Husky Freshmen Came Ready to Play in Large Numbers in 2025

You had to look real close at the end of the LA Bowl to see who was who, but several University of Washington football players, in particular scholarship freshmen, made their Husky debuts with the clock winding down.

On the UW's final offensive possession, first-year quarterbacks Kini McMillan and Dash Beierly both were waved onto the field separately to hand off and log their first college action along with freshmen offensive tackle Jake Flores and wide receiver Deji Ajose.

On defense, freshman linebacker Jonathan Epperson Jr. made his first UW appearance, as did long snapper Hunter Sowald.

Overall, the final Huskies' tally sheet ended up like this: of the 28 scholarship freshmen on the roster, 21 drew game time at some point during the season -- and 19 played in the LA Bowl against Boise State, with again six getting game snaps for the first time.

The message coach Jedd Fisch likes to impart during recruiting is if you want to play early on the FBS level, come to Washington. He's got more than enough proof to back that up.

"We played more freshmen than anyone," Fisch said.

Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, coming off a high school knee injury, didn't waste any time in showing he could play as a freshman. | Dave Sizer photo

Six of the UW freshmen appeared in a double-digit number of games, though just two -- safety Rylon Dillard-Allen and edge rusher Devin Hyde -- played in all 13 outings.

Collectively these more than two dozen first-year players for the Huskies made 116 game-day appearances.

Nine freshmen played so much they burned their redshirt seasons.

The UW's seven first-year players who didn't get a taste of a live game action were offensive guard Lowen Colman-Brusa, wide receiver Marcus Harris, defensive lineman Dominic Macon, running back Julian McMahan, linebacker Donovan Robinson Jr., edge rusher Victor Sanchez Hernandez and defensive lineman Caleb Smith.

Dezmen Roebuck and Raiden Vines-Bright were two of six UW freshmen who played in the opener. | Dave Sizer photo

Four were linemen, offensive and defensive, who typically take longer to develop from a physical standpoint. Smith was said to be making the conversion from edge rusher to down lineman, so he wasn't ready for a 2025 cameo.

Harris was poised to play right away this past season, but he was injured in fall camp and fell too far behind to make a breakthrough.

While these were talented players for sure, the heavy use of so many freshmen likely could become more of trend across college football.

Consider that they're getting paid so teams will want to get an immediate return rather bogging everyone down with the redshirt process.

Naturally, 6-foot-6, 342-pound offensive lineman John Mills and Dillard-Allen at safety were going to play, no matter what.

Both showed themselves more than ready to get after it by turning up on various Freshman All-American teams, with Mills landing on three.

Altogether, these first-year Huskies started 38 games, caught 77 passes and scored 8 touchdowns, and defensively came up with 84 tackles, 3 sacks, 4 pass break-ups and an interception.

That's grown-up stuff.

UW CLASS OF 2025
Ramonz Adams Jr., CB	Played in 4 games, including LA Bowl
Deji Ajose, WR	Made debut in LA Bowl
Dash Beierly, QB	Made debut in LA Bowl
Quaid Carr, RB	Played against Purdue, in LA Bowl
D'Aryhian Clemons, CB	Played against UC Davis, in LA Bowl
Lowen Colman-Brusa, OG	Didn't see any action during the season
Rylon Dillard-Allen, S	Played in all 13 games, including LA Bowl, started 3
Jonathan Epperson Jr., LB	Made debut in LA Bowl
Jake Flores, OT	Made debut in LA Bowl
Marcus Harris, WR	Didn't see any action during the season
Devin Hyde, ER	Played in all 13 games, including LA Bowl
Chris Lawson, WR	Played in 7 games
Dominic Macon, DL	Didn't see any action during the season
Julian McMahan, RB	Didn't see any action during the season
Kini McMillan, QB	Made debut in LA Bowl
John Mills, OG-OT	Started 11 games, 9 at guard, including LA Bowl
Baron Naone, TE	Played in 7 games, including LA Bowl
Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, LB	Played in 8 games, started 2, including LA Bowl
Donovan Robinson Jr., LB	Didn't see any action during the season
Dylan Robinson, CB	Played in 12 games, started 5, including LA Bowl
Dezmen Roebuck, WR	Played in 13 games, started 10, including LA Bowl
Victor Sanchez Hernandez, ER	Didn't see any action during the season
Jack Shaffer, OT	Played against UCLA
Austin Simmons, TE	Played in 3 games, including LA Bowl
Caleb Smith, DL	Didn't see any action during the season
Hunter Sowald, LS	Made debut in LA Bowl
Champ Taulealea, OG	Played in 5 games, including LA Bowl
Raiden Vines-Bright, WR	Played in 12 games, including LA Bowl, started 7

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