Nearly Everyone Got a Chance to Show Off His Talents in UW Practice No. 9

Jedd Fisch let all of his players take part in the Husky scrimmage plays.

On a sunny-splashed, fast-paced day in Husky Stadium, almost everyone except junior walk-on quarterback Teddy Purcell played in the scrimmage segments of the University of Washington's ninth spring football practice on Saturday.

No offense to Purcell, there just wasn't enough snaps or linemen to cater to a fourth non-scholarship quarterback who has been loyal to the cause.

Otherwise, Jedd Fisch made sure his players received plenty of opportunity to demonstrate what they could do in front of him and his staff, plus a smattering of fans and visiting recruits, as the new coach restocks the Husky roster and starting lineups.

Fisch seemed fairly comfortable with the progress made, even without enough offensive linemen to fill out two full units. At least that was the message he imparted to his team.

"I told these guys you know in about four to six weeks, we will know who our team is for 2024," the coach said. "When we know who that team is, then that team is going to take us all the way through hopefully January. Until that time, we're just going to work on being as good of a player as we can become. embracing the culture of hard work, and understanding what embracing the grind really means.

"And we'll see if we can develop a locker room and a group of players around this locker room that want to do it our way. That's what camp is for."

Meantime, the Huskies will deal with players in the transfer portal traffic coming and going as best as they can in putting together another competitive team that will enter the Big Ten Conference this coming season.

Fisch had just nine offensive linemen available for Saturday's practice, with three more held out with injuries or recovering from them. Using the transfer portal, he still plans to have 14-15 scholarship linemen in place for fall camp.

The UW came out of the week losing just two scholarship players to the transfer portal in cornerback Davon Banks and defensive tackle Anthony James, plus walk-on quarterback Camdyn Stiegeler, defensive tackle Habib Bello and edge rusher Jake Mason.

"I would say by the middle of May we should know exactly who are the 85 scholarship players and we should know exactly who are our 25 walk-ons, give or take about five spots," he said.

Redshirt freshman safety Vince Holmes recently returned to the Huskies this past week after entering the transfer portal a second time, plus going through a pair of position changes. He began spring drills as a wide receiver before switching back to the secondary.

Vince Holmes returned to the Huskies from the transfer portal on Thursday.

Skylar Lin Visuals

"Throughout spring, he decided he wanted to go play defense," Fisch said. "That was kind of his transition -- should he go in the portal or not. Then he met with coach [Vinnie] Sunseri and coach [Steve] Belichick and took his name out of the portal."

Asked to name players who have impressed him so far this spring, Fisch singled out senior linebacker Carson Bruener, freshman running back Adam Mohammed, offensive tackle Drew Azzopardi, nickeback Jordan Shaw and cornerback Thaddeus Dixon.

Bruener is an interesting case study because Kalen DeBoer's prior staff would never elevate the now 6-foot-2, 226-pound senior to a full-time starting role over the past two seasons, even though he had opened games over half of the 2021 schedule and had great success.

"I would say Carson Bruener had done a great of leading the pack -- I think his leadership is clear," the coach said. "He's a good athlete who makes a lot of plays. He's physical. He looks like he's gotten bigger in the three months. He looks like he's put on more size. He's been a real nice standout for us."

Azzopardi, the transfer from San Diego State, has been either the first-team right or left tackle throughout spring. Dixon, who started one game in 2023, has been running with the No. 1 defense the past few days. Shaw, the Indiana transfer by way of Arizona, will be in the mix to open this next season at nickel.

Adam Mohammed has been an impressive freshman running back for the Huskies.

Skylar Lin Visuals

The 6-foot, 200-pound Mohammed is a freshman from Glendale, Arizona, who has provided the Huskies with a running back with a lot of speed at a position that is down in bodies with Cam Davis and Sam Adams II recovering from injuries and Tybo Rogers suspended from the team and facing criminal charges.

"Adam Mohammed has really stood out to me," Fisch said. "He certainly doesn't run like a freshman, He certainly doesn't look look like a freshman."

The Huskies will now turn to their remaining six practices, capped off by the May 3 spring game at night in Husky Stadium while sorting through the transfer portal in a furious manner.

"You don't really know how it's going to work," Fisch said "I do know a lot of players want to be on this football team and be a part of this football program. Getting the players is not the problem. It's gettting the right players who fit our culture."

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington