> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Camp Takeaways: Huskies Putting the Fun in Fundamentals on Day 1 - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/camp-takeaways-washington-huskies-putting-fun-fundamentals/ - Published: 2025-07-31T01:44:42.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T05:36:59.000Z - Author: Aaron Coe - Tags: Analysis, Washington Football, Huskies, Jedd Fisch, Offensive line, Denzel Boston, Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, Raiden Vines-Bright, Ryan Otton, Jacob Manu, Dylan Robinson \[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="4030"\] ![ Washington Huskies receiver Denzel Boston works on an individual drill during UW's first practice of fall camp on Thursday, July 30, 2025 at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington. Credit: Aaron Coe/Emerald City Spectrum ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/uw-boston-250730-format-original.jpg) Washington Huskies receiver Denzel Boston works on an individual drill during UW's first practice of fall camp on Thursday, July 30, 2025 at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington. Credit: Aaron Coe/Emerald City Spectrum \[/caption\] SEATTLE, Wash. — The weather may have been the biggest highlight of a Washington football fall camp that opened under blue skies and temperatures in the upper mid-70s on Wednesday at Husky Stadium. The temperatures will most certainly change over the next few months, and time will tell how different the depth chart looks as grey skies take over. The Huskies’ first practice of the fall was a light one, running about two hours without pads or any 11-on-11 or 7-on-7 sessions. Washington head coach Jedd Fisch and his staff mostly ran fundamental drills, and there was not much competition. A few players likely to figure into meaningful playing time are being eased back into team drills as they continue to recover from prior injuries, but for the most part, the Huskies appeared to be healthy and ready to get the season going. “We got started today the way we like to get started, which is a real fundamental focus,” Fisch said. “We don’t really want to start in training camp, right against each other day one or two. Mix in a little bit tomorrow, but really, what’s important to us right now is to emphasize fundamentals, get back into the flow of things. We've got a lot of days before we play our first game.” The Huskies will hold a similar practice Thursday before starting to ramp things up on Friday, according to Fisch. Here are some takeaways from the first day of fall camp: ### Boston Working Way Back Much is expected of Denzel Boston this season, and the coaching staff is working the 6-2 junior receiver back into practice slowly after he missed most of spring while recovering from an offseason “cleanup” procedure. While he worked individually off to the side, true freshman Raiden Vines-Bright, the star of the spring game, spent a great deal of time at the X receiver position. Omari Evans, a transfer from Penn State who also missed much of spring, spent some time in the slot on Wednesday. Fisch said Evans, Audric Harris, and Kevin Green Jr. are all in the mix to play inside. The beneficiary of Evans’ potential move to the slot may be Vines-Bright or Rashid Williams, who have both shown potential. “I think Omari is going to be a big asset to us in the slot,” Fisch said. “I don’t see him only being an outside receiver by any means, so we’ll have to figure out exactly where that fits in. But, there’s a nice competition with Audric, Kevin Green, and Omari. There’s a nice competition with Omari, Raiden on the outside — and Rashid. “You know, I would say the only position that’s locked at the receiver is Denzel is going to be our X.” Fisch said on Tuesday that he’ll once again primarily use four receivers, so that should be one of the better camp battles. ### True Freshmen O-Linemen Making a Push In position group sessions, the offensive line looked as it did for much of spring: senior Carver Willis (left tackle), redshirt freshman Paki Finau (left guard), junior Landen Hatchett (center), senior Geirean Hatchett (right guard) and junior Drew Azzopardi (right tackle). Zachary Henning, with the twos most often at center, also took some first-team reps at left guard. It’s likely that offensive line coach Michael Switzer will work some different combinations during camp, so we’ll see if that starting group is the one that takes the field at Husky Stadium on August 30 against Colorado State. True freshmen John Mills and Champ Taulealea both seem entrenched on the second team, which means it’s likely that one or both will play in more than four games this season and burn a redshirt. In the drills that I watched, it appeared that tackles Maximus McCree and Soane Faasolo may have switched sides from the spring. McCree worked at left tackle in drills while Faasolo was on the right. Switzer mentioned yesterday that McCree, in particular, could offer some challenge to Azzopardi’s right tackle spot. ### Freshman Corner Makes Early Impression Perhaps the least surprising sight on Day 1 was the pair of 6-4 senior cornerbacks, Tacario Davis and Ephesians Prysock, running with the ones. The second group, however, including true freshman Dylan Robinson, a 6-3, 195-pound corner from Bonita High School in La Verne, Calif. Robinson, a four-star recruit, missed spring ball while finishing high school, but has made a quick impression on coaches since arriving during summer. “Dylan Robinson is going to be a really special player for us,” Fisch said. “He absolutely crushed it in the weight room this summer.” ### Jacob Manu Pushes All the Envelopes Manu, a senior transfer who was a first-team linebacker for Fisch at Arizona, suffered an ACL injury against Colorado in October of the 2024 season. He was in uniform at Wednesday’s practice, though he did not participate in team drills. It was initially thought that Manu might sit out until the final four games, which would allow him to redshirt. Fisch said Wednesday that Manu could possibly be ready for the opener “as long as there are no setbacks.” Fisch told a story about Manu as a freshman on the Arizona scout team, playing so hard that the No. 1 offense struggled with drills. “I told him, you need to go play with those guys (the second team), because you’re messing up my team,” Fisch said. “There is an intensity with the way that Jacob plays that I love him on Saturdays, but he’s a pain during the week.” Linebackers coach Brian Odom and trainers may need to save Manu from himself as Fisch once saved his offense from the inside linebacker to make sure he doesn’t push the recovery process too hard. ### Otton Medically Retires and Other Injury News Coaches indicated during the spring that tight end Ryan Otton was trying to work his way back from injury, but the former four-star recruit from Tumwater High School (Olympia, Wash.) was unable to return from injuries that rocked him during his three years at Washington. The younger brother of former Huskies and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton saw limited game time in 2022 and 2023 but missed all of 2024\. Quarterback Shea Kuykendall, who spent some of the early spring sessions with the No. 2 offense before ceding that role to Kai Horton, will miss the season with an injury, Fisch said. Kuykendall, a transfer from Northern Colorado, will remain with the team as a student manager. Twin defensive linemen Armon and Jayvon Parker are among a short list of players Fisch said will be brought along slowly but could be ready for the season opener, provided setbacks can be avoided. Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, a true freshman linebacker who was Fisch’s top 2025 recruit, also worked on the side as he recovers from an ACL injury suffered during his senior season at Bethel High School (Spanaway, Wash.).