Observations from UW Spring Practice No. 2

In sunshine mixed with a stiff breeze coming off the lake, Jedd Fisch kept his University of Washington football team outside on the East practice field on Thursday for its second spring workout, one that conjured up memories from last year.

Without any fanfare, a couple of NFL celebrities were in attendance with San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and his father Mike, the former Raiders, Broncos and then Redskins leader, together watching much of the two and a half hour session.

They pretty much stayed out of everyone's way, conferring among themselves, with Fisch catching up with them before they left early.

Not far from the Shanahans was former UW and NFL quarterback Warren Moon, with the Pro Football hall of famer taking in practice accompanied by his son, Ryken, who will join the Huskies later as a preferred walk-on defensive back.

What everyone saw was another fairly crisp practice, especially offensively, with a few alterations in how things will be run.

Observation No. 1: Sophomore cornerback Leroy Bryant likely will be in the UW starting lineup on a regular basis somewhere.

While he lined up with Arizona transfer Tacario Davis at corner for much of the day on the first-unit defense, with returning starter Ephesians Prysock in uniform but coming off offseason surgery and limited in what he can do, Bryant also spent part of the practice mixing in at nickelback.

He was seen chatting up Dyson McCutcheon, the UW's most experienced nickel returning, no doubt getting pointers on how to play the position.

Secondary coach John Richardson, when asked recently if he would consider using Bryant at nickelback, especially with Davis and Prysock certain to start at cornerback, would only say, "We're going to put the best five players out there."

Early in practice, Bryant made a perfect break on a side pass intended for Penn State transfer Omari Evans, and thrown by Tulane transfer Kai Horton, and came up with an interception.

Observation No. 2: With the No. 1 offensive line looks fairly set at four positions, the coaching staff mixed it up at right guard, with senior Geirean Hatchett stepping in for sophomore Zach Henning at times.

Hatchett, who started four games at right guard in 2023 for Kalen DeBoer's staff and briefly played at Oklahoma last season, got some work on the first unit in while Henning moved to the No. 2 center behind the other Hatchett, Landen.

Look for right guard to be fiercely contested maybe all the way into fall camp.

Observation No. 3: After not making an appearance at the first practice, leading some to think he might not be with the UW program any longer, junior Ryan Otton came out for the second practice -- but not in uniform.

The younger Otton, who's dealt with hamstring and shoulder injuries much of his three seasons with the Huskies, is still sidelined with some undisclosed health issue. He's in his fourth season now and has played in just two games.

Observation No. 4: Redshirt freshman cornerback Elias Johnson had a tough first two spring practices.

On Tuesday, he got lit up three times while trying to cover Evans, one for a long gainer and twice for touchdown passes to the newcomer from 15 and 25 yards.

On Thursday, Johnson came running off the field with a sense of urgency, if not in great distress, pulled his helmet off and threw it, and fell to his knees and vomited.

After briefly sitting on a bench and recomposing himself, the player from Tualatin, Oregon, returned to his practice reps.