Huskies Intend to Get the Green Light at Receiver

On a Saturday night in August, the University of Washington football team neared the end of a scrimmage that seemed uneventful enough when everything got real quiet and trainers hurried onto the field at Husky Stadium.

Wide receiver Kevin Green Jr., an Arizona transfer, was down.

To that point, the sophomore had enjoyed a productive outing, catching a pair of passes from then freshman quarterback Demond Williams Jr., one a 15-yarder.

Yet Green now had to be helped off the field, unable to put any weight on his left knee and his first season in Montlake was over before it ever got started.

With spring ball less than a month away, the slender 5-foot-11, 155-pound sophomore from Mission Hills, California, has gone through recovery and will re-enter the receiver competition and see if he can regain the momentum he had generated in Tucson during the 2023 season with Jedd Fisch as his coach.

For a 10-3 team, Green appeared in 11 games and started two of the final three, opening in a 42-18 victory over Utah and in a 38-24 pummeling of Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl.

Presuming returning starter Denzel Boston and Penn State transfer Omari Evans have the inside track to claim two of the lead pass-catching roles, Green most likely will enter into a spirited competition with a host of others for the third spot.

Kevin Green Jr. shows off his athleticism during 2024 spring football. | Skylar Lin Visuals

While Green recovered from his fall camp injury, then freshman redshirt Rashid Williams and then freshman Audric Harris got a chance to play last season and advance their careers.

A host of incoming freshman receivers, including the likes of 4-star California prospects Marcus Harris and Chris Lawson, will join in the competition, knowing there's a reasonable chance to make an immediate move.

All of these younger receiving candidates, however, will need to go past Green to get on the field for meaningful snaps.

He's always been someone Fisch and his staff have put high value on. Originally a USC commit, he flipped late during his recruitment to end up in Tucson for two seasons.

He moved into the Arizona lineup in 2023 while fellow receivers Tetairoa McMillan and Jacob Cowing each each catching 90 passes.

That same year, Green was inserted late in the fourth quarter of a 31-24 loss to the Huskies and he caught a 10-yard pass to put the Wildcats on the UW 10, setting up a 10-yard scoring pass to McMillan on the next play for the final margin.

While he missed the entire past season for the Huskies, Green appears eager to return. At the Sun Bowl on New Year's Eve, he dressed for the game against Louisville even with the likelihood he wasn't going to play.

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