Here's How Husky Quarterback Pecking Order Shakes Out

For the first time in a long while, the University of Washington football team isn't deploying a walk-on quarterback.

Teddy Purcell, where did you go?

Once a staple for the Huskies, with up to three non-scholarship signal-callers on the roster at a time, the UW is using only quarterbacks in spring practice who are paid for: Demond Williams Jr., Kai Horton, Dash Beierly, Kini McMillan and Shea Kuykendall, in that order.

The difficult thing is usually only the top three take scrimmage snaps in Jedd Fisch's practices, which has to be hard on the ego for those left out.

Three of these guys have been starters at the college level, with Williams opening two games as a freshman last season for the Huskies, including the Sun Bowl; Horton starting three games for Tulane, including the 2023 Military Bowl; and Kuykendall pulling three starts for Northern Colorado in 2023.

"Demond is the clearcut starter this year so you know he's getting all the one reps," said Jimmie Doughterty, the UW offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. "A big part of spring is us finding our backup, who that guy is going to be. There's a lot of new faces."

In looking over the pecking order and early movement, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Beierly, a freshman from the Mater Dei powerhouse in Southern California, has been the one to watch.

He looks exceedingly smooth while standing in the pocket, surveying the field for a receiver and in getting rid of the ball when feeling pressure.

While he won't beat out Williams, Beierly eventually might push the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Horton, a fifth-year senior, for that No. 2 role.

Each day, the five scholarship quarterbacks, all dressed in gold uniforms signifying no practice contact, line up side by side in drills, in the order of their depth-chart standing.

Kai Horton sends a pass in the direction of tight end Kade Eldridge. | Skylar Lin Visuals

They simultaneously take snaps from assorted centers and go through their progressions. By doing it this way, you can compare the QBs in real time in how they do things.

During Tuesday's practice, the 5-foot-11, 198-pound Williams had the added benefit of tossing the football in a drill to Will Rogers, last year's starting quarterback who stopped by practice in Dempsey Indoor during a lull in his pro pursuits.

While Williams is coming off of a 4-touchdown, 387-yard outing against Louisville, Horton threw just one pass for Tulane in 2024, which helped steer him to the transfer portal.

A year ago, Beierly changed high schools and did everything that was asked of him at Mater Dei in helping guide the Monarchs to a 13-0 record and a California state championship.

Dash Beierly gets loose during a UW spring practice. | Dan Raley

The 6-foot, 205-pound McMillan, a freshman from Mililani, Hawaii, looks solidly built and doesn't seem overwhelmed by his college surroundings. Yet he's been reminded to take care of the little things -- he was scolded for wearing earrings to a second practice on Tuesday and had to scramble to remove them.

Kuykendall, a 6-foot-1, 203-pound junior from San Pedro, California, transferred to the UW last year and was the third quarterback but didn't play in any games. He backed up former Husky quarterback Jacob Sirmon at Northern Colorado in 2023. With the UW freshmen coming in, he's probably lost ground.

As for that aforementioned Purcell, the walk-on from Menlo Park, California, played four seasons in Montlake and moved on even with another season of eligibility remaining. He probably accomplished all that he set out to do.

Kalen DeBoer's staff used to include him on travel squads. Fisch did Purcell one better by letting him take game-ending snaps against Weber State and UCLA.

In that regard, it was a glorious end to the UW walk-on quarterback.

To get the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington