GoHuskies.com and Coach Tyrone Willingham take a look at the Husky offense in the second installment of a three-part season preview.

Quarterbacks

Prior to the start of spring practice, Willingham named sophomore Jake Locker his starter, with the usual caveat that any and all starting positions on the team are always up for competition.

While Locker, who traveled to every game but didn't see any game action as a true freshman last season, didn't do anything to lose the job and enters the fall still atop the depth chart, senior Carl Bonnell, who started the last five games of 2006, provides stiff competition.

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"The first thing is that we're always in a position of competition," Willingham confirms.

"Someone had to start at number one. That said, we think the guy who started the spring at number one [Locker] has an opportunity to be a heck of a quarterback. We want his growth to continue and we think it will because he's very dedicated to himself and to his team. He wants to be good.

"We're blessed in that Carl has playing experience," Willingham continues. "He also has really improved his overall commitment to being a great quarterback. I think that showed in the spring. I thought his play was significantly better in the spring than I had seen."

The only other QB on the roster is freshman Ronnie Fouch, who completed his senior year of high school early in order to join the Huskies prior to the start of spring practice.

"It was really exciting to see Ronnie Fouch work," Willingham says. "In the spring game, he showed some emotion. He showed the ability to take a group and make them successful against very difficult odds. I was impressed with him from day one in terms of jumping in and learning the system."

Running Backs

Louis Rankin rushed for 666 yards in 2006.

Last season, Rankin led the team with 666 rushing yards on 142 carries, good for a 4.7-yard average. He's the obvious No. 1 at tailback.

"I'm excited about Louis Rankin," says Willingham. "When people go back and look at his career here, it may seem like he's slipped under the radar a little. But in the two years that I've been here, Louis has five 100-yard ballgames. That jumps out at you that you have a back that's capable of that. I thought last year he grew a lot. We need him to step up. If he has a great summer, I'm quite sure he can be the type of back we're looking for."

While Hasty provides promise, Willingham will also rely on Kravitz and Homer to occasionally act like tailbacks. He's also counting on any number of the five incoming freshmen tailbacks.

"We're blessed that our fullbacks understand the system, but they don't give us the explosiveness and breakaway ability that Louis and J.R. can give us," Willingham says. "We're going to find either one or two of our freshmen to give us assistance. I'm excited because at least a couple of those guys have `football player' written all over them."

The coach is also happy with Kravitz and Homer in their more traditional fullback roles.

"In our system," he says, "the fullback is very important since it's kind of a hybrid position between a back and a tight end. We have great depth with those two guys. They're tough and smart, and they have a lot of versatility. We need them to set a tone."

Wide Receivers

Marcel Reece strutted his stuff during spring football.

Five seniors comprise the large group of experienced receivers: fifth-year men Quintin Daniels, Cody Ellis, Anthony Russo and Corey Williams, along with Marcel Reece, in his second season at the UW after two years in JC ball. The other returner on the two-deep at the three positions is sophomore D'Andre Goodwin, who didn't play in any games a year ago.

While Willingham would love to find a clear big-timer at the position, he'd prefer two.

"Once you have two, it really puts pressure on the defense," Willingham explains. "We want to have Marcel Reece really come on and be the player he can be. We want Cody Ellis, who has made some big plays in his time here, really step up and have a breakout season. We need Corey Williams and Quintin Daniels to fulfill the potential everyone envisions them having. I'm also excited about D'Andre Goodwin.

"I think our receivers have a good chance to be an even better group than people anticipate, if we can focus on our intensity and development," Willingham continues," and I haven't even mentioned Anthony Russo, who has already proven that he can be a good Pac-10 receiver."

Tight Ends
Much as he stated in the spring, the tight ends position continues to be a competition as four veterans - all with game experience - compete for snaps there. Four seniors are in the hunt: Michael Gottlieb, Johnie Kirton, Robert Lewis and Walt Winter.

"If you had to say that there's one position on our team that is a committee position, you'd look at the tight ends first," Willingham says. "We have a bunch of guys who have played for us and shown themselves to be pretty good. All of them can help us be a solid group, but we would love to have one guy step up and say he's going to be our all-star."

Offensive Line

Juan Garcia will again anchor the offensive line this year.

"I think that's all positive. Any time you can have five guys play that many snaps, it's a good thing from a health standpoint," Willingham says. "It means they're tough and they can weather the physical challenges of football. And hopefully, it means they got a lot better taking that many snaps."

The competition for the two starting guard spots will continue in the fall. Among those competing, only senior right guard Casey Bulyca has ever taken snaps in a game (left guard candidate Jordan White-Frisbee has played extensively on defense and special teams, but never on the offensive line). Bulyca and sophomore Ryan Tolar are the candidates to start at right guard and White-Frisbee sits behind junior Morgan Rosborough at left guard.

Senior Eric Berglund (left tackle), sophomore Cody Habben (right tackle), sophomore Matt Sedillo (center) and senior Ryan Bush (center/guard) are top candidates to fill out the two-deep in the other spots.

Having the two tackles and center in place should make things easier for the two new guards, with a veteran player to either side of both of them.

"Any time you can solidify your edges, it's a plus," says Willingham. "Filling in the interior is important, but I think it's a far more difficult process to rebuild the edges. Those guys are critical."

Additionally, the anchor of the line, center Garcia, is one of the team's top leaders.

"Juan has demonstrated that he's the leader of that area," Willingham says. "He's shown the toughness. He's shown the intelligence to get the line moving in the right direction. He's shown the work ethic. He comes in and watches film and spends time with his coaches. He does all the little things to make himself a great player."