New Dawg Report: Diesel Gordon
When Kalen DeBoer brought in Courtney Morgan as his director of player personnel, not only was he bringing an elite recruiter to Montlake, but an elite talent evaluator as well. And in the Seguin (Texas) cornerback, all it takes is one look at the tape to see why he was a take for the Washington recruiting staff.
Just like three-star receiver Keith Reynolds, Gordon's offer sheet isn't necessarily elite. Before his commitment to Washington, he only held eight offers, however, two of them were from Arizona State and Utah. And one thing that Kyle Whittingham has proven during his time at Utah is that if he sends out an offer to a defensive player, they have the ability to start at the Power 5 level.
Listed at 5'11 and 175 pounds, Gordon has proved that he can play at a high level in Texas. While high school football stats don't translate, the physicality of Texas high school football is probably the closest translation to the college level that you can find in the country.
Physically, there's a lot to like about Gordon. Not only does he have the ideal frame to man up and play cornerback in Washington's defensive scheme, but his reported 4.46 40-yard dash time means that he can stick to opposing receivers downfield, which the Husky defense had a lot of trouble with in 2022.
When it comes to technique, he's already a sound player. His film shows that he's been coached very well throughout his life, and he knows how to use his athleticism very well to play one of the more difficult positions on the field. He has smooth hips and knows how to flip them to continue tracking the ball downfield, and finish the play by going after the football.
Cornerbacks coach Julius "Juice" Brown has secured an excellent class of corners in the class of 2023, including four-stars Caleb Presley and Curley Reed, as well as three-star Leroy Bryant. While Gordon probably shouldn't be expected to see the field much, if at all in 2023, crazier things have happened.
If the Huskies play a few blowout games, it wouldn't be a surprise if Gordon and some of his classmates got a chance to put a few plays on film for the coaching staff. A similar recruit to Gordon out of high school, cornerback Jaivion Green burned his redshirt for the Huskies in 2022, playing nine games as a true freshman. While fans are definitely hoping circumstances aren't that dire again, Gordon or one of his classmates could force their way into more playing time.
Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.
Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.
Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12
Follow Roman Tomashoff of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @rtomashoff34 or @UWFanNation
Have a question? Message me on Twitter!
