Huskies Will Need Another Starting Wide Receiver

On a night of near offensive perfection, the University of Washington football team's first play from scrimmage against UC Davis was a thing of beauty.

Sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr. rolled to his right in a smooth manner and hit sophomore wide receiver Rashid Williams in stride with a 27-yard pass, the first of 628 yards of total offense in the UW's 70-10 victory.

However, this also would be the most flawed snap of the evening for the Huskies, who would lose the services of the 6-foot-1, 190-pound pass-catcher for the rest of the game and an undetermined amount of time thereafter with what appeared to be a collarbone or shoulder injury.

Williams watched the rest of the decisive outcome at Husky Stadium wearing what resembled a sling and, according to coach Jedd Fisch, would undergo a battery of Sunday medical testing, including MRI (magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to determine the extent of his injury.

Rashid Williams caught a 27-yard pass on the UW's first offensive play against UC Davis and was injured. | Dave Sizer photo

The early prognosis for the veteran receiver, who has 5 catches for 54 yards this season, was not very encouraging.

"It didn’t look great," Fisch said after the game. "We’ll just kind of wait and see what that means, but I would assume he will be out at least for the next few weeks.”

Either way, the Huskies seem headed for a certain starting lineup change on the outside when they face Washington State in the Apple Cup on Sept. 20 in Pullman, which at least lends to all sorts of interesting possibilities.

Going off the game-day depth chart, the most logical replacement for Williams would be Dezmen Roebuck, who would give the UW two true freshmen starters in the three game-opening receiving spots for the Cougars.

Raiden Vines-Bright, who lines up in the slot, has started since the season began.

The 5-foot--11, 180-pound Roebuck from Marana, Arizona, looks ready for a promotion. Against UC Davis, he caught 4 balls or 77 yards, including a shovel pass that he took 47 yards in a nifty fashion for an instant touchdown and a 56-10 lead in the third quarter.

Another possibility is junior and one-time Arizona transfer Kevin Green Jr., who has appeared in the first two UW games without a reception, coming back from a knee injury that forced him to miss the 2024 season.

Dezmen Roebuck is shown in pregame warm-ups. | Dave Sizer photo

Sophomore Audric Harris, who caught a pass for 3 yards against UC Davis; freshman Chris Lawson, who made his Husky debut with a 22-yard reception against the Aggies; and even redshirt freshman Justice Williams, who caught a pair of balls for 14 yards each, are other possibilities.

"That's the case for us anyway," Fisch said. "We're always preparing multiple guys at multiple positions. There's certainly a next-man up mentality. Dezmen Roebuck has done an amazing job."

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