The sun had already set when coach Jedd Fisch had a chance to speak.
His team is halfway through fall camp. In three weeks, UW will open its 2025 college football season under the lights at Husky Stadium against Colorado State.
“Thought there was some good give and take tonight,” Fisch said, “just as I would expect in a scrimmage like this.”
Washington’s ninth practice of fall camp consisted of a prolonged 11-on-11 scrimmage Saturday at Husky Stadium under the setting sun. The Huskies completed 22 total drives, totaling just around 120 total plays, and did extensive special teams work.
Here are four takeaways from the first half of Washington’s 2025 fall camp:
1. Offensive line settles in
Through the first half of fall camp, Washington’s top offensive line has been consistent.
Sixth-year Kansas State transfer Carver Willis is entrenched at left tackle after almost exclusively playing on the right for the Wildcats. Willis was joined by junior center Landen Hatchett, sixth-year right guard Geirean Hatchett, who returned to Washington after one season at Oklahoma, and junior right tackle Drew Azzopardi, who started all 13 games for the Huskies in 2024 after transferring from San Diego State but struggled with the transition from the Mountain West to the Big Ten.
Among FBS tackles who played at least 512 snaps in 2024, Azzopardi’s 51.9 run-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus ranked No. 224 out of 248 total players. His 45.9 pass-blocking grade from PFF ranked No. 222 according to PFF.
“We talked about it when we went through our postseason self-scout cutups in the month of January,” offensive line coach Michael Switzer said. “It wasn’t a very fun meeting. And it wasn’t very exciting for Drew. But Drew really took it to heart and understood that he needed to improve upon a lot of things.”
Switzer said Azzopardi’s flexibility, body positioning and football intelligence have all increased drastically during the offseason, and the offensive line coach said he believes the 6-foot-7, 315-pound right tackle has put himself in position for a rebound. Azzopardi also had one of the highlight blocks of fall camp, climbing to the second level and bulldozing sophomore defensive back Leroy Bryant to clear the way for an 18-yard Jonah Coleman touchdown run.
Left guard is the only spot on the offensive line with any questions about who will start. Redshirt freshman Paki Finau, who started UW’s 35-34 loss to Louisville in the Sun Bowl, has earned a majority of the repetitions with the top group. Finau, a 6-5, 310-pound former four-star prospect, earned the highest run-blocking grade of any UW offensive lineman from PFF during the Sun Bowl, but allowed three pressures, two hurries and a sack in pass protection.
Finau’s facing competition from John Mills, a 6-6, 320-pound true freshman from San Francisco who’s taken more snaps with the top offensive line as fall camp has continued. Fisch has never shied away from playing true freshmen offensive linemen — at guard, specifically.
Fisch also got chance to see Mills and Finau play together during Saturday’s scrimmage after Geirean Hatchett went down with an apparent right knee injury. While Fisch said he expected the sixth-year right guard to be healthy, he primarily gave right guard snaps to Finau and allowed Mills more time at left guard with the top group after Geirean Hatchett’s injury.
2. Wide receiver battle remains open
Following Washington’s third practice, first-year offensive coordinator Jimmie Dougherty named wide receiver as the position battle that intrigued him most.
“There’s a lot of talent in that room,” Dougherty said Aug. 1. “The depth is there. There’s a ton of guys that can play, and now it’s just about who flashes the most? Who can make the biggest plays for us? Who knows what to do? Who’s assignment sound, play in and play out?”
The Huskies have a packed wide receiver group entering Fisch’s second season. Speaking the day before fall camp started, the UW coach said he expected to settle on a four-player rotation once the season starts.
One of those positions has already been claimed by junior Denzel Boston, who racked up 63 catches for 834 yards and nine touchdowns in 2024.
There are several candidates for the final spots in Fisch’s rotation. The UW coach named sophomore Rashid Williams as a potential option after he performed well during spring practices. Junior Kevin Green Jr., sophomore Audric Harris and senior Omari Evans, a Penn State transfer, are also in the competition.
Harris caught three passes Saturday for 31 yards and a touchdown. Evans added four catches for 33 yards and a score while Green had one catch for 14 yards. Rashid Williams reeled in six catches for 55 yards.
Then, there’s the wild cards. Freshmen Raiden Vines-Bright, Chris Lawson and Dezmen Roebuck have also made big impressions, especially with Boston limited for the first eight practices as he continues to recover from offseason cleanup surgery.
Roebuck had five catches for 28 yards and drew defensive pass interference on senior Tacario Davis on a third-and-long situation. Lawson added four receptions for 38 yards. Roebuck and Rashid Williams led the team with eight total targets Saturday. Evans and Lawson each had seven.
Fisch, Dougherty and wide receivers coach Kevin Cummings have continually rotated which wide receivers get snaps with the top offense throughout fall camp. Rashid Williams and Vines-Bright, playing primarily in Boston’s role, got the most consistent run with the top group while Green, Evans and Harris have all spent time with the top offense at slot receiver.
Vines-Bright, however, has missed a majority of the past two practices, while Lawson finally returned from injury Friday after being limited for the first seven practices. Roebuck, a 5-11, 175-pound receiver, has been the biggest benefactor of the injuries, even getting some snaps with the top offense as an outside receiver. He’s been the biggest surprise of fall camp, and Fisch said Roebuck is one of several true freshmen who may not redshirt this year.
“I’m excited by the way (Roebuck) is playing,” Fisch said Aug. 4. “Dez catches the ball beautifully. We just have to remind him that in college football, it’s a physical game.”
3. Demond Williams Jr. at the helm
In his first fall camp as the team’s undisputed starter, Demond Williams Jr. has played a controlled brand of football.
While younger quarterbacks have been allowed to launch deep shots in their limited repetitions, Williams has primarily operated in the middle and short distances as a passer. He’s also committed to staying in the pocket longer, instead of seeking to scramble.
Dougherty said Williams’ confidence in the system has been apparent early in camp, and Fisch added he’s seen the sophomore’s football maturity improve now that he has a season under his belt.
Williams finished Saturday’s scrimmage 19-for-32 passing for 201 passing yards and four touchdowns. Evans was his favorite end zone target, hauling in two scores — a 4-yard play-action slide pass and a 25-yard dig over the middle. Harris and Coleman each caught 14-yard touchdowns from Williams, who also added 19 total rushing yards on three attempts.
“He’s really grown up since the bowl game,” Fisch said Saturday. “There was a method to putting him in for 10 plays every game. It was to try to help now. To get him ready for now. To get him ready to be who we think he is. And with that, we wanted to give him this opportunity to be comfortable.”
4. A new challenger at nickel
Entering fall camp, the competition at nickel looked like it was strictly between two players: fifth-year senior Dyson McCutcheon and redshirt freshman Rahshawn Clark.
McCutcheon, a 5-11, 182-pound defensive back from Southern California’s Inland Empire, was coming off his best season as a Husky. He made 14 tackles and defended two passes while playing in 12 games during the 2024 season. McCutcheon surrendered just six catches on 13 targets for 56 yards and only missed one tackle in 2024 according to PFF.
Clark seemed to emerge as McCutcheon’s main challenger during the spring. The 6-foot, 195-pound defensive back from Garfield High led the team in interceptions practices, and Fisch called him one of the MVPs of the spring.
But another player has become the front-runner to start at nickel. Bryant, a 6-foot, 185-pound sophomore defensive back from Fairfield, Calif., has been the first nickel on the field since moving to the position a few days into fall camp.
Bryant is still learning the position. Fisch said nickel has significantly different responsibilities in run defense than outside cornerbacks, where Bryant has exclusively played before fall camp, and has to know how to operate in space differently.
But he’s generally performed well despite learning the position on the fly. Bryant blew up a wide receiver screen to Evans for a 1-yard loss during Saturday’s scrimmage, and may have ripped the ball out for a fumble though the play was blown dead. Fisch named Bryant, along with senior cornerbacks Davis and Ephesians Prysock as some of the standouts of Saturday’s scrimmage.
“I thought all three of those guys showed up and had a good day,” Fisch said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
