A look at the 2013 Senior Class

The blog post yesterday in which I gave what appear to be the number of scholarship players in each class for the 2013 season raised a few questions — specifically, will UW really have just 13 seniors next season?

So I thought it worth another quick entry to detail who those seniors are.

First, though, it should be noted that I am assuming that OL Erik Kohler and RB Jesse Callier received redshirts for last season. Each was injured in the first two games of the season (Callier the opener, Kohler the second game) and had redshirt years available, so they each fully fit the requirements for receiving the year. I also assumed a redshirt season for LB/FB Cooper Pelluer, who missed all of last season and also had a redshirt year available.

So that knocks off of what might have been expected to be the total of seniors a year ago at this time.

As for the rest of the projected seniors for 2013, here’s the list:

DT Josh Banks

P/PK Travis Coons

CB Greg Ducre

LB Princeton Fuimaono

WR James Johnson

S Sean Parker

DT Sione Potoa’e

QB Keith Price

S Will Shamburger

WR Antavius Sims

WR Kevin Smith

S/LB Taz Stevenson

LB Thomas Tutogi

(Also a senior next year is CB Tre Watson, a walk-on who was put on scholarship for the 2012 season. Such scholarships are given on a yearly basis and it’s unclear if he would again be on scholarship in 2013).

At this moment, the only players in that group you would likely peg as starters are Ducre, Johnson, Parker, Price and Shamburger.

So, there are obviously a couple implications of this:

1, UW will likely again have to be a little more selective in handing out scholarships for the Class of 2014;

2, And while there will be the highest expectations for a UW team in 2013 as there have been in maybe a decade, the lack of seniors means the season is far from a make-or-break proposition.

This is not, by the way, a “they are too young to compete at the top” entry, as a lot of people accuse me anytime I point out this kind of stuff. UW, as I just noted, will be rightly expected to take a significant step next season, legitimately competing for the Pac-12 North title.

But, the relative lack of seniors means the Huskies also appear well-positioned to stay competitive for quite a few years.

UPDATED — This post has been edited since it was first published to add James Johnson.

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