Huskies Plug in Portal Transfers Where They Can

Just one newcomer is a starter at an every-down position for the UW.

Manley Karnley is the only transfer likely to start among the 22 UW position players. | Dave Sizer photo

As long as Jedd Fisch is in charge of the University of Washington football team, the Huskies won't show up in any of the transfer portal rankings.

His desire is to build the program through high school recruiting, not with someone else's hand-me-downs.

More than halfway through spring ball in Montlake, that message has never been more clear.

Of the 14 portal players brought in, just one currently is running as a starter at one of the 22 regular-down positions, with two others sliding in at place-kicker and punter.

Junior cornerback Manny Karnley, with previous stops at Virginia and Arizona, likely is the only newcomer who will have a starting assignment once spring ball finishes up in two weeks.

The 6-foot, 188-pound Karnley, orginally from Antioch, California, has showed himself to be the top coverage guy among the nine corners currently on the UW roster, each of whom have eligibility remaining beyond the coming 2026 football season.

Transfer Kolt Dieterich has been limited in what he can do in spring ball. | Dave Sizer photo

Curiously, nearly half of the portal newcomers -- six of these guys -- are or have been injured and likely won't get to show what they can do until fall camp.

Unavailable this spring are running backs Jayden Limar (ankle) and Trey Cooley (knee) from Oregon and Troy, respectively, and defensive tackle Kai McClendon (knee) from Mississippi State.

Transfer receiver Christian Moss has been hobbled much of spring ball. | Dan Raley

Add to them wide receiver Christian Moss (unspecified injury) from Kennesaw State, receiver Bodpegn Miller (unspecified) from Ohio State and offensive tackle Kolt Dieterich (unspecified) from Sam Houston State, all of whom have been iniform, but haven't taken part in 11-on-11 competition.

Outside of the handful of first-teamers and the injured players, the other six newcomers mostly are running with the Husky second team.

Karnley was an 11-game starter for an 11-3 Virginia team that finished up in the Gator Bowl and took a 13-7 victory over Missouri. He finished with 26 tackles, 8 pass break-ups and intercepted a pass in the bowl game.

He previously played at Arizona for coach Bob Brennan in 2024, as a five-game starter, and redshirted for Fisch in Tucson in 2023, so the Huskies had previous knowledge about him before bringing him to Seattle.

This spring, the UW special teams have welcomed transfer portal place-kickers Tyler Robles from Texas State and Hunter McKee from Eastern Washington, and punter Hunter Green from San Diego State.

Typically, the Huskies are just looking to add position depth when they go picking through the portal and that's what's happened with these roster adds.

HUSKY PORTAL ADDITIONS	How They've Fared
Elijah Brown, QB, Stanford	Back-up quarterback
Trey Cooley, RB, Troy	Injured, hasn't reported
Darin Conley, DT, Ball State	Second team
Kolt Dieterich, OT, Sam Houston State	Injured
Logan George, ER, Ohio State	Second team
Hunter Green, P, San Diego State	No. 1 punter
Manny Karnley, CB, Virginia	Starter
Jayden Limar, RB, Oregon	Injured
Kai McClendon, DT, Mississippi State	Injured
Hunter McKee, PK, Eastern Washington	Second or third team
Bodpegn Miller, WR, Ohio State	Injured
Christian Moss, WR, Kennesaw State	Injured
Tyler Robles, PK, Texas State	No. 1 PK
DeSean Watts, DT, Sacramento State	Second team