Inside The Huskies

Fisch Makes It Official: He'll Start 2 Freshmen in Opener

John Mills will get the call at left offensive guard and Raiden Vines-Bright at a wide-receiver spot.
Dan Raley|
John Mills won the competition to open the season as the starting left offensive guard.
John Mills won the competition to open the season as the starting left offensive guard. | Dan Raley

Two days before kickoff, University of Washington coach Jedd Fisch acknowledged he will start a pair of freshmen in offensive guard John Mills and wide receiver Raiden Vines-Bright in Saturday night's season opener against Colorado State.

While the coach confirmed Vines-Bright's ascension earlier in the week, he said the 6-foot-6, 325-pound Mills, a first-year player from San Francisco, edged out 6-foot-5, 310-pound redshirt freshman Paki Finau at left offensive guard in a close battle through fall camp.

Fisch has said he will rotate the two young linemen against the Mountain West opponent this weekend.

Vines-Bright, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound newcomer from Tempe, Arizona, gets the call ahead of Penn State transfer Omari Evans, a 6-foot, 195-pound senior.

Mills is the first freshman offensive lineman to start since Nick Harris in 2016, while Vines-Bright is the first freshman pass-catcher to open a game since Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan in 2020.

Tight end was also in doubt at the beginning of the week, between 6-foot-4, 245-pound sophomore Decker DeGraaf and 6-foot-5, 260-pound senior Quentin Moore, and Fisch said the starter will depend on the situational group that takes the field.

Moore, who was the starter to begin the 2024 season before suffering a knee injury is that opener, is considered the best blocker among the Husky tight ends.

Zach Durfee, a 6-foot-5, 258-pound senior, and Isaiah Ward, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound junior, were listed sharing one edge rusher spot. Yet Fisch on Monday said Durfee, who is a team captain coming off offseason toe surgery, would go out first against Weber State.

The Husky football coach, when asked if either one of the Parker twins would see action, confirmed that 6-foot-3, 320-pound junior Armon will make his UW football debut this weekend.

Parker's sibling, 6-foot-3 and now 330-pound Jayvon, is still recovering from an Achilles tendon tear suffered last season at Rutgers and apparently still hasn't received medical clearance.

The UW recently updated heights and weights on its online roster, and Jayvon Parker is up 10 pounds since the previous measurement, while freshmen offensive linemen Champ Taulealea and Jack Shaffer each are still hovering at 330 pounds with Shaffer at 6-foot-6 an inch taller than Taulealea.

Also, sophomore offensive tackle Soane Faasolo is now playing at 6-foot-8 and 330 pounds, a slight increase in weight.

The heaviest Huskies haven't changed, with Utah senior transfer Simote Pepa carrying a 6-foot-3, 350-pound frame, and senior Logan Sagapolu playing at 6-foot-2 and 348 pounds. Both are defensive linemen who come off the bench.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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