Derek Zammit Brings His Fastball to UW Spring Practice

Among the University of Washington football players out for spring practice, it's a given that quarterback Demond Williams Jr. can run really fast, that side receiver Dezmen Roebuck has hands like no other, that linebacker Jacob Manu is going to hit people.

What makes things even more interesting is watching someone such as newcomer Derek Zammit show off his understated talent.

The 6-foot, 208-pound freshman quarterback from Lincoln Park, New Jersey, has the strongest throwing arm by far among the five scholarship quarterbacks putting their football wares on display this month.

Zammit throws rockets. High, hard ones. Stuff for radar guns.

He might not be as accurate as Williams or use as much finesse on the ball as Stanford transfer Elijah Brown, but nobody rushes the ball downfield any more forcefully than this Jersey fastballer.

"I've seen a little bit of what he can do with a football," sophomore tight end Baron Naone said. "But catching the ball from him, you can definitely feel the firmness that he delivers behind it."

He wears No. 15, a UW number not made quarterback prominent since the late Bob Schloredt, who led the Huskies to consecutive Rose Bowl victories, each time was named the game MVP and became the 1959 first-team AP All-American at his position.

Freshman quarterback Derek Zammit takes part in a spring drill. | Dan Raley

Compared to the other UW quarterbacks, Zammit has the biggest, thickest forearms.

He has a polished, comfortable presence about him that would seem to indicate he's going to be capable leader.

"He's also starting to get really familiar with the offense," Naone said. "He throws a really good ball, right where you want it."

Derek Zammit has made people notice his arm strength. | Dave Sizer photo

On Saturday, Zammit warmed up by playing catch with Williams, as the No. 3 guy trading throws with the starter.

The difference in their places in the pecking order was made clear by this little detail: Williams had someone catch the freshman's passes for him while Zammit both delivered and caught the ball on his own.

Derek Zammit stretches out at practice in Dempsey Indoor. | Dave Sizer photo

Over a matter of a few minutes, former NFL quarterbacks JP Losman and Matt Cavanuagh, the respective UW quarterbacks coach and senior offensive assistant, pulled Zammit aside and gave him suggestions.

Losman then stood right next to Zammit and played catch with Brown, offering up a pinpoint pass that got him eight NFL seasons with four franchises.

As Zammit threw ball after ball, one could see a tattoo on his thick left forearm with two eyeballs peeking out.

The baseball analogy with this first-year player is no joke either. Center Landen Hatchett came over and squatted down like a catcher and Zammit pretended to throw a submarine pitch to him by snaking it around another Husky player.

Six practices into spring ball, Zammit has launched only a few passes in scrimmage situations so far. He's busy learning the playbook. He'll get his chance soon enough.

"He's a great young quarterback for sure," Naone said. "I definitely see a bright future for him."

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