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Former Husky defensive back Mishael Powell (0), now with Miami, breaks up a pass intended for Syracuse TE Oronde Gadsden II. Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

How Last Year's UW Transfer Portal Players Have Fared Elsewhere

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Dec 24, 2024 5:24 PM ET

Twenty-one University of Washington football players are now in the transfer portal, with eight of them finding new teams to turn to.

From last year's national runner-up, 20 Huskies entered the portal and landed elsewhere and largely found the artificial surface was not always greener outside of Montlake.

Just two former UW players have really flourished on an individual basis after changing teams, with senior safety Mishael Powell receiving second-team All-ACC honors for Miami and senior cornerback Jabbar Muhammad doing the same in the Big Ten for Oregon.

Team-wise, ex-Husky Davon Banks, now a reserve cornerback for Boise State, and Muhammad each find themselves in the CFP playoffs, with their teams enjoying first-round byes and awaiting quarterfinal play this weekend against Penn State and Ohio State, respectively.

Eleven of the Huskies who left after last season became starters for at least one game for their new teams, with seven becoming full-time starters.

Four players in safety Asa Turner at Florida (knee), cornerback Jaivion Green at Stanford (knee), offensive guard Geirean Hatchett at Oklahoma (biceps) and running back Will Nixon at Syracuse (foot) suffered season-ending injuries, with these guys playing anywhere from one to four games.

Hatchett, of course, has decided to return to Washington for his sixth and final college football season.

Of the Husky quarterbacks who transferred, of which there were three, Dylan Morris, a redshirt, a two-year Husky starter and a two-year back-up to Michael Penix Jr., saw his playing situation grow much worse by transferring to James Madison for a sixth and final season.

Morris appeared in just four games as a reserve and threw a solitary pass, completing it. Post Curt Cignetti, the Dukes finished 9-4 with a new coach and played last week in the Boca Raton Bowl, beating Western Kentucky 27-17, and the one-time Husky signal-caller didn't stir from the bench.

Austin Mack, who gave up his senior year at Folsom High School in California to join the UW in 2023, continued a patient development at Alabama with coach Kalen DeBoer. He appeared in just one game and threw a touchdown pass.

Encouragingly so, Alex Johnson, a local kid who walked on and redshirted in 2023 with the Huskies, showed up at Tiffin University, a Division II school in Ohio, and had a big year with 2,954 yards and 27 touchdowns passing while leading his team to an 8-4 record and a small-school bowl game.

DeBoer ended up taking four UW players with him to Alabama when he changed jobs and two of them, sophomore center Parker Brailsford and junior wide receiver Germie Bernard became starters, with Bernard leading the Crimson Tide in receiving with 46, while junior tight end Josh Cuevas and Mack came off the bench.

Brailsford, a second-team All-Pac-12 center for the Huskies, went without accolades this season, with at least other SEC snappers rated hire than him.

The Huskies turned Crimson Tide players will play with their 9-3 team against Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl on New Year's Eve in Tampa, Florida.

This article first appeared on Washington Huskies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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