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Paki Finau Poised to Make First UW Start

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Oct 10, 2025 3:07 PM ET

On his first play against Maryland while subbing for an injured John Mills, Paki Finau wheeled Terrapins defensive tackle Cam Rice out of the way and opened up a hole for Jonah Coleman to run through.

A few plays later, the University of Washington offensive guard peeled off the line in pass protection, doubled up on defender and cracked helmets with him in a violent manner.

Doing his part with 3:21 left to play, Finau stood up Maryland defensive tackle Braxton Kyle at the line of scrimmage, enabling Coleman to run off his left hip and dive into the end zone for the game-winning score in the Huskies' 24-20 comeback victory.

On Friday, the 6-foot-5, 310-pound Finau will use that productive outing and likely will take yet another step forward in his UW football career by starting for the first time, expected to replace Mills, who left Maryland on crutches and with his left foot in a protective boot.

Should that happen, he will become a full-fledged member of a Husky youth movement that will count six freshmen, either true or redshirt, who will have drawn a starting assignment over just six games.

"What I've been saying this year, very different from a year ago, is we have a lot more depth," UW coach Jedd Fisch said. "Paki went in. Paki was in a competition all throughout training camp. Paki played the first two or three games of the season. We were rotating him I think every third series. You have to plan for injuries. It's a violent game."

Among the freshman starters, Finau stands to join Mills, wide receivers Raiden Vines-Bright and Dezmen Roebuck, cornerback Dylan Robinson and nickelback Rahshawn Clark, with Finau and Clark coming off redshirt seasons.

That means these guys, providing there's no coaching change or early NFL entry for anyone, could be starters over four seasons for the Huskies through 2028.

To readdress, Finau from Hesperia, California, in the Mojave Desert, was a 4-star recruit and one of the most heralded players in the UW's 2024 recruiting class, and he has been held up as a test case for developing a young offensive lineman the right way.

Rather than throw him into an often short-handed and chaotic offensive line last year, Fisch's coaching staff chose to have Finau spend significant time in the weight room and put 40-plus pounds on his frame rather than play in meaningless games.

For his patience, Finau was rewarded by getting to pull snaps during the second half of the Sun Bowl against Louisville.

Into this season, he found himself in competition at left offensive guard with Mills, the 17-year-old, 6-foot-6 and 342-pound man-child, with the premise that they could be starters together in 2026.

At Maryland, Finau was needed to perform at a high level at an important juncture of the game and he responded well.

"Those things happen," Fisch said of Mills' injury before leaving Maryland. "The more depth you can build as a program, the better team you can have. We needed depth today -- and depth showed up,"

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

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