Husky Roster Review: After Ngata Beat the UW, Twice, He Joined It
In this story:
No pressure, but someone might want to remind Daniyel Ngata that the last guy to wear No. 21 as a University of Washington running back rushed for 887 yards and 11 touchdowns. Caught 24 passes for 225 yards and another score. Even played on special teams.
Now if that happens, Ngata can simply defer to his college football ledger, one that shows him as responsible as anyone for the Huskies' last defeat, a 45-38 setback to Arizona State eight months ago in Tempe.
On that day in the desert, Ngata matched 1-yard touchdown runs with his Husky No. 21 predecessor, Wayne Taulapapa, and rushed for 39 yards on just four carries, for nearly 10 yards a pop, while breaking a long run of 26 yards.
Ngata also ran the ball twice for 10 yards, picking up a fourth-quarter first down, in ASU's 35-30 victory over a coach-less UW team in 2021 at Husky Stadium.
He also knows his way around UW football, as the younger brother of one-time Husky linebacker Ariel Ngata, who spent the 2017-2019 seasons in Montlake before transferring to Sacramento State.
So there.
The 5-foot-9, 187-pound Ngata, who left ASU because of the coaching change that cost Herm Edwards his job, is a prime example of the transient nature of college football these days.
In the accompanying photo gallery with this story, we have multiple images of that aforementioned UW-ASU game with Husky defensive backs Dom Hampton and Alex Cook trying to bring down Ngata, mixed in with Ngata now in purple colors and various poses during the spring.
Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Ngata, who wears No. 21 on offense after sporting No. 4 for the Sun Devils, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.
SUN DEVIL TURNED HUSKY
Even with his flurry of activity against the UW last season, people still haven't seen the best of Ngata coming out of the backfield.
Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb describes him as his running back most likely to break a long one and go the distance.
"I'm just working on my body when that time comes, so I can feel great, healthy, explosive and 100 percent out there," Ngata said.
The Huskies tried to recruit Ngata, same as they did his older sibling, out of Folsom High School in Northern California, where he rushed 290 times for 2,434 yards and 33 touchdowns and caught 100 passes for 1,237 yards and another 14 scores in his career.
At ASU, he got bogged down a little playing behind superlative backs in Rachaad White, now in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Xazavian Valladay, trying to join the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent.
During UW spring ball, Ngata proved to be a tough runner with a lot of possibilities, though he got hobbled by a leg issue and missed several April practices.
He comes to Seattle with a long run of 29 yards, hoping to double or triple that in finding the end zone, and finish up what his brother started with the Huskies.
"Everybody's got a different situation," Daniyel Ngata said. "He just wished me luck."
DANIYEL NGATA FILE
Service: Ngata played three seasons at ASU, appearing in 26 games and starting twice, and has two years of eligibility remaining.
Stats: With the Sun Devils, he rushed a career 136 times for 689 yards and 6 touchdowns and caught 14 passes for 98 yards. He also served as a kick returner.
Role: Ngata will be given every opportunity to play, start and excel, yet he must contend with returnee Cam Davis, Mississippi State transfer Dillon Johnson, likely freshman Tybo Rogers and even veterans Will Nixon, Richard Newton and Sam Adams II for game snaps.
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