Greg McElroy explains why Washington could sneak into College Football Playoff mix

Greg McElroy wants to let people know: Washington is legit.

On the Always College Football with Greg McElroy podcast this past week, the former Alabama quarterback explained why he thinks the Huskies have a shot at the College Football Playoff.

“I think Washington has a better chance of getting to the College Football Playoff than Florida State,” McElroy said. “Why? Because I look at the Pac-12 and I think it’s more gettable than the ACC. Just saying. I think it’s more gettable than the [ACC]. I think the ACC is pretty good. I think the Pac-2, pretty good, especially with the quarterback situations. But tell me a team in the Pac-12 right now that returns as much as the Washington Huskies.”

The Huskies were sneaky good in 2022, finishing ranked in the top 10 with an 11-2 record. The team only lost twice all year in back-to-back weeks to UCLA and Arizona State.

“They bring back a bunch of high quality pieces offensively. You bring back Michael Penix, who is I think only going to get more comfortable as he continues to dive in to Kalen DeBoer’s offense. They’re going to be really good offensively. They were really good last year offensively. That should go without saying. We know they’re going to be really good along the line of scrimmage defensively. We know they have a couple of edge rushers that are legit that can flat out pin their ears back and make life difficult for the opposing quarterback.”

Greg McElroy highlights secondary as biggest point of emphasis for Washington

Washington may have a lot of returners coming back all over the field but one area Greg McElroy highlighted as one that needs tremendous improvement is the defensive backfield.

“Here’s the problem: their secondary was an issue,” McElroy said. “They were 111th nationally and pass efficiency defense. They had the fewest PBUs in the Power Five. Now, what are they going to do to get back to being somewhat decent at that position. I don’t know. That is on Kalen DeBoer and his staff here in the spring. That needs to be an All-Points Bulletin. How do we improve this group from where they were a year ago? The good news is there’s really only one direction to go, and that’s up because 111 is not ideal. I acknowledge very much that they played with the lead an awful lot. I acknowledge very much the team’s gotten to pass happy situations but either way they carved them up.”

The Pac-12 has some of the best passing attack in the country so a statistically dominant defense can be a tall task. But the Huskies need to be better on that side of the ball.

But McElroy does believe they have taken some smart steps to get better.

“So what did you do?” McElroy said. “You go out, you got Jabbar Muhammad from Oklahoma State, a guy that shouldn’t be able to lock down one of the cornerback spots in the spring. You go to the JUCO ranks you bring in Thaddeus Dixon. He should get a pretty good situation, plenty of reps in the spring to potentially establish himself as an everyday starter as well. You get to guys that might immediately improve that group collectively but you still have to iron out a few other spots. The best news for the Washington Huskies and their secondary, the group that you’re going to face every day in spring practice you’re not going to see many groups that are more potent than that. If you can practice against the best, you’re probably going to get better. Well guess what? You’re practicing against the best that the Pac-12 has to offer. With all due respect to SC, with all due respect to Utah, with all due respect to Oregon, I’m not sure there’s a passing attack that is more capable in the Pac 12 or nationally for that matter than Washington’s passing attack. That secondary, they’re going to be facing some serious heat in the spring with the type of pressure that passing attack can apply.”