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University of Washington spring football ended a lot better than it began for Elias Johnson.
The bad stuff: near the end of the second of 15 practices on a warm day, the redshirt freshman cornerback came off the East field in obvious distress, pulled off his helmet and threw it down hard, fell to his knees and vomited.
The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Johnson from Tualatin, Oregon, needed a moment to get his body right. He sat on a bench. He then climbed to his feet and went back in, ready or not giving himself only a brief recovery time.
The good stuff: on his third series in the Spring Game, Johnson ran step for step with redshirt freshman wide receiver Justice Williams for a deep ball, turned his left shoulder inside when Kai Horton's pass arrived and came up with an interception, playing it perfectly.
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.
Johnson's heads-up turnover was the first of four interceptions in the Spring Game, making it a defensive day for the Huskies. He actually did more than that, coming up with a pass break-up of a Horton pass on his fourth snap of the day.
It also marked a steady spring progression for the thin and lanky defensive back, who had a tough time early on even before losing his lunch.
HBD , Elias!!! pic.twitter.com/Ed6xuiqSrE
— Washington Football (@UW_Football) June 9, 2025
At the end of the first UW spring practice, Johnson twice got beat for touchdown catches by Penn State transfer Omari Evans, even while seemingly all over him on the second throw but losing a jump ball.
Yet that's what spring football is all about is getting tested and bouncing back. In cornerback drills, he showed himself to be aggressive in pushing and shoving UW wide receivers on routes. He seemed to make a lot of progress.
He had that Spring Game PBU and interception. And notably he appeared to survive the rest of the month without going down on his hands and knees again.
ELIAS JOHNSON FILE
What he's done: A DeBoer recruit, Johnson spent much of his freshman year at the UW injured and unavailable. He didn't appear in any games. For Tualatin High, he played for three playoff teams and showed a lot of speed, returning a pair of punts and a kickoff for touchdowns.
Starter or not: Johnson largely played with the No. 2 defense during the spring as he continued his UW development. With his size and speed, there's no reason he can't be a Husky starter some day. He showed great instincts on his Spring Game interception.
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Despite the general consensus being that Arch Manning will return to Texas next year, there's good reason to think the young quarterback would jump for a ripe opportunity in the NFL in 2026. The biggest problem with Manning's resume is that the redshirt sophomore enters this season with only two starts at the college level. The more time he has as a starter, the more comfortable scouts and front offices feel about how they can gauge the quarterback's talent. Per ESPN, league scouts want a quarterback to have approximately 25 starts before entering the draft. For Manning to do so, he'd have to play for the Longhorns in 2026. However, ESPN quoted two sources who think Manning would declare for the 2026 draft if he knew he'd be taken into a good situation. Because Manning is getting paid from NIL and he comes from a well-known football family, Manning has no incentive to jump into the league if he's not ready. He can afford to see what the draft board looks like after Week 18 in January. "They'll want to see which team has the No. 1 pick and if they've fired their coach -- which is pretty common -- [and] who the replacement is before jumping into the draft," said an NFC scouting director. If an organization is drafting at No. 1 or near the top and it's a situation that Manning is happy to be in, he might be more apt to enter the 2026 draft. Manning could also look at what coaches haven't been fired and what teams are more likely to draft first in the 2027 draft. If he would be going to a team he's not thrilled about, he might opt for a better situation in 2026. Simply put, speculation surrounding Manning's draft plans isn't going away, even after Archie Manning's comments stating that his grandson would return to Texas next year.
Shane Steichen dropped a big hint about the Colts’ QB battle
The Indianapolis Colts have yet to name their starting quarterback for the 2025 season, but coach Shane Steichen may have dropped a big hint about who the choice may be. Steichen said Saturday that he was close to making a decision between Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson in the ongoing camp battle. He may have tipped his hand, however, when answering a question about what traits he was looking for in his starter. “I think it’s the most consistent guy,” Steichen said, via Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. “I really do, because at the end of the day, you’ve got to be able to move the football consistently up and down the field, and making good decisions. You know what I mean? I mean, at the end of the day, you can have splash plays, but if you’re doing that sparingly and up and down. … I think it’s got to be on a consistent basis, to get to where we want to go.” The knock on Richardson all along has been his inconsistency, and it is a bad sign for his prospects that Steichen put such an emphasis on that as part of his answer. Richardson’s physical talents are undeniable, but his decision-making has left something to be desired, and the offense has at times stalled out with him at the helm of it. Jones does not bring Richardson’s big-play potential, but would likely leave the Colts with a better idea of what they will get every Sunday. Richardson has put in extra work to try to win the job, but has been sidelined for a large part of the offseason with a shoulder injury, coupled with a dislocated pinky suffered during the preseason opener. It has also been suggested that Jones entered camp as the favorite, so Richardson had to play well enough to supplant him. Jones started Saturday’s preseason game and went 7-of-11 for 101 yards. Richardson went 6-of-11 for 73 yards, but he had one big play negated due to a penalty. The Colts ultimately lost 23-19 to the Green Bay Packers.
Dallas Cowboys' top-rated players for NFL preseason Week 2 vs. Ravens
A 31-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens dropped the Dallas Cowboys to 0-2 this preseason. While the records don't matter, it's still unsettling to see the Cowboys lose a game in such fashion. As was the case in their Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, the Cowboys were bullied at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. They also saw quarterback Joe Milton III continue to struggle with accuracy. The good news, however, was that several players stood out with solid individual play. Here's a look at which Cowboys graded the highest on offense and defense, according to PFF. Cowboys top-5 rated players on offense Princeton Fant, TE (83.4) Malik Davis, RB (74.6) Jonathan Mingo, WR (70.3) Deuce Vaughn, RB (67.1) John Stephens Jr., TE (66.2) The offense was responsible for just six points, but there were still some bright spots. Princeton Fant had a 33-yard reception and held his own in blocking. Malik Davis showed some burst when he was on the field, and Jonathan Mingo had an excellent catch to set up a field goal. Unfortunately, Mingo was injured on the play but has been one of the bright spots throughout the offseason. Cowboys top-5 rated players on defense Andrew Booth, CB (91.8) Troy Pride Jr., CB (83.8) Jack Sanborn, LB (79.2) Earnest Brown IV, DT (76.7) Kemon Hall, CB (75.6) Andrew Booth not only led the way on defense, but was the highest-graded player on the team. Two other cornerbacks, Troy Pride Jr. and Kemon Hall, made it into the top five as well. Linebacker Jack Sanborn and defensive tackle Earnest Brown IV were there as well. Sanborn had three tackles while Brown recorded two. —
After Watching the Film, Critical Assessments Arise Regarding the Raiders
HENDERSON, Nev.—The Las Vegas Raiders began the preseason with a record of 0-1-1 after losing to their former Bay Area rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, last night. I had the opportunity to review the film today, as did Pete Carroll. After discussing it with him, several observations emerged that can only be made with the clarity of hindsight. In our latest episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast, we take you to today’s joint practice with the San Francisco 49ers to highlight specific players who had standout performances, those who faced challenges, and those who may have secured a spot on the roster. You can watch the entire podcast below: Pete Carroll’s leadership has been phenomenal for a franchise desperate for a winner. He has been the exact prescription the Raider Nation needed After watching the film of the loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Carroll addressed several questions, and below is a partial transcript of his responses. Head Coach Pete Carroll Q: I was curious on what your thoughts are on the play of your linebackers and your quarterbacks last night? Head Coach Pete Carroll: "Thought the linebackers were really downhill, really aggressive, flashy. I really liked the way those guys played. I thought we took a step forward in the run game and just attacking line of scrimmage like we want to. We played to the nature of our players, I thought, which is really good because we're aggressive in the tackling, and that showed up. Geno [Smith] was on the money. He was right on everything. Tempo was good. I thought Aidan [O'Connell] continued to little bit -- we're not quite as fast when he's playing. We don't play as quick from huddle to the snap, still trying to work that out. And he made a poor choice on the throw for the pick, unfortunately. It was a crucial time, that was tough. Just the guy was covered, and if he had to it throw away or take off, we would have preferred that." Q: I wanted to ask you about Geno Smith. Back when the two of you were in Seattle when he was playing backup to Russell Wilson, was there ever a time or a moment in practice or in the meeting room where you kind of had this idea that, if given the opportunity like he has the last few years he was in Seattle, now in Las Vegas, that he can be this quality star? Was there ever a moment when he was a backup under Russell that kind of gave you that idea that Geno had that potential? Coach Carroll: "Yeah, I think it was probably in the middle of those first couple of years, and you'd just see him maintain the competitive edge because it's kind of hard to believe that a guy could compete like he's going to play. What I keep telling you is the very next play, he knew he could be in. He seemed like he held onto that long enough, I sensed that and respected that. And his arm talent was always there, the ability to throw and rip the ball, so I was cheerleading for him. And that's kind of when he finally got his chance, I might have been his biggest cheerleader because he had waited and deserved it, and he came in and played really well and almost won a game that way, and then played well the next couple weeks. That was, at the time, when he finally got his chance, and he got out there, he demonstrated it, but you could sense it earlier than that just because he was so dedicated and he looked so good in practice all the time." Q: Obviously your offensive line has been performing well, but there's a clear drop off between the first and second team. How concerned are you about that second string offensive line? Coach Carroll: "Well, we're just so young on the second group. It's just going to take time. We feel like we move well. We have good movement by the young guys. They get out of their stance, and they get on people well. We're just not as accurate with our calls. We're not as clear with our technique stuff, but that takes time. And so I'm not worried about that. Athletically, we're okay, and we just need to find our consistency, and that's just going to take time. They won't play all at the same time very often. They'll spot in, and they'll have the benefit of experienced guys making calls around them and helping them play better. And so I think that the individual development is pretty good. As a group, they're still learning. That's going to take a bit." We'd appreciate it if you would follow us on X @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr , and let’s talk about the Silver and Black’s training camp and Pete Carroll’s comments.
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