Washington Huskies release first depth chart of 2021 season
The wait is finally over.
This weekend college football returns to Seattle, when the Washington Huskies open their season against Montana, playing in front of fans for the first time since the 2019 edition of the Apple Cup.
Four weeks of preseason practices conclude this week when the Grizzlies visit Montlake, and the Huskies begin what is expected to be a full schedule after playing only four games in 2020.
UW released its first depth chart of the season Monday, now only days away from hosting its Week 1 opponent. Here is a breakdown of each position group, with the projected starters listed in bold, as the Huskies prepare to take the field against Montana at 5 p.m. Saturday.
OFFENSE
QUARTERBACKS
DYLAN MORRIS, 6-0, 200, R-fr. (Puyallup, Wash.)
Patrick O’Brien, 6-5, 230, gr. (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) OR
Sam Huard, 6-2, 190, fr. (Bellevue, Wash.)
The skinny: Huskies coach Jimmy Lake cleared up any questions about UW’s quarterback battle on Day 1 of camp. When asked that afternoon about a possible timeline for solidifying the position, he responded: “Well, Dylan Morris is our starter. Dylan Morris is our starter, so that sounds solidified to me.” The former Graham-Kapowsin High School standout has been running the No. 1 offense throughout fall camp, has been consistent in his second season as UW’s starter, and impressed in the Huskies’ final scrimmage open to media members. During the two-hour scrimmage, Morris led the offense on six drives, with an unofficial stat line of 17-of-26 passing for 221 yards, two passing touchdowns of 27 and 15 yards, and a 3-yard rushing score. Morris debuted for the Huskies last season as a redshirt freshman, started each of their four games, and threw for 897 yards and four touchdowns to three interceptions on 67-of-110 passing, while adding two more rushing touchdowns. Here’s what Lake had to say Monday about Morris’ progress the past year: “Now he’s started four college football games, where last year he had never played football ever in a college football atmosphere. He just went through a whole offseason that was regular for the first time — 2020 was not regular, as we all know. And he’s taken his game to new heights.” … O’Brien joined the Huskies last winter as a graduate transfer after spending the past two seasons at Colorado State, where he completed 254-of-418 passes for 3,394 yards and 16 touchdowns to nine interceptions across 15 games. He also previously played at Nebraska, appearing in four games for the Cornhuskers in 2017. O’Brien ran the No. 2 offense early on in fall camp, while Huard was running the No. 3 offense, but did not participate in the final two practices open to the media, including the Huskies’ scrimmage earlier this month, and was at one point seen with a brace on his right throwing hand, leaving his availability unclear. … Huard is the only true freshman listed on the Week 1 depth chart. The five-star passer from Kennedy Catholic ended his high school career this spring by rewriting state history. In his 35 games with the Lancers, Huard completed 847-of-1,356 passes for a record-breaking 13,226 yards and 153 touchdowns. He enrolled early at UW to participate in spring camp, and continued to look more comfortable in the Huskies’ offense during open practices this fall, including ending the scrimmage earlier this month with a 16-yard touchdown pass while unofficially throwing for 225 yards on 17-of-30 passing across six drives.
TAILBACKS
RICHARD NEWTON, 6-0, 215, soph. (Lancaster, Calif.) OR
CAMERON DAVIS, 6-0, 205, R-fr. (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.)
Kamari Pleasant, 6-0, 225, sr. (Rialto, Calif.) OR
Sean McGrew, 5-7, 180, sr. (Torrance, Calif.)
The skinny: There is no shortage of experience in this group. The four tailbacks listed here have combined for nearly 2,000 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns during their careers to this point. … Newton broke out as a redshirt freshman in 2019 with 498 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns in 2019, second only that season to 1,000-yard rusher Salvon Ahmed, who is now with the Dolphins. He played in UW’s first two games last fall, collecting 122 yards and two touchdowns, but didn’t appear in the final two. Newton said he spent his offseason trying to get “more bouncy and light” on his feet, and broke loose for a long, 65-yard touchdown run four days into camp. The Huskies have taken notice. “He’s lean. He looks fast. I’m expecting Rich to have a big year,” Lake said earlier in camp. … Davis played in two games as a true freshman two seasons ago, appeared in all four last fall as a redshirt freshman, collecting 67 yards on his 15 carries, and also had a steady workload during the two weeks of practices open to the media this fall. … Pleasant and McGrew are both entering their sixth year with UW’s program, and were the Huskies’ two leading rushers in the shortened 2020 season, both playing in each of the four games. McGrew led the way with 227 yards and four touchdowns on 43 attempts, while Pleasant added 144 yards and three score on 34 carries. … This running backs room is even deeper, too. Beyond the four listed, second-year freshmen Sam Adams II and Jay’Veon Sunday and true freshman Caleb Berry also took plenty of reps in camp.
WIDE RECEIVERS
JA’LYNN POLK, 6-2, 190, fr. (Lufkin, Texas)
Taj Davis, 6-1, 195, R-fr. (Chino, Calif.)
TERRELL BYNUM, 6-1, 190, jr. (Long Beach, Calif.)
Jalen McMillan, 6-1, 180, fr. (Fresno, Calif.) OR
Sawyer Racanelli, 6-2, 210, fr. (Brush Prairie, Wash.)
ROME ODUNZE, 6-3, 200, fr. (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Giles Jackson, 5-9, 185, soph. (Antioch, Calif.)
The skinny: Following the scrimmage earlier this month, here’s what Lake had to say about this receivers group, which is young, but not lacking in talent: “I think this is the toughest, grittiest group that we’ve had. They’re competitive. They don’t back down. They go up and get the ball. I’ve shown numerous plays to our whole team of those guys competing against our top guys on defense and they’re coming down with the football. Again, if they do that in practice, that’s going to happen in the game.” … Bynum, entering his fifth year, has the most experience in the room, having appeared in 26 games the past three seasons. He caught eight passes for 130 yards in three games last season, and is UW’s top returning wide receiver from 2020. … Odunze played in all four games as a true freshman for the Huskies last season, catching six passes for 72 yards. “All you’ve got to do is just watch him, you can see his work ethic is just off the charts,” Lake said. “He’s hard to cover, he’s got size that you can’t teach, he has speed that you can’t teach, and he has the right mentality.” … It appeared early in camp that McMillan would be the third starting receiver for the Huskies, but he did not play in the scrimmage with an apparent hand injury, and his availability is unclear. … Enter Polk, who played in 10 games as a true freshman for Texas Tech last season before transferring to UW. Lake said Polk is “game-changing in catching the football,” and noted the receiver’s work ethic. “What I love about him is the mentality that he brings every single day to practice,” Lake said. “He’s tough. He goes up and he makes the tough catches with DBs draped all over him, grabbing him, pulling his jersey off, and he still makes those catches. He knows who to block in the run game. I told him the other day, with his mentality, he could play DB for us. He really could. He could play safety, he could pay nickel, he could play corner. And I want all of our receivers to be that way.” … Davis put on a show during UW’s recent scrimmage, finishing unofficially with 12 catches for 186 yards, with all but two of his catches completed for 10 or more yards.
TIGHT ENDS
CADE OTTON, 6-5, 250, jr. (Tumwater, Wash.)
Mark Redman, 6-6, 250, fr. (Newport Beach, Calif.) OR
Quentin Moore, 6-5, 250, soph. (Kenmore, Wash.)
JACK WESTOVER, 6-3, 250, soph. (Bellevue, Wash.) OR
DEVIN CULP, 6-4, 250, soph. (Spokane, Wash.)
The skinny: Otton led the Huskies in receiving last season (18 catches, 258 yards, three TDs) on his way to All-Pac-12 first-team honors. The former Tumwater standout has started 27 of 31 games for the Huskies in the three seasons he has played so far, and has 63 catches for 776 yards and eight touchdowns in his career. “He’s Ol’ Reliable,” Morris said earlier this month. “Anytime something’s going bad, I just find 87. … I think he just brings so many things to the table, between the run game and the pass game. He’s a different type of tight end.” … Westover played in all four of UW’s games last season, while Culp appeared in two, and both made some notable catches in camp this fall. Westover also played in all 13 of the Huskies’ games in 2019, and Culp appeared in 12.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Left tackle
JAXSON KIRKLAND, 6-7, 310, jr. (Portland, Ore.)
Troy Fautanu, 6-4, 310, R-fr. (Henderson, Nev.)
Left guard
JULIUS BUELOW, 6-8, 330, R-fr. (Kapolei, Hawaii)
Ulumoo Ale, 6-6, 355, soph. (Tacoma, Wash.)
Center
LUKE WATTENBERG, 6-5, 300, sr. (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.)
Cory Luciano, 6-4, 295, jr. (Danville, Calif.)
Right guard
HENRY BAINIVALU, 6-6, 330, jr. (Sammamish, Wash.)
Nate Kalepo, 6-6, 330, R-fr. (Renton, Wash.)
Right tackle
VICTOR CURNE, 6-3, 315, soph. (Houston, Texas)
Matteo Mele, 6-5, 290, soph. (Tucson, Ariz.)
The skinny: When Lake was asked Monday about the strengths of this Huskies team, he singled out this group, and this group only. “The first thing is our offensive line,” he said. “I think we are extremely veteran, talented and deep — and very deep — on our offensive line. I would say that is a definite strength of ours. And then I’ll leave it right there.” Four of the projected starters — Kirkland, Wattenberg, Bainivalu and Curne — started every game for the Huskies last season, while Buelow is listed as a starter for the first time after debuting in 2020, ahead of Ale, who started the four games at left guard last fall. Kirkland is a returning All-Pac-12 first-teamer, while Wattenberg, Bainivalu and Curne all received honorable mention nods in 2020. And the depth doesn’t stop there. “I think the talent we have in that room, some of our backups and even backup backup guys could start for a lot of places,” Lake said. “So it is a pleasure to have so much depth at that position, which I think is the most critical position on a football team.”
DEFENSE
DEFENSIVE LINE
TULI LETULIGASENOA, 6-2, 300, soph. (Concord, Calif.)
Jacob Bandes, 6-2, 295, R-fr. (Pittsburg, Calif.)
SAM TAIMANI, 6-2, 330, soph. (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Faatui Tuitele, 6-3, 305, R-fr. (Honolulu, Hawaii)
The skinny: Both Letuligasenoa and Taimani return starting experience to the defensive line, and both have played regularly since joining the Huskies in the 2018 recruiting class and redshirting their first season with the program. Letuligasenoa played in 12 of 13 games UW’s last full season in 2019, finishing with 23 tackles, including two for losses and a sack, and played in two games last season, starting one. Taimani started all four games last season for the Huskies, finishing with 10 tackles. He played in all 13 games in 2019, tallying 16 tackles, including one for a loss.
LINEBACKERS
Outside linebackers
COOPER MCDONALD, 6-3, 245, fr. (Haslet, Texas)
Jeremiah Martin, 6-3, 270, jr. (San Bernardino, Calif.) OR
Bralen Trice, 6-4, 260, R-fr. (Phoenix, Ariz.)
RYAN BOWMAN, 6-1, 280, sr. (Bellevue, Wash.)
Sav’ell Smalls, 6-3, 250, fr. (Seattle, Wash.)
Inside linebackers
JACKSON SIRMON, 6-3, 235, soph. (Brentwood, Tenn.)
M.J. Tafisi, 6-0, 230, soph. (West Jordan, Utah)
EDEFUAN ULOFOSHIO, 6-1, 235, soph. (Anchorage, Alaska)
Daniel Heimuli, 6-0, 225, R-fr. (East Palo Alto, Calif.) OR
Carson Bruener, 6-2, 230, fr. (Woodinville, Wash.)
The skinny: Bowman is one of five players on this Huskies roster who have been with the program since 2016, and in his sixth year, the veteran outside linebacker has become a key piece of UW’s defense. He has appeared in 42 games in his career and made 19 starts on the way to compiling 102 total tackles, including 24 1/2 for losses and 14 sacks, and was a second-team All-Pac-12 performer in 2019. … McDonald is listed in the other starting spot at outside linebacker after playing in all four games last season as a true freshman. … The Huskies expect to see Zion Tupuola-Fetui, who was an All-American and All-Pac-12 first-teamer in 2020, back at some point this season. Tupuola-Fetui ruptured his left Achilles tendon during spring camp, but Lake indicated on the first day of fall practices the standout outside linebacker is ahead of schedule in his recovery. “He will for sure be seeing the field in 2021,” Lake said. “It’s been exciting watching him. We knew he was going to attack his rehab, and he is way ahead of where our doctors thought he was going to be. So, we’re excited about that.” … Ulofoshio was named a preseason first-team All-American by Pro Football Focus after tallying 47 total tackles in four starts in 2020 and earning second-team All-Pac-12 honors. In three seasons, he has collected 96 total tackles, including 4 1/2 for losses and four sacks, while also forces four fumbles and recovering two. “Heʼs the first one here. He watches more tape than anybody on defense. He has earned everything, and itʼs all been through hard work,” Lake said recently. … Sirmon started all four games last fall, finishing with 27 total tackles, including 1 1/2 for losses after playing in all 13 games in 2019.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
TRENT MCDUFFIE, 5-11, 195, soph. (Westminster, Calif.)
Jacobe Covington, 6-2, 195, fr. (Chandler, Ariz.)
KYLER GORDON, 6-0, 200, soph. (Mukilteo, Wash.)
Mishael Powell, 6-1, 200, R-fr. (Seattle, Wash.)
KAMREN FABICULANAN, 6-1, 190, R-fr. (Camarillo, Calif.)
Alex Cook, 6-1, 195, jr. (Sacramento, Calif.) OR
Asa Turner, 6-3, 205, soph. (Carlsbad, Calif.)
JULIUS IRVIN, 6-1, 185, soph. (Anaheim, Calif.)
Cameron Williams, 6-0, 200, soph. (Bakersfield, Calif.)
BRENDAN RADLEY-HILES, 5-9, 180, jr. (Inglewood, Calif.)
Dominique Hampton, 6-2, 220, soph. (Glendale, Ariz.)
The skinny: McDuffie and Gordon are locked into the two starting cornerback spots after taking most of the first-team reps during camp. McDuffie started all four games in 2020 and was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection after tallying 14 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble. He started 11 of 13 games as a true freshman in 2019, breaking out with 45 tackles, an interception, two forced fumbles and three recoveries. Gordon made one start in four appearances last season and was an honorable mention All-Pac-12 pick, finishing with 18 tackles, including one for a loss and a forced fumble. He was an honorable mention selection as a redshirt freshman, too, appearing in all 13 games and tallying 32 tackles, one for a loss, four passes defended and a fumble recovery. … The Huskies’ plans at safety and nickel, as they have been throughout camp, are less clear, with several players in the mix, but for Week 1, Fabiculanan, Irvin and Radley-Hiles are listed as the projected starters.
SPECIALISTS
Kicker
PEYTON HENRY, 6-0, 195, jr. (Danville, Calif.)
Tim Horn, 6-3, 220, soph. (Honolulu, Hawaii)
Punter
RACE PORTER, 6-3, 190, sr. (Seattle, Wash.)
Kickoff return
GILES JACKSON, 5-9, 185, soph. (Antioch, Calif.) OR
CAMERON DAVIS, 6-0, 205, R-fr. (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.)
Punt return
TRENT MCDUFFIE, 5-11, 195, soph. (Westminster, Calif.)
Long snapper
JADEN GREEN, 5-10, 210, fr. (Gilbert, Ariz.)
Holder
RACE PORTER, 6-3, 190, sr. (Seattle, Wash.)
The skinny: Henry resumes his role as the Huskies’ place kicker for a fourth season after finishing 6-for-9 on field goal attempts in 2020. He is 41-for-52 on field goal attempts in his career to this point, and 105-for-107 on extra points. … Porter returns as UW’s starting punter and holder. He averaged 42.4 yards per punt in 2020. … Lake offered his thoughts on each of UW’s projected kickoff and punt returners during his Monday press conference. Here’s what he said about Jackson, who tallied 354 kickoff return yards at Michigan last season, including a 95-yard touchdown: “Giles Jackson is obviously explosive. He’s also one of our faster players, who’s already done it for another team. Now he’s shown that he’s very, very capable of doing that, which we’ve seen in practice.” Lake also noted Davis’ explosiveness: “He has that next gear where he can take it to the house. And so we put him back there, he’s strong, he’s big. We feel he’s going to be a difficult return man for a kickoff team to bring down just with one guy. They’re going to need multiple guys to bring him down. Just like they do on defense.” And here’s what he said about McDuffie as a punt returner: “I really love when defensive guys are return guys. I really like that. It really shows off their ball skills, their ball awareness. Trent’s one of our faster players. He’s really good with the ball in his hands. So that’s going to be exciting. It was exciting last year.”
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 9:06 PM with the headline "Washington Huskies release first depth chart of 2021 season."
