UW Roster Review, No. 2-99: Huard Has Talent, Needs Comfort Zone
By the way they handle themselves on the field, Dylan Morris and Patrick O'Brien unmistakably resemble veteran quarterbacks for the University of Washington. They're confident, battle-tested.
Sam Huard is different, and not because he's left-handed. Everything is a new discovery for him, a football revelation. Yet for intriguing moments, he looks like a star.
Huard still is a fresh-faced kid, someone who should be walking the halls of Kennedy Catholic High School, goofing around with his pals.
Instead, he's in a hurry-up mode, not trying to put his team in the end zone before the clock hits all zeroes, but cramming for his fall football exams.
Huard is the most-talked-about Husky football player in years, a quarterback with legacy pedigree and national notoriety, an undeniable presence by just showing up as the guy in jersey No. 7.
Because of his budding reputation, some fans expected him to come into spring football and simply take over, which is unrealistic. Others after catching only glimpses of him or reading brief dispatches about him are adamant that he now redshirt, which is too hasty.
He likely won't do either.
Huard knows the playbook well enough and dutifully has handled the speed of the game, according to UW offensive coordinator John Donovan. It's the nuances that come with all of that.
"It's more the operation, of getting in the huddle, spitting out, and taking charge at the line, and know where to look exactly on each play, look at the play clock — all of that stuff is pretty new to him," Donovan said. "For a guy who, you never know, he's never been under center or any of that stuff. He hasn't really had any issues there. He's done a pretty good job, I'll be honest."
Going down the roster in numerical order, this is another of our post-spring assessments of all of the Husky talent at hand, gleaned from a month of observations, as a way to keep everyone engaged during the offseason.
The next question that comes up is this: Since Jake Browning started as a true freshman quarterback for the Huskies, why can't Sam Huard?
Well, Browning didn't compete for the No. 1 job against a pair of quarterbacks with college football game-day experience. Entering spring practice, Morris had four starts on his resume for the UW while O'Brien had pulled a dozen game-opening assignments at Colorado State over two seasons.
Back in 2015, Browning's competition basically was not much more than reserve quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels, who transferred to Colorado State to become the No. 1 quarterback.
Yes, Huard threw plenty of ill-advised interceptions and dropped a number of snaps in those April practices.
Yet there were instances when this brand-new college quarterback mesmerized everyone with his fluidness as he set up to throw and then pinpoint magic once he let it fly, reminding everyone who he is.
Look for Huard to draw increasing game time this fall as the season plays out, spelling Morris at times in some of the more lopsided games but preparing for his big chance and a competitive battle that likely will come in 2022.
If the fans can wait that long.
2021 Outlook: Projected backup quarterback
UW Service Time: None
Stats: None
Individual Honors: None
Pro prospects: NFL draftee, middle rounds, 2025
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