Changing of UW Left Guard With Mills, Finau Is Well Designed

Jedd Fisch doesn't like to get off topic, which is focusing on the current business at hand for the University of Washington football team, in this case the Apple Cup.

Yet at the beginning of the week, the Husky coach permitted himself to daydream a little when considering the play so far of freshman John Mills and redshirt freshman Paki Finau, who are running 1-2 at left offensive guard, if not proving to be interchangeable every third series.

Fisch sees a time when they likely will be playing at the same time in some fashion, with one of them either encouraged to try the other guard spot or move to tackle.

"They are both going to help us," the coach said. "They are both going to have opportunities to play for us, and, whether they are both playing the same position now, one guy might be playing right guard next year and one guy might be playing left guard.

"Or one guy might be playing tackle, and the other guy might be playing guard."

It's a nice dilemma or chess match to have for the second-year UW leader, who has moved quickly to change the physical appearance of the Huskies up front.

Just 10 months ago, Fisch was sitting in a postgame interview room at Penn State, following a one-sided 35-6 loss, and lamenting how his offensive lineman weren't big enough to be competitive that day.

Since then, he's welcomed Mills, just 17, into the program. The 6-foot-6 kid from San Francisco showed up in Montlake this past winter weighing somewhere in the neighborhood of 350 pounds. According to the latest online UW roster, he's packing 325. We're guessing he's somewhere in between those numbers.

With Mills, the fun comes in watching him pull down the line with his powerful body and smother opposing defenders who simply can't handle him.

Paki Finau comes out of a stance in spring ball. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Finau arrived at the UW 21 months ago, as a first-year player from Southern California weighing just shy of 270 pounds. The Huskies put him in the weight room and went about making him a lot heavier, not worried about putting him on the field other than for a few early season cameo appearances.

By the time the UW ended up in the Sun Bowl on New Year's Eve against Louisville, it was time to unveil the new Finau, who was an even 300 pounds when he played most of the second half of the 35-34 defeat in El Paso.

He's since bulked up to 310 pounds on his 6-foot-5 frame, which seems like a good weight for him.

In this past Saturday's game against UC Davis, Finau could be seen out in front of wide receiver Dezmen Roebuck on a fly sweep, providing a lane downfield for him to run through.

While they stand to either be bookends at guard or playing side by side with likely Mills moving to tackle, Fisch's coaching staff is clearly invested in both of them.

Landen Hatchett (66) and John Mills (72) provide UW protection for QB Demond Williams Jr. (2). | Dave Sizer photo

Through two games, Pro Football Focus has counted 89 snaps for Mills in that left guard spot and Finau with 65.

"Both guys are doing a nice job, both guys are continuing to grade out well,” Fisch said. “John Mills is continuing to show why he is the starter, the consistent play that he’s able to show, down in, down out. Paki is demonstrating why there is absolutely no hesitation whatsoever to put him in at any drive."

Such is the nature of college football offensive linemen, they tend to wear down or get hurt because there's so much weight being thrown around in the trenches. There needs to be multiple options.

So the Huskies will make sure that Mills and Finau continue to log plenty of playing time, with Mills earning the starting assignment but the other guy fully capable of handling that responsibility, as well.

"We’re going to keep getting those guys better and better, but John is certainly continuing to play at a high level, and he’s doing a really nice job for us," Fisch said. "And when Paki has gone in, there’s not been much dropoff.”

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