SEATTLE (AP) - Jake Locker is pretty content not taking time to read stories about his Washington football team.

But with all the news around his team since the end of the 2007 season, Washington's star quarterback did find himself checking out a story or two.

From boosters offering donations if coach Tyrone Willingham was fired, to an embarrassing newspaper series on past violent crimes of players from Washington's last winning teams, before Willingham arrived, it wasn't the best offseason for Washington.

Locker thinks all the criticism and scrutiny may end up having a net benefit for the Huskies.

"We're all playing for each other this year and we all understand that," Locker said Tuesday. "I think it's something that will motivate us a little bit more."

Washington begins its spring football practices on Thursday, finally providing an on-field distraction to all the off-field drama of the last few months.

Willingham wasn't directly asked about his job security on Tuesday, instead being mostly grilled on position changes, the depth chart and his goals for the 15 practices between Thursday and the Huskies' spring game on April 26.

"There are some very nice elements to our team that give us an outstanding outlook on the season upcoming," Willingham said. "We're eager to get to it, and hopefully the spring will be the stepping stone we need to be very successful."

Last year, the question for Washington was how Locker would do as a freshman quarterback. Quite well, it turned out. He was named Pac-10 freshman of the year after throwing for 2,062 yards and running for another 986 yards, a modern Pac-10 record for a quarterback.

Now the task is building the talent around him, as the Huskies need to replace all their major offensive skill position players. Wide receiver, specifically, will be a major competition during the spring that's likely to carry over into the summer. The Huskies have gone so far as to put freshman Chris Polk, who enrolled at the start of winter quarter after graduating high school early, at the top of the depth chart at one receiver position - even before he's caught a pass in a formal practice.

"The whole idea of this is trying to sprinkle some talent around Jake, so he doesn't have to feel he's got to put this whole university on his back," Washington offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said. "That's not fair and he doesn't need to do that."

Locker has taken the lead this winter in getting acquainted with his young receivers, pulling them together at least four times a week for workouts.

Locker also needs to find a dependable backfield mate, as running back Louis Rankin - the Huskies' first 1,000-yard rusher in more than a decade - is gone. Brandon Johnson, who ran for 196 yards as a freshman, is likely to win the job.

Defensively, the Huskies are seeking any improvement, because it could not have been much worse in 2007. Washington had the worst defense statistically in school history, giving up 446.4 yards per game and allowing record-setting performances to Oregon (rushing) and Arizona (passing) in consecutive weeks.

Insert new defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, who brings his NFL pedigree to the college game for the first time. Much of spring practice will be a joint getting-to-know-you period, with the Huskies' defensive players learning how Donatell coaches and Donatell discovering the talent he'll work with.

"That's as important as anything," Donatell said. "One of my goals is I want to find strengths I want to bring out and weaknesses I need to mask."