SEATTLE – Jimmy Lake successfully navigated his first recruiting class as the head football coach at the University of Washington.

In the roughly two weeks since Lake, the Huskies defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach, was named as the successor to Chris Petersen after the Las Vegas Bowl this Saturday he retained every one of UW’s verbal commits in the 2020 recruiting class, and even re-added one more.

With the addition of 23 more players to the roster TheDawgReport.com examines how this years’ cycle will impact things moving forward for UW.

Three BIG Frisbee Snatchin’ Dawgs

One of the biggest areas of emphasis coming into the 2020 class was the quality of recruiting at the wide receiver position.

Last year, UW secured four-star Orem High School (Orem, Utah) star Puka Nacua in February after signing just one other, three-star Upland (Calif.) receiver Taj Davis in December. The Huskies have turned out only one WR to the NFL that was recruited by Petersen and the staff at UW, Dante Pettis.

So it is fair to say that first-year receivers coach Junior Adams landing two four-stars in 2020, Jalen McMillan and Rome Odunze, will mark the next generation of players at the position for UW.

McMillan, listed at 6-foot-2 and 182-pounds out of San Joaquin Memorial HS in Fresno, California, is the second-highest ranked WR recruit to sign with UW in the Petersen era.

He is second only to now redshirt freshman Marquis Spiker, who was the No. 39 ranked prospect out of Murrieta Valley HS in 2018. Odunze, the Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year in 2019, is the fourth-highest behind Austin Osborne, another four-star who signed in the same class as Spiker.

All four players should be expected to have a significant role in the Huskies offense in 2020. With UW graduating four receivers; Aaron Fuller, Andre Baccellia, Chico McClatcher and Quinten Pounds after the bowl game the numbers almost trade like-for-like with the level of talent being significantly increased.

Go-Go Garbers

One of the more potentially underrated signings in this years’ class for Washington is that of four-star Corona Del Mar (Newport Beach, California) quarterback Ethan Garbers.

The No. 93 ranked prospect by Rivals in the 2020 class finished his senior year off with a CIF State Championship, leading the Sea Kings to a 16-0 record.

While no public decision has been made one way or another with respect to junior QB Jacob Eason, and whether or not he will return for his senior season in 2020, securing Garbers gives the Huskies an elite signal-caller with the ability to win the job as a true freshman if Eason declares.

During his in-home visit with Lake after the coaching transition was announced, Garbers liked what he heard about his plans for the UW offense moving forward.

“He said he’s going to be aggressive and take shots down the field,” Garbers told TheDawgReport.com after the visit. “And I don’t mind that at all.”

Trench Reload

Another major mark signaled in the Huskies 2020 recruiting class is the quality of offensive linemen signed.

Before Petersen hired Scott Huff to replace Chris Strausser after the 2016 season UW had signed just two four-star linemen, Kaleb McGary out of Fife HS in 2014 and Luke Wattenberg from San Juan Capistrano, California (JSerra Catholic) in 2016.

Since Huff has been on the staff the program has signed six including a trio this cycle.

Death Row Adds Two Key Coveted, No Small Pieces

With a defense that was tasked with replacing an entire starting unit this season it was expected that UW would not sign a massive defensive class in 2020.

However, of the seven players that signed to join the Death Row defense on Wednesday, two are vital for Jimmy Lake and Co. moving forward.

Five-star Kennedy Catholic (Burien, Wash.) defensive end / outside linebacker Sav’ell Smalls and four-star Scottsdale (Ariz.) Saguaro cornerback Jacobe Covington are two elite defenders that could mark the next level for UW on defense.

As implausible as it may see on the surface, Lake and his aggressive mentality won’t allow the program to become stagnated on either side of the ball. With defensive backs coach Will Harris working with Lake to pull Covington back in the fold after he backed off his pledge several months ago the victory cannot be undersold.