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Husky Roster Review: Walk-On Showed He Could Play With Big Boys

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Jul 28, 2025 7:47 PM ET

Not only are they unpaid, but University of Washington football walk-ons typically turn anonymous when the Huskies run scrimmage plays in practice.

It's really hard to get noticed when you're on the third or the fourth team trying to make plays against the UW's top-of-the-line talent in a handful of snaps.

Unless it was this past April and into early May and you happened to be Luke Gayton.

A redshirt freshman wide receiver from Palos Verdes, California, he made everyone look at him in spring practice No. 9 when he made an extra difficult, one-handed grab of a 10-yard throw from freshman Dash Beierly for a touchdown in Husky Stadium.

That seemed to open things up for the 6-foot-1, 194-pound Gayton, who caught one or two scrimmage passes in each practice the rest of the way.

He was by far the best walk-on player of the spring, just like he was the offensive scout team MVP from the previous season.

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.

Gayton obviously is one of those guys who thinks he belongs at any level of football even if his current team doesn't choose to have him on the payroll.

He showed plenty of athleticism and even a certain amount of cockiness.

In practice No. 10, Gayton jumped to his feet after a Kai Horton pass that was sent his direction fell incomplete amid some jostling in coverage on the East field. He got to his feet and called for a pass-interference call, to the point that safety Vince Holmes got in face and basically told him to deal with it.

Over his productive stretch to the Spring Game, he caught seven scrimmage passes, all from Horton, the Tulane transfer, and they covered 15, 10, 20, 5, 11, 4 and 1 yard.

In the Spring Game, Gayton made more things happen. He caught a 12-yard pass over the middle from Demond Williams Jr. in the first half and a 5-yard toss from Beierly in front of nickelback Rahshawn Clark.

While his scholarship situation likely won't change soon, Gayton showed once more he could play for the Huskies. Whether that goes anywhere, he'll still have to deal with the continuous uncertainty that automatically comes with being a walk-on.

At least everyone on the field likely knows his name by now and what his talent level is all about.

LUKE GAYTON FILE

What he's done: For Palos Verdes High, he caught 124 passes for 2,014 yards and 26 touchdowns in his career over three seasons, with 13 scores coming when he was a senior. At the UW, he hasn't appeared in a game yet.

Starter or not: Gayton probably would make a decent player in someplace such as the Mountain West or Big Sky Conference, but starting, let alone playing meaningful snaps, at the UW most likely isn't going to happen. The Huskies have so many talented scholarship freshmen and redshirt freshmen receivers lined up and waiting to advance their careers, he's sort of stuck where he is.

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

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