7 Questions Facing Huskies Heading into Spring Football

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Washington guard Champ Taulealea (73) could push for a starting spot on the Huskies offensive line during spring ball. Credit: Washington Athletics [/caption]

The Cherry blossoms emerging in the University of Washington quad are a sign of spring for most around campus. For UW football fans, however, winter truly ends on March 31 when spring ball begins for the Huskies.

Practices for the 2026 season start in just 10 days as Washington prepares for a campaign that begins with the Apple Cup on Sept. 5, still 168 days away. The Huskies will welcome 32 new players to practice, including 20 of the expected 25 members of the Class of 2026 freshmen and 12 scholarship transfers.

Here are some of the storylines heading into spring ball.

How Will Demond Williams Jr. Respond?

It’s been an eventful offseason for the UW starting quarterback, who announced on social media during a Jan. 6 memorial service for UW soccer player Mia Hamant that he was entering the transfer portal. Two days later, Williams decided to flip back to the Huskies.

It remains to be seen if Williams taking a couple of steps toward (presumably) LSU will create any lasting issues in his leadership role with the team. That may not reveal itself, publicly anyway, until some of UW’s bigger games this season. The microscope is likely to be more focused than ever on the junior quarterback by media and fans. Williams will be in his third year of playing for Washington. Expectations will be high, and the patience level could be low if Williams struggles in big games as he did at times during Washington’s four losses in 2025.

Head coach Jedd Fisch also made a late move in parting ways with offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jimmie Doughtery on Feb. 17, more than two months after the 2025 season concluded with a 38-10 win over Boise State at the LA Bowl on Dec. 13.

JP Losman, an offensive quality control coach last season, will fill Doughtery’s role as QB coach. Jedd Fisch will continue to call plays, and he brought in NFL veteran offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh as a senior offensive assistant.

How those three work together to get the most out of Williams will be a major key to whether or not the Huskies can contend for a spot in the College Football Playoff a year after finishing 9-4.

Will True Freshman Kodi Greene Start at Left Tackle?

Washington could potentially start four of the five players from the 2025 offensive line, but one major change is certain. Offensive line coach Michael Switzer must replace sixth-year senior Carver Willis, and it could be a true freshman who steps into the most important spot on the line.

Greene, a 6-foot-6, 320-pound five-star recruit out of Mater Dei High School (Calif.), will be given every opportunity to earn the starting left tackle position. It will be interesting to see if Greene steps immediately into first-team reps. John Mills, a true freshman starter at left guard last season, started with the second team last spring but saw doses of first-team reps increase gradually through spring and fall practices.

Mills is also a candidate to start at left tackle, along with fourth-year junior Kolt Dieterich, a transfer from Sam Houston State. If Greene starts on the left side, that could leave Dieterich as the backup to Greene and right tackle Drew Azzopardi. Redshirt Champ Taulealea could push seventh-year senior Geirean Hatchett, who started all 13 games at right guard last year.

If Mills were to start at tackle, that could allow both Hatchett and Taulealea to start. Center Landen Hatchett could be limited this spring after offseason hand surgery. Geirean Hatchett could be a candidate to back up the three interior positions, though coaches could also elect to go with redshirt freshman Lowen Colman-Brusa or junior walk-on Parker Cross as the backup at center. Switzer may move some of the line pieces around in the spring, though there was surprisingly little tinkering last year.

Which True Freshmen Will Play?

Nine of 27 scholarship true freshmen burned redshirts by playing in more than four regular-season games in 2025. How many from the 12th-ranked 2026 class — the highest-ranked in modern UW recruiting history — will play in 2026? If the line is nine, give me the under. But redshirts will burn on Montlake once again.

Barring injury, Kodi Greene is likely to see time on the offensive line as a starter or part-time player. Another player almost certain to play a role is the other star of the 2026 recruiting class, Derek Colman-Brusa, who was among the players at a press conference on Jan. 14. That meeting with the media was billed as a discussion of the 2026 offseason, but mostly revolved around the December Demond Williams Jr. circus. Colman-Brusa is likely to factor into the edge rotation as a key player or starter.

Brian Bonner Jr., a four-star running back listed at 6-1, 185, would seem to factor into the running back rotation that appears wide open. Jorday Clay, a 6-3 four-star receiver, could help fill the void left by Denzel Boston as a big-bodied threat.

Coaches have raved about linebacker Ramzak Fruean, though he enters a very crowded linebacker room. Gavin Day, a hard-hitting 6-3 safety, could work his way into the defensive backfield rotation. UW pushed hard for defensive lineman Tufanua Ioanatana Umu-Cais, and he could be a contributor to the rotation up front. Fellow defensive lineman JD Hill isn’t expected to arrive until summer, but he could factor in this fall as well.

There will likely be another player or two who surprise and crack the regular rotation this season, and several others who play in a handful of games while maintaining their redshirt status. While it won’t be fully clear who plays — well, until they play — spring reps with the 1s and 2s tell us a lot.

Which Receivers Will Run With 1s?

Washington lost starting X receiver Denzel Boston to the draft, and starting slot Raiden Vines-Bright opted for the transfer portal. Dezmen Roebuck, who emerged as a starter on the outside (Z) with 42 catches for 560 yards and seven touchdowns, would seem to be a candidate for the slot.

Rashid Williams opened the season as the starter at Z last season, but missed all but two games due to injuries. Chris Lawson caught 10 passes for 115 yards as a true freshman last season and will also be a candidate to start. Highly-touted four-star true freshmen Trez Davis and Mason James could also emerge.

The X position would seem to come down to 6-4 former Kennesaw State receiver Christian Moss (45 catches, 689 yards in 2025), 6-3 true freshman Jordan Clay and 6-3 Ohio State transfer Bodbeign Miller, an intriguing athlete who is a converted quarterback.

Will Jayden Limar Become the Lead Running Back?

Limar, a 5-11, 205-pound Oregon transfer out of Lake Stevens, Washington, enters the UW backfield with 95 carries for 442 yards in three seasons with the Ducks. The competition for carries seems wide open after the departures of Jonah Coleman (NFL) and Adam Mohammed (transfer portal). Electric true freshman Brian Bonner Jr. seemingly factors into the mix. Jordan Washington may be the fastest player on the team, and the junior is likely to get every chance at more carries this season.

Coaches have raved about sophomore Quaid Carr. Redshirt freshman Julian McMahan and true freshman Ansue Sanoe give UW bigger-bodied options, and one of them could find a role as a short-yardage back. While running back success is hard to decipher in spring ball when hitting is extremely limited, it will be interesting to see who gets reps. Will Bonner be thrown into the fray immediately, or will he have to surpass Limar, Washington and Carr for time with the 1s and 2s?

How Can UW Utilize Linebacker Depth?

Washington has a wealth of talent at inside linebacker. Jacob Manu preserved his redshirt last season, playing in four games after an ACL injury in 2024 at Arizona. Zaydrius Rainey-Sale played well as a true freshman last season, as did Xe’ree Alexander, who emerged as the team’s second-leading tackler. Taariq “Buddah” Al-Uqdah started the first three games before suffering a knee injury.

That foursome is likely the reason Deven Bryant, the team’s third-leading tackler in 2025, may have seen playing time difficult to come by for 2026 when he entered the portal. True freshman Ramzak Fruean also appears talented enough to get on the field.

It will be difficult for inside linebackers coach Brian Odom to utilize all five in two spots throughout the season. One thing to watch this spring will be if any of them spend some time at edge. Al-Uqdah and Manu appear to be pure inside players, but the others are long athletes who could factor into the pass rush this season.

Can Jason Kaufusi Find a Solid Defensive Line Rotation?

With support perhaps coming from the linebacker spots, the Huskies will also have true freshman Derek Colman-Brusa and Ohio State transfer Logan George in the edge mix. Isaiah Ward, who missed five games last season, will also factor into the mix, along with oft-injured Russell Davis II. Devin Hyde played as a true freshman last season and could fit in as well. Colman-Brusa and George would seem to be first in line, but there’s a decent amount of uncertainty in who could emerge as regular rotational players.

The interior defensive line is once again a mostly rebuilt product. Ellineus Davis is a rare mainstay from last season, and will be in line for a major role in the middle again this year. After that, UW will rely heavily on transfers Darin Conley (junior, Ball State), DeSean Watts (junior, Sacramento State) and Kai McClendon (sophomore, Mississippi State). McClendon missed last season after tearing an ACL in the spring of 2025, and his status for UW spring ball will be one to watch.

Omar Khan has played in one game in his two seasons at UW, so it seems like it’s now or never time for the redshirt sophomore from Cypress, Texas to work into the rotation. True freshmen Tufanua Ioanatana Umu-Cais could also factor in, along with JD Hill when he arrives.

Though UW’s front was not dynamic in 2025, it held up well enough for UW to be 15th in FBS in points allowed. The ability of Kaufusi and defensive coordinator Ryan Walters to find a rotation that can once again hold up in the Big Ten will go a long way towards Washington’s defense keeping the Huskies in games this year.