SEATTLE – Scott Huff is well aware of the vulnerability offensive lineman face on a daily basis.
His method to combat the chance of losing a player to injury is simple; develop quality depth. If the loss of left tackle Trey Adams, who missed the final six games in 2017 after suffering a season-ending knee injury against Arizona State, taught the Huskies OL coach anything, it served as one more reminder to prepare for everything.
Early in fall camp the 6-8, 316-pound senior tackle had a reduced load in practice, which allowed Washington to develop greater depth behind Adams and experiment with moving linemen around to different positions.
Huff tried out at least a dozen OL combinations, some of which designed to simply get practice reps and tape on players. Most of the players who practiced with the first and second-team offense during camp are expected to compete for in-season playing time one way other another.
"Yeah we’re still getting guys reps there’s no question about that," Huff said after practice on Saturday with only three more remaining before UW travels to Atlanta next Thursday.
"Now the guys that we probably feel are going to redshirt, they’re kind of moved down to scout team and some of those things. We know, you never know when, all it takes is one play and you can have a brand new left tackle like we experienced last year. So you got to continue to develop guys and that’s hopefully what we’re going to continue to do."
Aside from Adams' status for the season-opener vs Auburn on Sept. 1 in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic, much of the first-team line has been solidified with one or two players vying for an increased role during the season.
Luke Wattenberg, a 6-foot-5 and 307-pound redshirt sophomore, has battled a handful of injuries since coming to UW as a four-star recruit from JSerra Catholic High School (San Juan Capistrano, California) in 2016.
He played in 11 of the Huskies 13 games last season and started the final five games at LT with Adams out. If there is a benefit to glean from the injuries UW suffered last season it's that younger players got crucial game reps and experience, something that can't be mirrored in practice.
"This fall camp is just so nice to know everything. I know my place and much better now, grooving with the guys from spring ball," Wattenberg said on August 3 after the fifth fall practice, when asked how much of an impact getting game experience has helped to prepare for 2018.
He added, "it's nice to not be hurt (laughs). I think that's going to benefit me in the long run."
But Huff is not ready to peg the versatile third-year lineman as the Huskies starting left guard just yet.
"I mean we’ll see. He’s had a really good camp and I think we feel good with Luke," Huff said on Saturday when asked if Wattenberg has solidified the job at LG. "I wouldn’t say anybody. Like we continue to compete (laughs). All it takes is one game, one practice. But Luke’s had a good camp.
The injury bug has also got a handful of other linemen over the past year. Redshirt freshman Henry Bainivalu, a 6-foot-5, 321-pound tackle, missed all of spring practice due to a nagging back injury.
Now the former four-star Skyline High School (Sammamish, Wash.) product is healthy and another lineman that Huff is excited about for the future.
"Definitely nice to get him out there," Huff said. "You forget he missed spring ball this year with his little back injury. He’s doing good. He’s been nice. We just keep developing him. We feel really good about him moving forward and really excited about him.”
