Huskies Have 7 Linemen Still in Running for Starting Jobs

Coming off a knee injury in 2024, Landen Hatchett wasn't able to start for the Huskies until the seventh game last season -- and it came at left guard, not snapping the football -- and he finished with six game-opening assignments in all at three line positions.

The 6-foot-2, 320-pound junior is finally fit again while manning his natural center position and he's a player who's strong and athletic at his spot and he could be an honors candidate before he's done in his career.

"Moving to a leadership role has been real comfortable for me," Hatchett said. "I felt like last year I took it on a little bit already, but I was in a different situation with my knee."

Azzopardi is the only returning full-time starter after opening all 13 UW outings last season, like Willis holding down 19 No. 1 game assignments in all including his previous time at San Diego State. At 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds, the junior has the size to play in the NFL, he just needs more pancake blocks to get the scouts really interested in him.

"I told him, 'I'm very happy with what you've done, but, hey buddy, there's still a lot more left,' " UW line coach Michael Switzer said.

That leaves the two starting guard spots to fill, where redshirt freshman Paki Finau and Hatchett's brother, Geirean, a sixth-year and 6-foot-4, 306-pound senior, Oklahoma starter and four-game UW starter in 2023, are the leading candidates to date at left guard and right guard, respectively.

However, they've recently had to share their jobs more and more with freshman John Mills and sophomore Zach Henning, who are being given every opportunity to unseat them. Add to that, freshman Champ Taulealea, who is not far behind all of these guards.

The Finau-Mills competition is particularly entertaining because each player has been the top lineman coming into Washington over last year and the one before that.

Mills, at 6-foot-6 and 330 pounds, has showed he is way advanced for a first-year player while Finau has a 6-foot-5, 310-pound frame that became 40 pounds heavier over the past year and made him a more physical presence.

"John Mills is a little bit of a bigger body, a little more powerful in the run game," Switzer said. "Paki has the experience of being here before. Both of those guys have a unique skill set."

So the Huskies basically are down to seven players in the running for the five spots with about a dozen practices to finalize the guard starters for the Colorado State game. Let the helmet-crunching moments continue.

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