This will be a different take on the regular Monday Morning Recruiting segment. This morning we take a look at a new signee, but this one is for Realdawg.com.

It’s no secret that regular content has been different the past few months; COVID took a toll on many aspects of Realdawg.com and our regular coverage. Our biggest loss came from ad revenue; as businesses began to suffer, their advertising budgets suffered as well. Consequently, we weren’t receiving the payouts from them as we usually had, losing hundred and hundreds of dollars every month.

Our subscriber base stayed strong though, but let’s face it — we had little to offer.

No spring football, no unofficial visitors during the spring, no combines, no camps, no fall camp, no football until November — and then — only four games to speak of.

Washington won the Pac-12 North, but couldn’t go to the championship game, then no visits, no coaches on the road, and while we were able to break some big recruiting news with commits and even news about players leaving the team, as someone who’s covered recruiting and the Huskies for 21 years, I suffered from serious writer’s block.

Many of us have spent the past 12 months being frustrated on a daily basis. So I came up with a plan:

First, turn off the news. There’s enough craziness right now to make anyone want to drive off a cliff. When did we collapse into a puddle of mud? Slinging handfuls at each other on our message boards? What a disgrace when the sport we love, the one that is supposed to be the “great distractor” isn’t even there to distract us?

Second, delegate.

I’ve never been one to want to share my position with anyone else. I have had a lot of reporters come and go over the years whose main concern was covering the teams rather than recruiting; that was always my baby.

At one time I had Lars Hanson, who has now moved onto his own stage and I am very proud of him, and often times I’ve thought “If I could just find the right person, I could let go of the reins a little bit”.

I’m going to be 60 this year! I was still in my 30’s when I started out on this journey. I’m still just as hungry as I was in the beginning, but with social media and the number of competitors now (much more than when I started), I have needed help with the daily demands of this industry.

So after some prayer and honest reflection about where I am at, personally and professionally, I put my feelers out and had a huge response from several very qualified individuals, but when I received an application from Roman Tomashoff of The Husky Haul, I knew I had found that “right person”.

Roman has been covering the Huskies for several years; whether it be with the Everett Daily Herald, his coverage of baseball, the Seahawks,  or podcasting on the Pac-12, Roman began to really make a name for himself in his work with the Husky Haul. His analysis and insight have grown his brand enough that, when I announced on Twitter that I was hiring him, I received several messages from Husky fans telling me that this was a great hire. Husky Nation gave a their seal of approval.

After a long conversation with Roman and doing my research, I offered him the job — and he accepted.

This was a home-run for Realdawg.com and I can’t wait to work with Roman and what he brings to this site.

Roman is a guy that gets around to the combines, camps, knows all the right people, and knows Husky Football inside and out, so the real winners here are our subscribers.

I thought it was only appropriate to do a Q and A with Roman in order to properly introduce him to Husky Nation on Realdawg.com. And if you want to know what his “angle” is, read on…

I asked him a series of questions about his thoughts on the Huskies, and here’s what he had to say.

The Huskies have had some early projections as a top 15 team going into 2021, do you agree that this is a good place for them to start? 

“I think that’s a great starting point for them. In 2016, most rankings had them placed around 14th, and that season turned out as well as it could have. Replacing Elijah Molden and Keith Taylor is going to be tough, but with starters returning everywhere else, the Huskies are going to be one of the most exciting teams in the nation.”

Who do you see really stepping up in 2021?

“On defense, it’s going to be a big year for Kyler Gordon. He’s going to get a lot of reps, and he has some big shoes to fill, but he’s shown a lot of growth every year, and this year will be no different. On offense, I’m very excited to see the progression of Jalen McMillan and Rome Odunze. I firmly believe that Cade Otton is the best tight end in the country, and he’s going to command a lot of attention over the middle of the field. Having two highly skilled receivers in Odunze and McMillan that can stretch the field is going to make this offense tough to deal with.”

In regards to recruiting, what position do you feel is the most important for the class of 2022? 

“Without a doubt, the offensive line. Scott Huff doesn’t have to leave the state to secure arguably the best OL class in the nation, and Josh Conerly and Malik Agbo would be a huge haul as it is, but adding Dave Iuli, Vega Ioane, and Mark Nabou would rival the 2020 class as the best in school history.”

If you could pick an MVP for the class of 2021, who would it be? 

“Easily Sam Huard. Sam has an NFL-ready arm right now, and while he’s got a slight frame, he’s the best quarterback prospect in the country. He’s helped pull in recruits for the 2020, 2021, and 2022 class already, and once he gets on the field, he might make a case for himself as the best quarterback in school history.”

What are your thoughts on JTT and Emeka Egbuka leaving the state? Are you a believer in “building the fence”? And if so, how do Husky fans reconcile a local 5-star leaving the state of Washington in 2021?

“Building the fence is the most important thing to do with all the talent that the state of Washington has churned out over the last few seasons. Guys from Washington that have grown up during the Chris Petersen era are the best salesmen for the program, and they can show the top players from around the country how special the campus and culture are on Montlake. Hardcore Husky fans will probably never get over guys like JTT and Egbuka leaving the state, but if they feel that another school is the best decision for them, so be it. It’ll be tough to watch them play in anything except purple and gold, and I trust that Jimmy Lake knows that he can’t let this continue to happen if he wants to be in the hunt for a national championship.”

And with that, I want all of you to welcome Roman Tomashoff to the Realdawg Family. And believe me, as long as there’s still ice in my veins when I log onto my laptop in the morning and put on my recruiting-guru hat, Realdawg.com will continue to shatter the glass ceiling of independent sites getting along quite nicely against the big recruiting networks.

As I always say: Realdawg.com stands on its own, because we CAN.

Happy Monday Dawgs!

Follow us on Twitter!

@Realdawg2021
@rtomashoff34
@RJRobbins-Dahlin
@KyleWaltos24