10 Things to Consider Entering Husky Mock Game

In advance of this weekend football outing, the following are 10 things to know about this 136th collection of Huskies in school annals.

1. NATIONAL RANKINGS -- Contrary to what the Associated Press pollsters say -- that the UW doesn't belong among the nation's top 49 teams -- this is a vastly improved group over Jedd Fisch's first patchwork entry and it will find its way into the rankings soon enough. The offense will be explosive while the defense should be better. An 8-4 or 9-3 record for the regular season is probable rather than hopeful. This is not necessarily a playoff entry, but certainly it's one that could end up in an attractive bowl game, maybe on January 1. As for that AP preseason poll, can anyone with a straight face actually say that James Madison, Liberty, Louisiana Lafayette or Toledo, teams that received poll votes, are marginally better than the UW?

2. DEMOND WILLIAMS JR. -- This guy will have everyone talking about him by midseason, as the fastest quarterback in the country who also can throw the ball in a pinpoint manner. He has been carefully groomed for this moment after appearing in all 13 games last season and starting two, including the Sun Bowl. Some of the 1991 national championship team coaches were out to practice this past week and they said the UW has never had this kind of speed at QB, and they coached Rose Bowl MVP Mark Brunell.

3. JOHN MILLS -- The San Francisco product is on the verge of becoming the first freshman to start on the UW offensive line in 10 seasons, since Nick Harris came physically ready to play right away and wasn't willing to wait to hear his name called over the public-address system. As this young kid, Mills stands to make a bunch of mistakes and maybe get beat here and there, but with his power and size he's unlike any lineman to play for the Huskies in some time. He still has to beat out 6-foot-5, 310-pound redshirt freshman Paki Finau, who are neck and neck for the left guard spot entering the mock game.

4. DENZEL BOSTON -- So fast, precise in his routes and sure-handed, Boston since getting medical clearance from his hernia surgery looks every bit as good as his former wide receiver teammates Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Ja'Lynn Polk, all now in the NFL. Enjoy him while you can. Expectations for the 6-foot-4, 209-pound junior from Puyallup, Washington, are such that he will have a productive season, pass up his final year of college eligibility and become a first-round draft pick. His goal should be to get drafted higher than Odunze, who went with the ninth overall pick in the 2024 draft.

5. ZACH DURFEE -- When he's healthy, Durfee is a disruptive playmaker and a potential NFL draft pick. However, the 6-foot-5, 256-pound senior edge rusher is coming off double turf toe injuries and who knows if he's still fully recovered from those obstacles that made him miss more than half of the 2024 season. He has been limited or missing in practice this week. The Huskies are a different defense with him playing at 100 percent.

6. THIRD WIDE RECEIVER -- It's likely a given that sophomore Rashid Williams and Boston have been penciled in as starters at wide receiver and are waiting on a third first-teamer to join them. This is where it gets really interesting. Do you choose Penn State senior transfer Omari Evans, the team's best deep threat, or junior speedster Kevin Green Jr., reliable sophomore Audric Harris or gifted freshman Dezmen Roebuck as the third first-teamer in the lineup. Roebuck, similar to Mills, is immensely talented as a first-year player and way ahead of his time. He should not be a surprise if he's an instant starter.

7. JONAH COLEMAN -- Few teams have as much offensive firepower as the UW possesses in Williams, likely the nation's fastest quarterback with 4.3-second 40 speed; Boston, who has the size and speed and a repaired hernia to surpass his 63-catch, 9-touchdown sophomore season; and Coleman, who radically changed his fitness to improve on his 1,053-yard rushing season from last year. NFL scouts were out this week, asking about certain Huskies, and Coleman was one of them. He doesn't think 1,500 yards rushing is out of the question for him.

8. RYAN WALTERS -- Admittedly never really sold on Steve Belichick as the UW defensive coordinator last season, we see Walters as much more demanding, creative and strategic in what he does. He will use a five-man front ad nauseam. He sometimes has just one linebacker on the field. He's not hesitant to change a player's position at all -- see linebackers Hayden Moore and Xe'ree Alexander moving out to the edge. All he needs is a big push up front.

9. THE SECONDARY -- Unless it escaped notice, Walters might have the greatest collection of football talent on this team in his defensive backfield. He has the tallest set of cornerbacks anywhere in 6-foot-4, 200-pound seniors Tacario Davis and Ephesians Prysock; veteran safeties in sixth-year senior Makell Esteen and Northern Arizona junior transfer Alex McLaughlin, the latter of the 80-yard interception return in the spring game; and sophomore nickelback Leroy Bryant, a Kalen DeBoer recruit and a Sun Bowl starter. All are well tested and some highly decorated, with Davis a second-team All Big 12 selection and McLaughlin a first-team All-Big Sky player in 2024. Add to these guys the extremly talented redshirt freshman nickelback Rahshawn Clark, freshman safety Rylon "Batman" Dillard-Allen and freshman cornerback Dylan Robinson, and the Huskies are set back there for some time.

10. FROM A TO Z -- One player you won't see in the mock game on Saturday night is linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, who hasn't been medically cleared yet following knee surgery seven months ago. Yet the most touted player of the latest Husky recruiting class moves really well for a 6-foot-3, 225-pound defender in his limited practice activities. Look for him to debut around midseason.

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