Husky Roster Review: Crowell Will Try to Survive Second Fall Camp

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Jul 19, 2025 12:39 PM ET

Injuries are inevitable for every college football player, such is the violent nature of the game, where every collision resembles being in a car accident, but Charlie Crowell still deserved better.

Last August, the 6-foot-5, 250-pound tight end from Bend, Oregon, showed up as a freshman eager to get started with the University of Washington football team and didn't even last a month before he tore up his right knee in fall camp and was lost for the season.

Crowell ended up watching Husky games while sometimes wearing sweats with a towel wrapped around his next.

"Charlie is just going to be a matter of time," tight-ends coach Jordan Paopao said before spring ball began.

This is one in a series of articles -- going from 0 to 99 on the Husky roster -- examining what each scholarship player and leading walk-on did this past spring and what to expect from them going forward.

Crowell was pegged for a nine-month recovery period in which he didn't take part in any scrimmage plays in April but was permitted to participate in non-contact drills.

It was a cautious step-by-step process for the young tight end who wore a black sleeve over his surgically repaired right knee.

While Crowell missed out on all 2024 game time -- and the Huskies were low on available tight ends after Quentin Moore and jRyan Otton dealt with season-end injuries, too -- UW coach Jedd Fisch tried to encourage the newcomer to make the most of the situation.

“When you’ve got a lower-body injury, you should come back stronger than ever," Fisch said. "This is an opportunity for him to get his upper body nice and strong, to redshirt and get better and learn the offense, so when it’s his time, he won’t miss a beat.”

His time will come in his second fall camp, which can only be better than the first. What's different is the Huskies have really stocked up on tight ends in a yeaer's time by adding USC transfer Kade Eldridge and freshmen Austin Simmons and Baron Naone to go with returning veterans Decker DeGraaf and Quentin Moore.

What Crowell brings, when healthy, is a tight end potentially more physical than the others. He's thicker in body shape. If he can keep the knee right, he should be starting material someday.

CHARLIE CROWELL FILE

What he's done: Crowell originally signed with Fisch's staff at Arizona and then followed those coaches to Seattle. In two seasons for Bend's Summit High School, he caught 55 passes for 873 yards and 11 touchdowns. He's remains a promising player.

Starter or not: Eventually. Yet Crowell will need time to get fully acclimated to the college game and he likely won't be a serious candidate to start until at least 2026.

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

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