SEATTLE, WA - OCTOBER 22: Head coach Chris Petersen of the Washington Huskies looks on during the game against the Oregon State Beavers on October 22, 2016 at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington. The Huskies defeated the Beavers 41-17. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

The Washington Football recruiting class of 2018 small but mighty. With just eight commits (nine now), the team ranks sixth nationally in terms of ranking per recruit

With only eight (nine with the late news yesterday) recruits, the Washington Football recruiting class of 2018 has not yet gained national notoriety. But don’t let the numbers fool you. Per Scout.Com’s latest summary, the Washington Football recruiting class of 2018 is tied for sixth best in the country with Alabama.

It’s the number of recruits which has sunk the Huskies to 19th nationally. No other team in the top 25 has fewer than ten recruits so far. And that is where the Huskies are lagging behind.

The Washington Football team has been attracting great fits from some of the nations finest athletes. But recruiting takes time, particularly when the recruiting area ranges from State of Washington to California to Tennessee to Texas. Finding just the right fit is exhausting work.

Slow Pace Losing Race

To punctuate the point, Washington had 65 days elapse between the commitment of defensive end Draco Bynum on April 22, 2017 and that of offensive tackle Matteo Mele on June 26, 2017. At that pace, the team will still be recruiting to fill class of 2018 scholarship spots in December 2018. That feels like it could cause a problem.

The question is not a matter of who or how, but when. The team has intrigued as many as 20 hopeful football players. Now it’s simply getting to the point in time when player and university synch up the mutual interest.

Recently I had forecasted five bold predictions for June 2017. The team has accomplished three. I had forecasted that the team would be ranked as high as seventh nationally. The team extended offers and landed a commitment from an offensive lineman Matteo Mele. With this latest report, I am running three of the five. The remaining two open items are a tight end commitment as well as a defensive player commitment.

While the team still has time to hit the targets, I am at least somewhat satisfied at hitting better than .500 in a prediction article. It strengthens my confidence in projecting the Washington Football team as the PAC-12 Champs again this year.