UW Roster Review, No. 2-99: Berry Deals With Short Break in the Action

Caleb Berry was true Friday Night Lights, busting long runs all over East Texas, until somebody shut them off.

Berry actually was an all-too-real backfield presence for the Lufkin Panthers, a 5A high school powerhouse in the Lone Star state, not the fictional Dillon Panthers. He was the next big thing for a football outpost that has sent a dozen and a half players to the NFL, most notably Dez Bryant.

Yet similar to all of those FNL depictions, TV or motion picture, Berry suffered football misfortune, getting cut down when he was running for a lot of yards and touchdowns.

Already committed to the University of Washington, the 6-foot-1, 220-pound runner broke his leg, specifically his right fibula, in Lufkin's seventh game last October 30 against New Caney. Taken away in an ambulance, he was done for the season.

"It hurts," Berry said, figuratively and physically. "I wanted to show my worth on the football field, but now I'm going to work harder than ever to get back to where I was."

Six months later, he did just that.

Berry courageously suited up as a true freshman for the Huskies and took part in spring practice as an early enrollee, demonstrating amazing healing powers, if not extreme toughness.

Going down the roster in numerical order, this is another of our post-spring assessments of all of the Husky talent at hand, gleaned from a month of observations, as a way to keep everyone engaged during the offseason.

Berry wears No. 25, same as freshman cornerback Elijah Jackson. He seemed to fit right in with the rest of the Husky running backs. Berry pulled a significant amount of reps behind four veterans while he ran alongside redshirt freshmen Jay'Veon Sunday, another young Texan from Waco, and Sam Adams II.

He fits the current Husky profile for a 2021 back.

Locked in and ready to COMPETE 😤#BowDown x #PurpleReign pic.twitter.com/fKolu9dDLd
— Washington Football (@UW_Football) May 1, 2021

"In Texas, we've been able to get some pretty good guys out of Jay'Veon and Caleb Berry," UW running-backs coach Keith Bhonapha said. "I'm doing my best to get that all-around back who can hopefully be that. Obviously, we want first-round draft picks, second-round draft picks, but at the same time guys who can push the needle to take us to the next step."

Berry and Sunday received every opportunity to mix in with the older guys and show what they could do.

Sunday created a stir with his flamboyance, high-stepping around Husky defenders who didn't like it. Berry showed himself to be more of a physical back, looking to run over people ran than away from them.

Well before his leg fracture, Berry went viral for Lufkin High when he turned up in a memorable photo showing him unmercifully stiff-arming a Tyler Legacy opponent, shown below, in his season opener.

https://t.co/bJE5CnFmIF pic.twitter.com/wzXckGaEVh
— BEZZY (@Chos1n) February 26, 2021

Berry finished with abbreviated numbers of 529 yards rushing and 9 touchdowns on 83 carries as a Lufkin senior before his season ended abruptly and painfully.

Starting over in Seattle, Berry is under no pressure to do the impossible. His Husky running-backs coach has extended him and the other young runners a football lifeline.

"For the young guys, as you know, it's just trying to keep them swimming, to keep them from drowning," Bhonapha said. "It's kind of taking the next step there and seeing if they can get to land."

Berry, who picked up 13 yards on 5 carries in the UW spring game, is just happy to have two healthy legs so he can tread water.

Berry's 2021 Outlook: Likely redshirt running back

UW Service Time: None

Stats: None

Individual Honors: None

Pro prospects: 2025 NFL second-day draftee

Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven

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