How Former Huskies Are Faring Elsewhere This Season

Look at it this way: there's a half a roster of one-time University of Washington football players out there across the college landscape wearing different uniforms and supposedly pushing for a better opportunity than they had in Montlake.

Once this current season began, we counted up 44 ex-Huskies, hoping not to miss someone who might be playing elsewhere at some obscure school.

For many of these guys, it was a smart decision considering that 18 currently are starters for their new football teams.

Jalen Klemm, a 6-foot-6, 300-pounder who left during the coaching change from Kalen DeBoer to Jedd Fisch in 2024, is now a starting offensive tackle for Arizona State.

The son of former NFL player and longtime offensive-line coach Adrian Klemm -- who actually works for DeBoer at Alabama now -- Jalen played in seven games as a reserve for the UW team that advanced to the CFP national championship game.

He was waiting for starting tackles Troy Fautanu and Roger Rosengarten finish up and turn to the NFL.

"I'm somebody that's really athletic, physical, smart," Klemm said at the 2024 Sugar Bowl. "I think I've got a really good football IQ. I'm somebody who loves the game."

He's since become a huge comeback story after suffering a stroke during the Sun Devils fall camp two years ago, returning last season to play again as a reserve and now making his way into the opening lineup.

Klemm is one of three former Husky offensive linemen starting elsewhere along with center Zach Henning at Arizona and ex-guard turned tackle Paki Finau at BYU.

Cornerback Caleb Presley is a starter for Colorado State, having resurrected his college career after emerging as a highly touted defensive back who played in just three games for the UW over two seasons and seven more at San Jose State in 2025.

Ex-Husky running back Adam Mohammed carries the ball for Cal against the UCLA Bruins in his opener. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Linebacker Deven Bryant has landed on his feet at USC as a first-teamer once again after starting the first 10 games for the Huskies in 2025. He went home to Los Angeles before the LA Bowl last December, presumably because he had become a reserve and the UW were overstocked with capable players at that position.

Interestingly enough, Stanford starts former UW players side by side at cornerback this season in Jay (formerly known as Jaivion) Green and Leroy Bryant. Green joined the Cardinal during the DeBoer coaching change and is in his third season in Palo Alto, while Bryant changed schools this past winter.

Texas A&M cornerback Jordan Shaw (8), the former Husky, drops into coverage against Miami in the 2025 CFP playoffs. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Huskies actually have supplied a surplus of starting defensive back to other schools.

Jordan Shaw opens at cornerback for Texas A&M, Peyton Waters runs at safety with Bill Belichick's No.1 defense for North Carolina, Khmori House has made a successful conversion from linebacker to a starting safety at Arkansas and Diesel Gordon has earned a starting safety job at Sacramento State.

Paki Finau is the #4 LT in the country per PFF. Absolutely phenomenal offseason pickup
— Joe Wheat (@joewheat27) September 15, 2026

Continuing to improve his situation, linebacker Austin Hartineaux has gone from UW walk-on to Nevada reserve to Rice starter.

Wide receivers Audric Harris and Taeshaun Lyons are starters at Hawaii and UNLV, respectively.

Utah edge rusher Lance Holtzclaw, the former Husky, puts pressure on and Idaho quarterback in his opener. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Edge rusher Lance Holtzclaw, who has a much bigger body at 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds in his second year for Utah, is a more prominent player after serving as a UW reserve for three seasons. For the Utes, he started for the first time at the Las Vegas Bowl against Nebraska last December and is a full-time first-teamer this season.

Adam Mohammed, of course, went from being carefully groomed as the UW heir apparent to NFL-bound Jonah Coleman to becoming California 's No. 1 running back.

He was a big loss, especially considering the current Husky backfield situation. Yet the Arizona product apparently was determined to leave and play closer to home and maybe got paid a little more.

Mohammed rushed for 28 times for 120 yards and a touchdown in a season-opening 45-24 loss to UCLA and came back with 19 carries for 74 yards in a 21-18 win over Syracuse last weekend.

FORMER HUSKIES PLAYING ELSEWHERE
Lonyatta Alexander, WR, Idaho	Reserve for Vandals after stops at Arizona State and UW.
Davit Boyajyan, OL, Cal Poly	Reserve for Big Sky team after two seasons at UW.
Deven Bryant, LB, USC	Starter for Trojans after starting in 2025 for UW.
Leroy Bryant, CB, Stanford	Starting with ex-Husky Jay Green at corner.
Ryder Bumgarner, RB, Central Washington	Starter for second season after two years as UW walk-on.
Bryce Butler, DL, Texas Tech	Reserve for Red Raiders after two seasons at UW.
Royce Cleeland, OL, UC Davis	Reserve for Big Sky team, was UW legacy player.
Dermaricus Davis, QB, Cal Poly	Reserve who has gone from UW to UCLA to Hawaii and now Poly, where ex-Husky QB Sam Huard made a previous stop.
Tristan Dunn, S, California	Will play third season for Bears after three at UW.
Jonathan Epperson Jr., Portland State	Reserve for the Big Sky team after one season with Huskies.
Paki Finau, OL, BYU	Starter at offensive tackle for the Cougars after he was a part-time staring guard at UW.
Diesel Gordon, S, Sacramento State	Starter for Big Sky team after short stay at UW and urged to leave.
Jay Green, CB, Stanford	Third season with Cardinal, second as a starter.
Audric Harris, WR, Hawaii	Starter for Rainbow Warriors after two seasons at UW.
Marcus Harris, WR, UCLA	Reserve for his hometown team in L.A. after one year with Huskies.
Austin Hartineaux, LB, Rice	Starter after playing as a reserve for UW and Nevada.
Zach Henning, C, Arizona	Starter for Big 12 team after three seasons in Montlake.
Vincent Holmes, S, Oklahoma State	Reserve for Big 12 team after three seasons at UW.
Lance Holtzclaw, ER, Utah	Starter for Utes in his second year at Utah.
Khmori House, S, Arkansas	Secondary starter for Razorbacks after playing LB for UW and North Carolina.
Sam Huard, QB, USC	Reserve in second season with Trojans after playing at UW, Cal Poly and Utah.
Jalen Klemm, OT, Arizona	Starts for Sun Devils after stops at Kansas State and UW.
Logan Lisherness, LB, Portland State	Starter for Big Sky team after stops at UW and Central Washington.
Taeshaun Lyons, WR, UNLV	Starter after stints at UW and Utah.
Dominic Macon, DL, Oklahoma State	Reserve for revamped Cowboys team after one year at UW.
Austin Mack, QB, Alabama	Back-up quarterback for Kalen DeBoer in his third season with Crimson Tide.
Jake Mason, DL, Montana	Reserve for Big Sky team after walk-on season at UW.
Max McCree, OL, Washington State	Reserve for Cougars after previously playing for Maryland and the UW.
Dyson McCutcheon, S, Middle Tennessee State	Reserve for Conference USA team after five seasons at UW.
Adam Mohammed, RB, California	Starter for the Bears after two years in Montlake.
Armon Parker, DL, Maryland	Reserve for Big Ten team after four seasons at the UW.
Jayvon Parker, DL, Maryland	Reserve for Big Ten team after four seasons at the UW.
Caleb Presley, CB, Colorado State	Starter after stops at UW and San Jose State.
Curley Reed, CB, Louisiana	Reserve for his home state team for the second year.
Keith Reynolds, WR, Miami Ohio	Reserve for MAC team for the second season in a row.
Jason Robinson Jr., WR, Portland State	Reserve for Big Sky team after a season at North Carolina and one at UW.
Jordan Shaw, CB, Texas A&M	Starter for his SEC team for the second season.
Caleb Smith, DL, Alabama	Reserve for SEC team after returning home to native Alabama.
Hunter Solwold, LS, Florida	Reserve for SEC team after walk-on season at UW.
Kahlee Tafai, OL, California	Reserve for Bears after stops at UW and Minnesota.
Raiden Vines-Bright, WR, Arizona State	Reserve for Sun Devils after starting at UW as a freshman.
Peyton Waters, S, North Carolina	Starting for the first time in his second season with Tar Heels after one in Montlake.
Michael Leville Watkins, OL, San Diego State	Reserve in second season for the Aztecs.
Jayden Wayne, ER, California	Reserve in his second season at Cal after stops at Miami and the UW.

Add us as a preferred source on Google