2026 Big Ten Football Team Talent Preview: Washington Huskies

For the last several summers I’ve come out with my team talent preview profiles for every team in Washington’s conference starting around the end of June to get us through the football doldrums. Let’s see if I met that deadline this time around and…crap. Looks like I hit the snooze button a couple hundred times.

Real life priorities mean that I couldn’t get a full 18-part series released but I didn’t want to completely let down our readership. And also I was just really curious to see where the Huskies would wind up which means going through all the work of updating everyone’s roster.

Because I didn’t finish those roster updates until mid-August it means I didn’t have time to put out the full position-by-position previews for every team and instead condensing it into smaller write ups with my full length article on Washington followed by the 18 through 1 rankings in a 3-part series.

You can find my methodology at the beginning of last year’s Maryland article when they were 18th overall. But the essence is that I’m combining recruiting rankings with playing time and performance when on the field to come up with a raw talent score and then provide an adjustment based on position and placement on the roster. Positions that rotate more often might get points from the 3rd guy on the 2-deep while others don’t.

(Names in bold are projected starters by Phil Steele. Otherwise, names are listed in order of scoring in the talent ranking system)

Average 247 Composite Rating of Phil Steele Starter: 0.881 (6th)

Average # of Snaps Played by Phil Steele Starter: 863 (10th)

Average Career PFF grade of Phil Steele Starter: 66.8 (10th)

Starter- Demond Williams Jr. (94)

Reserves- Elijah Brown (65), Derek Zammit (47), Dash Beierly (33), Treston Kini McMillan (30)

Demond moves up from 6th to 4th in the conference in these rankings from last offseason after an impressive sophomore season despite a few duds against elite opponents. The only three players ahead of him (Moore, Sayin, Iamaleava) were all 5-star QBs coming out of high school. Williams though has the 2nd highest career PFF grade and performs well in my adjusted snaps metric which factors in his total snaps based on his age.

Washington comes in at 3rd overall for the position because Elijah Brown gives them a solid back-up option as a former 4-star recruit who has P4 starting experience even if his numbers weren’t stellar with Stanford. It’s enough to put him at 23rd overall which gives the Huskies one of the better backup situations in the conference in these rankings behind just Northwestern, USC, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.

Starter- Jayden Limar (67)

Reserves- Trey Cooley (59), Brian Bonner (57), Jordan Washington (54), Ansu Sanoe (42), Julian McMahon (28), Quaid Carr (24)

If there’s a fundamental flaw with the Husky roster, it’s running back. The coaching staff has talked up Quaid Carr and there’s seemingly a reason he is the favorite to start despite coming way down in these rankings. But from an analytics perspective he was a mid 3-star recruit who played just 6 total snaps as a true freshman. We don’t have any on-field evidence yet to suggest he’s a starting caliber back in the Big Ten even if that winds up being the case. He’ll almost certainly outperform the score of 24 here but he’s got big shoes to fill with the departures of Jonah Coleman and Adam Mohamed.

The highest finisher in the rankings for Washington is Oregon transfer Jayden Limar who is 26th in the conference with just 277 snaps across three seasons with solid production during that time but nothing spectacular. Troy transfer Trey Cooley has an extensive injury history and hasn’t had more than 6 carries in a season since 2023 with Georgia Tech and Jordan Washington suffered a neck injury in spring practice that will almost certainly keep him out the entire season. Brian Bonner is the stud freshman recruit but hasn’t seemed to find his footing yet based on camp reports.

If there’s one position to moneyball things, it makes sense to do it at running back if you have confidence in your offensive line which we’ll get to shortly. That means I’m fairly certain UW won’t have the worst production at running back in the conference. But this is certainly the least proven group and the numbers bear that out.

Starters-Dezmen Roebuck (70), Chris Lawson (61), Christian Moss (59)

Reserves- Rashid Williams (55), Jordan Clay (54), Trez Davis (54), Mason James (52)

This is a position where you can certainly argue the Huskies have more upside than the numbers are showing. Dezmen Roebuck is held back by his mid 3-star recruit status but he was one of just 3 power conference true freshman WRs last year to play 500+ snaps with a 70+ PFF grade along with Malachi Toney of Miami and Andrew Marsh of Michigan (imagine if the Huskies hadn’t finished a close 2nd in that recruitment). If you raise the barrier up to 600 snaps then Roebuck joins a group of Toney, Jeremiah Smith, Ryan Williams, and David Bell over the last decade. Roebuck played the fewest snaps with the lowest grade of that group but it certainly points to the idea that Roebuck is much better than the #32 in the B1G this year.

The rest of the receiver room also has some reason to think they could outperform. Christian Moss has gotten rave reviews this fall and has all the physical tools with the hope he can put it all together for his final year in college. Rashid Williams was all set to start last season before getting knocked out for the season early in the year. Had he been healthy he would’ve put up numbers to raise his 55 rating. The true freshman trio of Clay, Davis, and James have impressed early and Chris Lawson fell just short of the 100 snap threshold last year that raises the confidence level on his stats in my model. I expect the Huskies to outperform the #14 WR group but if you look at my main 3 inputs (recruiting pedigree, production, and playing time) only Roebuck has 2 of the 3 and everyone else has at best one. It leads to a low floor even if there’s a high ceiling.

Starter- Decker DeGraaf (62)

Reserves- Sam Vyhlidal (43), Baron Naone (43), Kekua Aumua (40), Kade Eldridge (39)

Washington loses a little ground at the tight end spot compared to last year after losing Quentin Moore and with Decker DeGraaf going through a bit of a sophomore slump after a promising freshman campaign. Despite that, DeGraaf still ranks 7th among conference tight ends in career college snaps. The hope is that he can take a step forward to look like the receiving weapon we saw when he first joined the team but that inconsistency leads to him ranking 13th in the conference overall.

There isn’t much in the way of proven depth behind DeGraaf to raise UW’s rank above 13th overall. Kade Eldridge has 300 career snaps but is coming off a serious injury and his production hasn’t been very good when he has been on the field. Baron Naone played 36 snaps as a true freshman last year and looks to be the favorite to earn the #2 spot but that’s a very small sample size. And none of the tight ends in the room were a 4-star recruit coming out of high school in the 247 Sports composite.

Starters- LG John Mills (81), Geirean Hatchett (78), C Landen Hatchett (70), Kolt Dieterich (65), RG Champ Taulealea (65)

Reserves- LT Kodi Greene (58), RT Drew Azzopardi(55), Dominic Harris (40), Jack Shaffer (32), Jake Flores (30)

(A note that my listed starters here are the 5 highest scorers even if some of them play the same position. If the backup right tackle has a higher rating than the starting left guard, the LG gets bumped to reserves above.)

This is a huge jump up for the Huskies as they were 17th in their first year in the Big Ten and 14th last year. There’s also a reasonable argument that they should be even higher. I can’t just make every 5-star recruit a 99 because it’s closer to 50/50 whether they’re going to be above average contributors as true freshmen. But all the hype on Kodi Greene at left tackle suggests he’s living up to the hype. There hasn’t been a power conference true freshman OT to play 750+ snaps with a 70+ PFF grade since 2022 and both guys who did it that year became top-20 NFL Draft picks. If Greene is an above average LT from day one then it suggests he’s going to hear his name early in the 1st round of the 2029 draft but it’s far from a guarantee.

If you knock the above snap count threshold down to 575 from 775 and change it to guard instead then the only player since 2022 is…John Mills. There’s a reason he’s UW’s top rated OL in my system. It probably would more accurate to switch the grades on Geirean Hatchett and Drew Azzopardi given that Azzopardi performed better last season but Hatchett has the better recruiting pedigree and has an overall higher PFF grade over the course of his career. Landen Hatchett has played through injuries that have kept him from seemingly living up to his potential and he’s once again banged up in training camp. But Kolt Dieterich is here as an experienced option to potentially be the first man off the bench at all 5 spots on the line and the loser of the Taulealea/G Hatchett battle is also likely to be a better player than most teams would be able to start at guard.

Starters- Elinneus Davis (71), Darin Conley (68)

Reserves– Desean Watts (65), Taitai Uiagalelei (57), Derek Colman-Brusa (55), JD Hill (55), Kai McLendon (51), TI Umu-Cais (47)

There were points during the offseason when I was concerned that Washington would finish 14th rather than 4th here but the coaching staff managed to turn things around through the portal and the recruiting class. The only returner of note is Elinneus Davis who ranks 14th in the conference along the DL spot. (I ran the totals when Taitai Uiagalelei was still eligible but dropping him wouldn’t change UW’s rank).

But Washington has managed to accumulate a lot of reasonable depth at that position despite not having a clear superstar talent. The only other schools with 6 DL over a 50.0 rating are Ohio State and USC. The Dawgs are at 7 if Uiagalelei can play and 6 without him. Ball State transfer Darin Conley is the veteran of the group with nearly 1400 career snaps and an average 73.8 PFF grade. Desean Watts had a phenomenal PFF grade last year at FCS Sacramento State despite not having a recruiting pedigree. But it all hinges on true freshman Derek Colman-Brusa who has a chance to do some very rare things if he plays as much as the coaching staff has intimated. There are only an average of about 5 true freshman iDL per year to play 300+ snaps with a 60+ PFF grade for a power conference team and there was just one last year (5-star Elijah Griffin at Georgia).

Starters- Jacob Lane (65), Logan George (64)

Reserves– Isaiah Ward (62), Russell Davis II (56), Ramzak Fruean (52), Devin Hyde (50)

This is essentially the same as the DL situation except other schools have premium edge rushers in a way that the Huskies don’t on paper right now. The Dawgs are one of just four schools to have 6+ edge rushers with a rating of 50 or greater (with Maryland, UCLA, and Michigan) but top scorer Jacob Lane is just 32nd overall. The Huskies have 32, 37, and 39 so their top three is solid with each having played 750 career college snaps and a 60+ career PFF grade. But George has the most production and it came just about entirely while he was at FCS Idaho State.

There’s also a lack of recruiting pedigree in the group as the only player with a 247 Sports composite rating over 0.87 is true freshman 4-star Ramzak Fruean. Coach Fisch announced on Saturday that Fruean will end up starting and he almost certainly has the highest upside. The Huskies are also hoping for a bounce back from Russell Davis II who missed all but a couple games over the past two seasons due to injury but has performed well on the field when he has been available. Put it together with the DL section and it’s fair to say that the Huskies should be able to rotate everywhere along the front without putting someone out there who isn’t a Big Ten caliber rotation player. But they’ll need their true freshmen to show they’re outlier superstars or else it’s unlikely to find anyone coming close to making an all-conference squad.

Starters- Zaydrius Rainey-Sale (83), Buddah Al-Uqdah (82),

Reserves– Xe’ree Alexander (70),Jacob Manu (63), Ezaya Tokio (40), Donovan Robinson Jr. (25)

Here’s where we get to the strength of the Husky defense. Washington has four of the top 35 linebackers in the conference and it’s possible that their best one is the lowest rated in this methodology. Jacob Manu has missed essentially a full season due to injury which hurts him just a little but mostly PFF is much lower on him than his counting stats would suggest.

There’s also the case of injuries affecting the scores for UW’s top two scoreres here as Zaydrius Rainey-Sale missed the first half of last year recovering from an ACL tear (like Manu) and Buddah Al-Uqdah missed most of the year with his own ACL tear but appears to be back for the season opener. Rainey-Sale though is the only member of the group with real recruiting pedigree.

Xe’ree Alexander along with Al-Uqdah meanwhile have also played 1250+ career snaps (like Manu) but both have higher career PFF gradees. Alexander was arguably one of the top few players on the defense by the end of last season and seems like he’s only just now tapping into his upside. The Huskies are going to be able to roll out two high level linebackers at all times this season and still be able to withstand an injury for a few games if necessary. It’s worth noting though that no one beyond that top four has played a single college defensive snap yet.

Starters- Dylan Robinson (83), Rahshawn Clark (80), Emmanuel Karnley (69)

Reserves–Rahsjon Duncan (56), Jeron Jones (49), Elijah Durr (38), Ramonz Adams Jr. (37)

Last year the Huskies had some proven stars on the outside with Tacario Davis and Ephesians Prysock and virtually no one else with any experience. This year things are in a little bit better shape from a depth perspective although not by a ton. Dylan Robinson saw plenty of time last season due to Tacario’s injuries and was one of just 9 true freshman cornerbacks last year to play 350+ snaps with a 65+ PFF grade for a power conference team. It’s not a surprise to see him ranked as the #10 corner in the conference coming into the season here.

More surprisingly perhaps is that Rahshawn Clark is directly behind him after only playing 23 more snaps with an additional year in college but the better PFF grade carries weight for him here. The new addition to the group is Virginia transfer Emmanuel Karnley who has played over 1,000 career snaps with a 65 PFF grade with much of that coming this past season for an ACC contender. He gives the Huskies a trio of starters who all have at least one season as a major contributor with at least average production for a power conference team. The cupboard is just about completely bare behind them though with just 52 combined defensive snaps across the rest of the cornerback room and so UW will be relying on unproven talent whenever one of the starters is on the sideline.

Starters- Rylon Dillard-Allen (87), Alex McLaughlin (73)

Reserves– CJ Christian (64), Gavin Day (55), Paul Mencke Jr. (34), Rahim Wright (23)

This is one spot where the Huskies are helped by my policy of not trying to account for injuries. CJ Christian is already done for the year after suffering a season-ending injury before the season starts for the second straight year. That leaves the Huskies extremely thin behind what is going to be one of the better starting duos in the conference. Gavin Day is talented but a true freshman. Paul Mencke Jr. and Rahim Wright have had flashes in training camp but to this point have combined for 18 total defensive snaps.

The good news is the Huskies won’t need to rely on that depth if their starters stay healthy and the UW defense will be very good if they stay on the field. Rylon Dillard-Allen comes in as the #4 safety. He was one of just 35 true freshman safeties over the last decade to have 350+ snaps and a 70+ PFF grade for a power conference team. That list of the other 34 includes a pair of Huskies (Taylor Rapp, Cameron Williams) and a bunch of future all-conference standouts or high draft picks (Caleb Downs, Koi Perich, Dillon Thieneman, Andrew Mukuba, Jevon Holland, Marquise Blair, Grant Delpit, and Kyle Hamilton).

Joining RDA is Alex McLaughlin who took a step back from the absurd stats he put up with FCS Northern Arizona but still managed to be a well above average B1G safety last year who was under all-conference consideration. He has played the most total college snaps of any safety in the conference with the 2nd highest career PFF grade (just barely behind Ohio State’s Terry Moore). Being a former unrated recruit who put up two-thirds of those stats at the FCS level is why he falls down the ratings but his floor is incredibly high.

It has been a slow build for Jedd Fisch at Washington but his approach is finally starting to pay off. The roster was a smoking crater when he took the job thanks to the combination of the portal, a few stars following Kalen DeBoer, and NFL Draft entries. A patchwork approach was able to get the Huskies to 12th in the team talent rankings but barely led to a bowl game. Last year the Dawgs took a small step up to 11th in my rankings but won 3 more games thanks to being clearly better than the worst teams on their schedule and clearly worse than the top end.

The gap is finally starting to close thanks to a number of young players showing that they are ready to take a step up. True or redshirt freshmen like Rylan Dillard-Allen, Dylan Robinson, Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, John Mills, and Rahshawn Clark came in as high 3-star or 4-star recruits and played meaningful snaps at an above average level right away. That’s the kind of performance that is highly rewarded in my methodology which compares performance to the average numbers of someone with the same level of experience. Freshmen aren’t supposed to play that much and that well that fast which means all five of the players mentioned above finished in the top 100 of the conference-level rankings compared to just four players total for UW in the top 115 of last year’s rankings.

They’re joined by QB Demond Williams Jr. who floated between the 3rd and 6th best QB in the conference last season depending on how long it had been since the last time the Huskies played an elite defense. If the Huskies are to improve on their record from last year it will be because Williams and the offense are able to take a step up against premium competition. The chances of that happening are much better with what looks to be one of the better offensive lines in the conference despite their youth. Veterans like Geirean Hatchett and Kolt Dieterich are there to step in and provide a high floor come conference play if any of the younger linemen fail to live up to expectations.

Washington plays five preseason top-25 teams but the team talent rankings view the schedule much more favorably. Iowa and Penn State are overrated compared to popular opinion based on their rosters in my system (I acknowledge that Iowa consistently overperforms my rating by a lot with their coaching infrastructure) which look easier than they may seem at first glance. The Dawgs miss two of the top three with Ohio State and Michigan but still play three of the teams ahead of them in the rankings with two of those games on the road. It’s a tough schedule no matter how you crack it but that means 9-3 puts Washington on the fringes of the playoff discussion. Win all the games against the teams with rosters below yours here and you just need one upset to get to the CFP. That’s of course easier said than done after UW has had at least one inexplicable stinker per year under Jedd Fisch so far.

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Top-10 Players (with position rank and overall conference rank)

1. QB Demond Williams Jr., 94 (4th, 8th)
2. S Rylon Dillard-Allen, 87 (4th, 51st)
3. CB Dylan Robinson, 83 (9th, 75th)
4. LB Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, 83 (7th, 79th)
5. LB Taariq Al-Uqdah, 82 (8th, 81st)
6. OG John Mills, 81 (13th, 88th)
7. CB Rahshawn Clark, 80 (10th, 94th)
8. OG Geirean Hatchett, 78 (15th, 109th)
9. S Alex McLaughlin, 73 (21st, 172nd)
10. DL Elinneus Davis, 71 (15th, 192nd)