Analysis: 5 Storylines to Watch at Washington Huskies Fall Camp
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Washington Huskies quarterback Demond Williams enters the huddle prior to running a play at spring practice. Credit: Demond Williams/Instagram [/caption]
Fall officially begins on July 29 this year.
There may be wannabe-scientists out there using phrases like “autumnal equinox” to persuade us that the first day of fall is September 22.
Don’t listen to them.
For the University of Washington football team, fall camp is here. The march toward the August 30 opener against Colorado State begins Tuesday.
Here are five things to keep an eye on over the next month with camp set to open on Montlake:
Offensive line battles
Assuming good health, it appeared during spring ball that three offensive linemen could be written in Sharpie on the Huskies’ depth chart: Carver Willis (left tackle), Landen Hatchett (center), and Drew Azzopardi (right tackle). Azzopardi, who struggled at times in 2024, looked like a different guy in the spring and took the majority of reps at right tackle. Geirean Hatchett, who spent last season at Oklahoma, seems to be a necessary senior leader at guard, and Paki Finau was also with the ones at guard for much of spring. The Huskies, however, are very high on true freshmen John Mills and Champ Taulealea. Each saw some time first-team reps at guard during spring. They will be pushing for playing time this fall, and it would not be a surprise if both get into more than four games and burn redshirts this season. The offensive and defensive lines should both be improved this year, and that improvement will be much needed to compete in the Big Ten.
Injury updates
Washington was relatively healthy during the spring, though some players were held out of live sessions as they recovered from prior injuries, surgeries, or minor tweaks suffered during spring.
It was learned during Big Ten Media Days last week that junior defensive lineman Russell Davis II will likely miss the season. Davis missed most of last year with injuries, but gave the Huskies some needed pass rush when healthy. Davis earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after sacking UCLA three times on November 15. Washington is thin — or at least young — in some positions, and health will be a key to preparing for and succeeding this season.
Receivers
Though talent is not lacking at the receiver position, the Huskies will have a lot of new faces at the position. Denzel Boston broke out last season with 63 catches, 834 yards, and eight touchdowns, and is being talked about nationwide as breaking out even further in 2025. Omari Evans, a transfer from Penn State, gives Washington some more game experience, though from another program. Neither participated in spring ball much due to injuries. The positive spin on that is it gave young receivers — when healthy — Rashid Williams, Audric Harris, Kevin Green Jr., Raiden Vines-Bright, Justice Williams, Chris Lawson, and Marcus Harris some first and second-team reps. Freshman Dezmen Roebuck and Deji Ajose, who arrived during summer, might also factor in during fall. The rotation behind Boston will be interesting, as Fisch in the past has kept his receiver rotation fairly tight.
Weights and measures
Fisch has spoken often about the need to get bigger. Quarterback Demond Williams Jr. is trying to get to 200 pounds. Willis is trying to stay above 300. It’s always interesting to compare the spring weights versus the fall ones to see who’s added some pounds, and then try to discern whether it’s the “good weight” most are looking for. A few players undoubtedly worked on shedding some unwanted weight and replacing it with muscle.
The quarterback
Since early in the 2024 season, Fisch has made it clear that Williams would be the starter in 2025. In limited time last season, he looked the part, completing 78 percent of his passes with an 8-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Though there were a lot of short completions, he also showed that he has plenty of arm strength to get the ball down the field when called upon.
He also displayed an elite burst when running the ball. We’ll have to wait until gametime to truly see his impact as a runner. He’ll be off limits to the defense during practice, so true runs and scrambles will be limited. The thing to look for in fall camp is his cohesion with the receiving group. With Boston and Evans missing most of the spring, Williams will have to build that along with getting a feel for the younger receivers behind them. It’ll also be interesting to see how accurate the deep ball looks, as he was prone to overthrowing receivers some during spring ball. Williams, who was sacked 21 times compared to 105 passing attempts last year, must also work on getting the ball out quicker.
