Rosengarten Grades Out as Top Husky Offensive Lineman

The thing about Ryan Grubb, the University of Washington's new offensive coordinator, is he's a hard grader. If he was a professor on campus, he would be the instructor you might dread. No easy A's.

As a football coach, Grubb is decidedly frank about his players. Not demeaning, just honest.

For instance, redshirt freshman offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten, who made his first college start against Kent State on the right side, was named Husky Offensive Lineman of the Week for his efforts.

Typical of Grubb, he gave a full-picture assessment of the performance of the 6-foot-6, 304-pounder Rosengarten from Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

"Roger's issue during fall camp was the big mistakes; he tried to be too flashy on some things," said Grubb, a former line coach at Fresno State, Eastern Michigan and Sioux Falls. "I thought on Saturday he just did his job. Honestly, it wasn't anything flashy or exceptional, other than he didn't give up any sacks or pressures. When we were running to his side he was proficient. I thought he did a good job of doing his job and being in the right place."

As for Jaxson Kirkland, the All-Pac-12 offensive tackle is eligible to play against Portland State on Saturday after sitting out the opener, per NCAA mandate in obtaining a sixth season of eligibility.

The 6-foot-7, 340-pound Kirkland also is returning from offseason ankle surgery and previously was limited in practice early on.

"He's close, he's close," Grubb said "We're going to be pushing hard to get him into the game this week, so we're assessing that. ... I know he feels really, really good right now. But we want to makes sure he's 100 percent ready to get out there and play. We're moving forward that he's going to be part of the game plan."

In an interesting move, Matteo Mele spelled starting center Corey Luciano in the second quarter, with Luciano moving over and pulling some snaps at offensive guard.

Mele, a 6-foot-6, 300-pound junior, simply played his way on to the field.

"That was predetermined; coach [Scott] Huff and I had talked about it before the game," Grubb said. "Matteo had had an excellent fall camp and was pushing at a number of different spots on the line. He had really earned that."

Finally, Nate Kalepo, a first-time starter at left guard, held his own, according to his offensive coordinator.

"He did good; Nate played well," Grubb said. "There are some things I know he would like to clean up. But he finished well, he played strong and he played big."

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