UW Has One Top Colorado Recruit In Hand, Working On Another

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Jul 28, 2025 6:09 PM ET

The University of Washington football team just picked up a weekend recruiting commitment from Colorado's No. 1 player for 2026.

The Huskies aren't doing too badly with the top prospect sticking out of the Rocky Mountains for 2027 either.

The latter would be Reis Russell, a still growing 6-foot-3, 295-pound offensive lineman from the Denver suburbs, who plays about 10 miles down the road from the UW's recent defensive-lineman pledge TI Umu-Cais.

Russell hails from the same Valor Christian High School that sent Roger Rosengarten to the Huskies and then onto the NFL, wears a mullet not unlike current Husky freshman John Mills and has a perpetually happy face such as UW center Landen Hatchett.

Since receiving an offer on March 9 while visiting Montlake, Russell has said the Huskies are either the leader or among the leaders for his services and he appears to have validated that thought process once more by telling Rivals on Monday that the UW and Nebraska continue to hold the most sway with him.

#GBR #PurpleReign https://t.co/9dBb0NJbg1
— 4⭐️ OL Reis Russell (@Reis_Russell54) July 28, 2025

If this was 50 years ago, Nebraska would be the place to go for a promising young lineman. The Cornhuskers regularly supplied first-team All-Americans on the line, created a play called the Fumblerooski that enabled a lineman to score and had the Rimington Award named after their greatest lineman.

If this was two years ago, the Huskies would be selling the Joe Moore Award, veteran line coach Scott Huff's guiding hand and Rosengarten's rapid ascension within the program to entice young Russell.

Instead, both programs are trying to restock their rosters with big-time players up front and reclaim what they once had.

Talked with @Reis_Russell54 after Day 2 of the @SixZeroAcademy camp!

Fun little story. When I first started with Prep Redzone, @CoachMcGat put me on Reis when he was a freshman. He's now the #1 ranked player for PRZ in 2027 and the sky's the limit for him. pic.twitter.com/PwTuEBzkJX
— Matt Tate (@MattT8Scouting) April 9, 2025

Russell, shown wearing a UW bucket hat in the above social-media video, has two more high school seasons to play before he makes a move presumably either to Seattle or Lincoln, Nebraska.

Should he come north, he might find himself playing a season or two with the recent UW behemoths unveiled during spring football in Champ Taulealea, Jack Shaffer and Mills, all guys who enrolled in school packing 350 pounds or more.

Whether it's Huskies or Huskers, the best advice to Reis Russell is to keep eating. He's got a lot of caloric catching up to do in regards to the UW'S 2025 recruits, who have set a new standard for freshman enormity.

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

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