Huskies Rely Heavily on Current Transfer Class

Jedd Fisch previously has said he wants his University of Washington football team some day to reach the point where it adds only high school players to the roster and develops them, and has no need to sift through the transfer portal for talent.

"I do not and will not subscribe to trying to build a football team through free agency," Fisch stressed before the season began. "Some people can do that. Good for them. That is not us."

However, the Huskies aren't close to making this happen just yet. In fact, without the portal, they would be notably shorthanded this season.

Fisch's coaching staff brought in 14 players for the current campaign and all except one has appeared on game day so far.

Five of the incoming position players have been used as starters, as have all three of the special-teams newcomers gone out as the No. 1 guy in what he does.

The most important portal pick-up, of course, has been quarterback Elijah Brown, the Stanford transfer pressed into duty once starting signal-caller Demond Williams Jr. went out with a shoulder injury on top of his lagging performance.

Kai McClendon (18) shares a moment with a Husky coach. | Dave Sizer photo

Brown has responded with three highly productive halves against Iowa and Purdue combined in which he's thrown 3 touchdown passes against each team and just led the UW to a 38-26 victory over the Boilermakers on the road.

Other position players who have opened games are Sam Houston State transfer Kolt Dieterich, a five-game starter at center with two more at left guard; Virginia transfer Manny Karnley, a cornerback with five starts; Mississippi State transfer Kai McClendon, a defensive tackle with two starting assignments; and Kennesaw State transfer Christian Moss, who started the season opener against Washington State.

Manny Karnley (3) shares in a tackle of Purdue wide receiver De'nylon Morrissette with safety Rylon Dillard-Allen (4). | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Two other every-down players in defensive tackle Darin Conley and running back Trey Cooley have appeared in all seven games for the Huskies in reserve roles. Conley has one of the UW's 13 team sacks while Cooley owns the Huskies' only 100-yard rushing effort with 8 carries for 113 yards and a 53-yard touchdown sprint against Purdue.

The Huskies also have had a handful of incoming players who didn't last long, foremost Moss, who played just one snap before he tore a quadriceps muscle that led to season-ending surgery and now has the team seeking an additional year of eligibility for him.

2026 UW TRANSFERS
Elijah Brown, QB	3 games, 1 start, 51-69-518-7 passing
Darin Conley, DT	7 games, 14 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, 1 sack
Trey Cooley, RB	7 games, 33-165-1 rushing
Kolt Dieterich, OL	7 games, 7 starts
Logan George, ER	6 games, 9 tackles, .5 TFL
Hunter Green, P	7 games, 33-47.88 average, 9 KOs
Manny Karnley, CB	5 games, 5 starts, 16 tackles, TFL, 3 PBUs
Jayden Limar, RB	1 game, 12-47-1 rushing
Kai McClendon, DT	6 games, 2 starts, 11 tackles, 1.5 TFL
Hunter McKee, PK	5 games, 19 KOs
Bodpegn Miller, WR	hasn't played in a game
Christian Moss, WR	1 game, 1 start
Tyler Robles, PK	7 games, 9-11 FGs, 22-22 Xpts
DeSean Watts, DT	6 games, 10 tackles, 2 TFL sack, QB hurry

Oregon transfer running back Jayden Limar played only in the season opener against WSU in the Apple Cup and suffered a dislocated elbow in the waning moments of the Huskies' 24-10 victory.

Wide receiver Bodpegn Miller, one of two Ohio State transfers with edge rusher Logan George to join the Huskies this winter, is the only portal add who hasn't pulled any game time so far. He's dealt with nagging injuries since coming to Montlake and is still making the conversion to receiver after spending his high school years as a quarterback.

Of these 14 newcomers, only Cooley, Limar, Moss and punter Hunter Green are seniors who are expected to be one-and-done players, though that could change should Moss receive an eligibility extension.

Brown, with two more years of eligibility on top of this season, could turn out to be the most valuable addition of this current transfer class, depending on how much the Huskies use him behind center going forward.

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