Jacob Eason – Noteworthy
Jacob Eason is not an addition to the program so much as to the active roster, having sat out last year following the transfer. Eason steps into a situation primed for success, with a veteran line, experienced receivers and nice pieces in the backfield. But he hasn’t played competitively since early in the 2017 season, which came after he lost his job to a freshman (Jake Fromm), which came after a knee injury. In other words, there are questions as 2019 approaches: What’s the rust level? What the comfort level with the playbook? How’s the dynamic with OC Bush Hamdan? Drawing conclusions from intra-squad scrimmages could be tricky due to the significant number of first-time starters on defense.Spring game: April 27 (12 p.m.) – San Francisco Chronicle
*Byron Murphy – Noteworthy
Previewing the 2019 NFL Combine: A First Round Prototype: Byron Murphy, Washington,…Murphy was reportedly given just a second round grade by the NFL Advisory Committee but he if impresses at the Combine next week as much as I think he will, I don’t believe he will make it out of the top 15 come April 25. Voted First Team All-PAC-12 by coaches and media alike, Murphy ranked among national leaders with 13 passes broken up as a redshirt sophomore in 2018, intercepting four passes, including a pick-six against Utah in the Pac-12 championship game that proved to be the only touchdown scored in the Huskies’ 10-3 victory that earned them a trip to the Rose Bowl. Despite opting to enter the NFL draft with just 20 career games under his belt, Murphy showed a knack for producing big plays in big games – collecting interceptions against rival Washington State and Stanford as well as performing well in showdowns last season with Auburn and Ohio State to begin and end the year. It isn’t often that a player gives up two years of eligibility – especially when they’ve only started one full season – but Murphy is special, showing a degree of fluidity, physicality and ball-skills that suggest Pro Bowls could be in his future. – Rob Rang, NFLDraftScout.com
Myles Gaskin – Noteworthy
Gaskin, listed at 5 feet 10 and 193 pounds as a senior last fall, said he was up to 201 pounds last week, and he hopes to weigh in right around 200 in Indianapolis. He ought to be one of the faster running backs at the combine, and he hopes to show he’s stronger than some expect. He recently completed 24 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press, a good amount for a running back of any size.Many analysts have Gaskin projected as a fourth- or fifth-round selection in Aprils’ NFL draft. “People can say what they want to say. People have their estimates and ranges of where they think I’m going to go,” he said. “I don’t agree with all of them – I probably don’t agree with any of them – but I feel like I’ve got something to prove every time I step on the field.”
Ben Burr-Kirven, UW’s All-American senior linebacker last fall, has been training with Gaskin over the past six weeks. Burr-Kirven was a standout running back in high school, and he came to UW with Gaskin as part of the 2015 recruiting class. What separates Gaskin? “His patience is elite,” Burr-Kirven said. “He’s obviously a great athlete; he’s fast; he’s explosive; he checks all the boxes, in my opinion. We’ve kind of got the same knocks: ‘He’s a little too short,’ and all that stuff. But he’s the best running back I’ve played against, except maybe (Saquon) Barkley. – Seattle Times