How The Huskies Grade Out At Midseason

A year ago, when the University of Washington football team reached the halfway point of the season, it had both underachieved and overachieved.

The Huskies were 4-2 overall, 2-1 in Big Ten play, after coming up short to a pair of teams it should have beaten in Washington State (24-19 loss) and Rutgers (21-18 loss) in neutral or road settings and after an epic moment -- upsetting the nation's No. 10-ranked team in Michigan (27-17 win) at home.

They then finished up by losing five of their next seven games as the schedule became much, much tougher with road games at Iowa, Indiana, Penn State and Oregon, and rebuild reality sank in.

So far this season, the UW football script has gone fairly close to plan, with Jedd Fisch's team coming up short only to the nation's No.1 team in Ohio State (24-6 defeat) in six outings, with a manageable half-dozen more games to come. A furious rally from a 20-0 deficit at Maryland leading to a 24-20 win has been the season high point -- of course, negating the lousy start.

The Huskies often have showed off a high-powered offense behind the big three of quarterback Demond Williams Jr., running back Jonah Coleman and wide receiver Denzel Boston, and been merely adequate on defense.

At one point, the UW could count four defensive starters, proven or potential, sidelined all at once from games with injuries, including one player from each position group -- edge, line, linebacker and secondary.

What's kept the Husky defense competitive is a big upgrade in defensive coordinator Ryan Walters. He's more hands on, strategic and demanding than his predecessor, Steve Belichick, who has struggled to put together a defense at North Carolina and likely isn't DC material.

Saturday's game at Michigan will have as much impact on the Huskies as any over the remainder of the season, on whether the they're good or great when it comes to postseason possibilities. Most of the remaining six games are winnable, with only the Wolverines and Oregon qualifying as upsets if the UW emerges victorious. A 9-3 record is highly feasible for Fisch's second team.

If we were to pick team MVP it would be Williams, a newcomer of the year in safety Alex McLaughlin and an All-America pick in the making in frehman offensive guard John Mills.

Jonah Coleman leads the nation with 12 touchdowns scored. | Dave Sizer

The following is a midseason glance and aasessments for each UW position group (note, we are a tough grader):

OFFENSIVE LINE: Until starters Carver Willis and Mills went down with knee and foot injuries, respectively, this group was looking fairly solid and had become worthy of Joe Moore Award consideration again. The 6-foot-5, 312-pound Willis, a senior at left tackle, was the Huskies' top performing lineman, though some of the analytics sites might disagree. Mills, a 6-foot-6, 342-pound freshman, is a star in the making. Outside of a couple of illegal snaps -- slightly moving the ball forward -- the 6-foot-3, 315-pound center Landen Hatchett might be the most solid performer up front in terms of staying healthy and doing his job. Grade: B

WIDE RECEIVERS: With the exception of the Ohio State game, where the Buckeyes doubled up on Boston, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound pass-catcher has been dominant against opposing defensive backs. He looks ever ready to be an NFL player. He high-points the ball over a defender's reach as well as anyone. He has 30 catches for 444 yards and 6 touchdowns, the scoring number leaving him tied for third nationally. While freshmen receivers Dezmen Roebuck and Raiden Vines-Bright have had their moments, losing an older player such as sophomore starter Rashid Williams to a broken collarbone set this group back slightly. Grade: B

TIGHT END: Sophomore Decker DeGraaf is one of the Huskies' more consistent players with 15 catches for 151 yards and reliable blocking skills. In fact, he's become sort of a Cade Otton multi-purpose clone, especially so young in his career. Senior Quentin Moore looks fully recovered from a knee injury, has blocked well and appears even faster in running his routes. Grade: B

Demond Williams Jr. has lived up to everything promised for him, accounting for 14 touchdowns so far. | Dave Sizer photo

QUARTERBACK: People are just catching on to this Williams, a 5-foot-11, 198-pound sophomore dynamo who is capable of making so many things happen and defenses freak out. He's been Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week twice, once by himself and once as a shared recipient, which is more in-house exposure than anyone else has received in the conference. He's rushed for 382 yards and 4 scores and completed 74.1 percent of his passes -- which is third in the nation -- for 1,628 yards and 10 TDs. He is the fastest FBS quarterback nationwide. Someone put him on a Heisman list this week. A win at Michigan would send Williams over the top in terms of attention. Grade: A

RUNNING BACK: Coleman has been forced to be the good solider. While his rushing numbers have slipped because teams have focused on him and the UW O-line lost some of its effectiveness when it lost two starters to injuries, Coleman still scores touchdowns on a weekly basis at critical junctures and at an amount that continues to lead the nation (12). Grade: B-plus

EDGE RUSHERS: This has sort of been a cursed postion for the Huskies. First a big-play pass rusher such as Zach Durfee couldn't stay healthy, then Russell Davis II, then Durfee again. Deshawn Lynch, who has some noticeable skills, was late to the party with a fall camp injury. Isaiah Ward, hit by nagging injuries, went from 11-game starter at Arizona to six and two in a pair of seasons for the UW. Only Jacob Lane has been a steady player this season with six starts and 2.5 sacks. Overall, the edges have just 6 sacks, or one per game. It needs to be a lot more: Grade: C

DEFENSIVE LINE: The Huskies have started the undersized 6-foot-4, 280-pound senior Ta'ita'i Uiagalelei at one defensive tackle for six games and three guys in the other spot in 6-foot-4, 310-pound senior Anterio Thompson, 6-foot-5, 320-pound junior Bryce Butler and 6-foot-3, 317-pound sophomore Elinneus Davis. Which for the latter means it either has been highly competitive for game time or no one can win the second job outright. These guys are credited with limiting teams to 83.3 rushing yards per game, which is admirable for sure, but opposing teams tend to throw more on the Huskies over intermediate ranges and flourish. The Husky down linemen seem adequate enough in plugging holes, but they don't get upfield and into the backfield enough like the elite teams do. Uiagalelei has the only sack among them. Grade: C-plus

LINEBACKERS: Eligibility and injury concerns have prevented this position from having a high-grade season. The best linebacker, senior Jacob Manu, has played in just two games, dealing with both issues mentioned above. The second-best linebacker, junior Buddah Al-Uqdah, lasted only two-plus games before tearing up a knee. Xe'ree Alexander, a junior, has been going through a full body makeover and just made his first start. Freshman Zaydrius Rainey-Sale played in his first game. Sophomore Deven Bryant has been the only guy to start every outing, coming up with 40 tackles, and he's on his way to a nice career. Everyone looks solid. There's a lot of capable players here. They just need to collectively get healthy and eligible in 2026 to really show what they can do. Grade: B

Safety Alex McLaughlin is a sure tackler for the Huskies and leads the team with 42. | Dave Sizer photo

SECONDARY: The best guy in coverage, senior Tacario Davis, just returned after missing three-plus games, and nearly had three interceptions against Rutgers. His absence caused the Huskies to shuffle people around. Sophomore Leroy Bryant, redshirt freshman Rahshawn Clark and freshman Dylan Robinson, who will be the future backbone of this defensive backfield, each were targeted in recent games and received some painful lessons. They're young. The safeties in McLaughlin the Northern Arizona transfer and senior Makell Esteen have been solid with 4 interceptions and 70 tackles between them. Grade: B

SPECIAL TEAMS: Kicker Grady Gross has converted 6 of 7 field-goal tries, with a long of 51, which makes him a dependable asset, while punter and Oregon transfer Luke Dunne is averaging just 39.4 yards per kick, 10 yards less than UW predecessor Jack McCallister now at Purdue, and he's badly shanked a couple of kicks. Dunne needs to step it up or he might not be punting in Montlake next year. The Huskies haven't shown a lot of patience with special teams, replacing all except Gross following last season. Grade: C

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