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Inside The Huskies

Grades Are In: Husky Offensive Line Was Very Good

Landen Hatchett received the highest Pro Football Focus score among his teammates.
Dan Raley|
Landen Hatchett looks ready to battle in the opener.
Landen Hatchett looks ready to battle in the opener. | Dave Sizer

The grades are in: the University of Washington offensive line was really good, in fact the opposite of last year's Huskies.

On Saturday night, running back Jonah Coleman, after rushing for 177 yards and a pair of touchdowns on a career-high 24 carries, offered his instant approval of the guys up front.

"I don't remember the last time we did," he said of his career.

A short time later, UW coach Jedd Fisch declared that his line "did a really, really good job."

For numbers freaks, analytics site Pro Football Focus on Sunday rubber stamped the Husky line's effort in a 38-21 victory over Colorado State with an 88.5 grade, one based on video study of elements such as winning the gap or making a quick movement or creating a big gainer.

Broken down, the two best UW blockers were junior center Landen Hatchett, at 83. 5, and junior right tackle Drew Azzopardi, at 83.4, as provided by Andrew Nemec of the Sporting News.

"Proud of those boys," Coleman said. "Shout out to them -- they made me look good."

The Huskies ran up the middle behind the 6-foot-2, 315-pound Hatchett for a pair of 1-yard touchdowns from Adam Mohammed and Kade Eldridge, plus Coleman's 3-yard scoring run.

Hatchett has been projected for stardom since leaving high school and being recruited by Michigan, Oregon, Texas A&M and USC, besides the Huskies. However, a knee injury at the end of his freshman year while preparing for the Sugar Bowl delayed his proress some.

This younger of two Hatchetts seems at optimum performance levels as this season unwinds.

The 6-foot-7, 315-pound Azzopardi was the lead blocker when Coleman ran around the right end on the Huskies' first series of the night and was untouched as he scurried 26 yards to the end zone.

Azzopardi, as the UW's only returning full-time starter, had taken a brunt of lingering criticism from the 2024 Huskies' less than perfect showing simply for his presence, yet he seems more polished now.

Colorado State sacked quarterback Demond Williams Jr. three times on Saturday night, but his blocking wasn't necessarily responsible.

Jonah Coleman leaves a Colorado State defender in his wake.
Jonah Coleman leaves a Colorado State defender in his wake. | Dave Sizer photo

Williams had protection but got indecisive on one of the plays and possibly held onto the ball too long. On another sack, Hatchett snapped the ball when his quarterback wasn't expecting it, the ball bounced off of Williams and the play went for a 3-yard loss and a lost fumble.

It's clear this Husky offensive line is a lot stronger and more powerful than before by restocking with Kansas State transfer Carver Willis at left tackle, freshman John Mills at left guard and Oklahoma transfer Geirean Hatchett at right guard.

The Huskies' 283 yards rushing was the most in 20 games for the UW, since a Kalen DeBoer team churned out 316 yards in a 52-42 victory at USC in 2023.

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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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