lose consciousness, the police report says.

The man then "left in an unknown direction," according to the report. He is described as a light-skinned black male, 18 to 21 years old, 6-feet-1 tall and 250 pounds with a muscular build.

The 22-year-old "has a broken nose and possibly a fractured cheek bone," the officer wrote. "I observed severe swelling to the left side" of his face and "a boot print on his right temple."

Pulu, a graduate of Federal Way High, will be a sophomore in 2010 and was expected to contend for significant playing time, if not a starting role, as the team looks for replacements for the graduated Daniel Te'o-Nesheim and Darrion Jones. He was listed as the backup to Te'o-Nesheim at the end of last season.

The 6-1, 251-pounder played in 11 games as a true freshman in 2009, making two tackles, and was credited with half-a-sack against Idaho. He also played regularly on the kickoff return team.

UW is set to begin spring practice on March 30.

Do you think Andrew Pulu should of got suspended "Indefinitely?"

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Two Stand Out For Quezada

 

Athlete Joshua Quezada (La Habra, Calif./La Habra) has now taken four of his official visits and with one remaining, two schools currently lead the way.
Quezada took his first visit to BYU followed by trips to Utah, Hawaii and Washington.

"We play this Saturday so it's going to be good to get a weekend off and sleep in for a change," Quezada said. "The trips get real tiring but I've loved every one of them. I'm going to take one last trip Dec. 18 to either Fresno State or Arizona and I may try and squeeze in an unofficial visit to San Diego State as well."

Quezada said he loved his recent visit to UW, but still favors the two Mountain West powers.

"Washington was awesome," Quezada said. "I had a great time with the players and really bonded well with the other recruits on the visit. We saw a great game and I like the energy and passion of the coaching staff. Coach Sark (Steve Sarkisian) said he thinks I could be another Troy Polamalu for them at safety and said I remind him of Troy since he was coaching at SC when he played there.

"As much as I liked the trip, I still have BYU and Utah at the top for me. I just felt most comfortable there and I'm closest with the coaches. With BYU, I love their offense, it's a lot like our offense at La Habra and it would be an easy adjustment.

"Utah felt like home to me as well and there's a real family environment. I felt that at both schools to be honest. It's going to be a really tough decision for me and I don't have a lot of time left since I'm graduating early but I know I can't go wrong with any of my choices."

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Stanford's Chris Owusu Returns Opening Kickoff for Touchdown

When the Washington Huskies opened the season against Louisiana State and its dangerous returner, Trindon Holliday, UW coaches played it safe, kicking the ball away from him.

But the Huskies gambled Saturday at Stanford, deciding to kick it deep to the Cardinal's Chris Owusu, who already had two returns for touchdowns this season and came in leading the nation in kickoff return average at 52.8.

The move backfired on the Huskies as Owusu took the kick at his own 9-yard line, found a seam, and quickly darted through the middle of the field essentially untouched for a touchdown to put Stanford up 7-0 just 10 seconds in.

Owusu's third return for a touchdown tied him for the Pac-10 season record with USC's Anthony Davis in 1974 and UCLA's Matthew Slater in 2007.

It also meant that Stanford had scored a TD on its opening possession in all four games this season.

It was also the second straight game that UW won the toss and elected to defer and then saw the opponent score. Last week, USC drove for a TD on its first drive.

The Huskies learned their lesson from there as they kicked it short on their following kickoffs of the first half, not allowing Owusu to get the ball.

Owusu is a sophomore from Oaks Christian High in Southern California, the same school as heralded UW commit Nick Montana, a quarterback who has said he will sign with the Huskies as part of the Class of 2010.

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Dawgs Hopeful About Te’o-Nesheim’s Front-Four Mates

Over the past two defensively dismal seasons, Washington’s four-man defensive line has too-often seemed like Daniel Te’o-Nesheim and three other guys.

The new Huskies coaching staff wants to change that. And less than two weeks from the season opener, junior tackle Cameron Elisara has emerged as the Dawg most likely to give opposing offenses another lineman to worry about.

“Of course, two is better than one,” Elisara said after Tuesday morning practice. “Hopefully, it’ll be four is better than one. We’re trying to get the whole defensive line going. I think the defensive line as a whole is improved.

“But, let’s say just me: If I started stepping up myself, that’s going to take a lot of pressure off Daniel. He’s going to make a whole lot more plays because then they’re not going to be able to focus solely on one guy, gameplan for one guy. We’ll get a lot more one-on-one opportunities.”

Last season as a junior defensive end, Te’o-Nesheim started all 12 games and was named to the All-Pacific-10 Conference second team. He led Huskies linemen with 65 tackles, ranked sixth in the Pac-10 with 0.67 sacks per game and ninth in the conference with 0.96 tackles for loss per game.

He was enough of a force to draw regular double-teams; however, his teammates seldom made offenses pay for that. The Huskies finished 117th out of 119 Bowl Subdivision teams in rushing defense, 116th in scoring defense, 110th in total defense and 100th in sacks.

Now about to enter his junior year, Elisara believes he’s ready for the breakout season that has been predicted since he graduated from Ferris High School of Spokane, where PrepStar rated him the No. 24 defensive lineman in the nation.

“This is the time when all my work is coming to fruition,” Elisara said. “I finally see myself fitting into the position that I’ve always been working for since I’ve been here. It’s finally starting to become real.

“But once again, I think the biggest thing is I want to keep it going, because camp is just camp. I’ve got to carry it over into the season.”

Elisara won the defensive scout team award as a redshirt in 2006. He moved into the defensive rotation in 2007, playing in 12 of 13 games. Last season, he played in all 12 games and started seven. His 24 tackles ranked 11th on the team.

Now, both he and his new coaches believe he’s ready for the next step.

“I just know that he’s improved immensely,” coach Steve Sarkisian said.

“He’s doing things right and he’s playing with great effort, and we can’t ask for more than that out of him. … Hopefully, that can take some of the heat off of Daniel. If we can get Alameda (Ta’amu) just to stay consistent and be physical, and if we get Darrion Jones going, we’ve got a really good group.”

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Huskies Land, John Timu & Princeton Fuimaono

It has been a good week for Washington because the Huskies picked up three commitments from Southern California. All three prospects are not exactly household names, but are very talented and solid pickups for the rebuilding program.

On Tuesday, the Huskies landed teammates John Timu and Princeton Fuimaono (Long Beach, Calif./Jordan) and on Thursday, they reeled in one of the state's top pass-rushers in Brent Williams (Woodland Hills, Calif./Taft.).

Timu is one of the most versatile and underrated prospects in the West. At the SoCal Nike Camp two years ago, the sophomore worked out with the receivers and outperformed just about every pass catcher at the event, including national names like Shaquelle Evans and Dillon Baxter.

As a junior, Timu played quarterback and safety for the Panthers and earned league MVP honors. When you play on a third place team in the same league as state powers Long Beach Poly and Lakewood and are awarded MVP honors, that's saying something. He'll play safety for the Huskies and Timu committed to UW over offers from Oregon, Hawaii and San Jose State.

Like Timu, Fuimaono had an impressive showing at the Nike Camp two years ago and really stood out this past April. He has grown almost two inches and put on a solid 10 pounds from his junior year. The athlete is a high-motor kid who led the team with 94 tackles and three sacks a year ago, while playing alongside UCLA-signee Taniela Maka. Fuimaono is an athletic player who can hit and cover and projects very well as a future weakside linebacker.

Williams led the Los Angeles city section with 17 sacks as a junior and is a natural pass-rusher. He was dominant at the SoCal Nike Camp last April and no opposing lineman could come close to stopping him one-on-one. At 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, Williams will start off as an outside linebacker, but could grow in to a defensive end down the line. The Huskies were the first to offer and Williams originally planned to take his time with the recruiting process to see what other schools showed interest. However, the talented pass-rusher had a change of heart and decided to pull the trigger early. He'll likely visit the Huskies September 5 when they host LSU in what will be a huge weekend for the program.

Washington will have close to double digit players in the house that weekend on official visits and the success of the Huskies recruiting class will be impacted tremendously by the success of that first weekend.

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Tivao Not Making It In

Dawgman.com is reporting what we reported here last week was a strong possibility --- DL Johnny Tivao of Cerritos College will not make it in to school.

Tivao was one of six JC players UW signed last February and gained some attention for his size --- UW officially listed him at 5-10, 349. That size naturally excited fans, but I'm not sure it was a slam dunk he was going to make a huge immediate impact on the team --- it had sounded as if he might need some significant conditioning to get into a regular playing mode.

However, any loss is a loss in depth, especially on the defensive line --- and coaches have held out the option of possibly switching another DL to the OL, as they did last spring with Senio Kelemete. The loss of Tivao could be a factor in their ultimate decision on that.

Tivao's loss leaves UW with seven players listed as defensive tackles --- Tyrone Duncan, Cameron Elisara, Craig Noble, Alameda Ta'amu, Nick Wood, Semisi Tokolahi and Chris Robinson, the latter two being true freshmen.

Of what I know of the other five JCs, three --- Dorson Boyce, Dominique Gaisie and Will Mahan --- are either in or expected to make it in with little trouble (Boyce is already in); and two --- S David Batts and OL Daniel Mafoe --- still have some work to do but still have a chance to get in.

The recent losses of Tivao and RBs Brandon Johnson and David Freeman leave the Huskies with 83 scholarship players, assuming I've counted everyone correnctly. Here's the last scholarship tracker I compiled.

Other than continuing to watch the rest of UW's JC situation, however, the remainer of UW's roster is expected to be stable heading into fall camp with all 13 incoming freshmen having gained admittance and no more attrition of the current roster expected before fall camp.

Going strictly by these numbers, UW would have 14 open scholarshiops for the Class of 2010. But conventional wisdom is that the Huskies will sign quite a ffew more than that, expecting some other attrition before the 2010 season (and one scholarship could also open if Jake Locker signs a baseball contract making him a football walk-on, as is expected to happen before mid-August). It wouldn't really take much out of the ordinary to turn 15 open spots now to 20 or so by a year from now.

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Highly-Coveted Washington Commit Sione Potoa'e Still Looking Around

ESPNU 150 Watch List defensive tackle Sione Potoa'e gave affiliate Web site WeAreSC.com an update on the status of his pledge to the Huskies.

"My verbal to Washington is a soft verbal, a soft commitment, but I'm still keeping my options open to other schools."

USC, California and Oregon are Washington's three competitors for Potoa'e who would like to make official visits to all four schools.

Potoa'e also shared what he's looking for, "Honestly the academics are the most important part because academics will take me farther than football will. And a school with great academics will carry into the future with success."

"And I'm also looking at the athletics and the environment. I don't want to go to a school that I'm uncomfortable with because I'm going there for four years, and I don't want to go through four years with uneasiness. Personally, I would like to travel from home, but I also care about my parent's point of view, their outlook, and I'll take that into consideration when I make my decision."