Inside The Huskies

Husky Pro Day Also Served as Freshman OL Reveal

Three newcomers showed up -- just to watch. They're as heavy as any NFL players.
Dan Raley|
John Mills, UW freshman offensive lineman, has a huge frame.
John Mills, UW freshman offensive lineman, has a huge frame. | UW

Always the enthusiastic salesman, Jedd Fisch sometimes leans to hyperbole in describing just how great something is in regards to his University of Washington football program, which means it's always wise to double-check the facts.

One of his recent claims was that several of his incoming freshmen offensive linemen who enrolled early were north of 340 pounds -- which would represent the largest group of new Husky blockers ever assembled.

After all, Trey Adams and Kaleb McGary each hovered around 300 pounds when they arrived in Montlake a decade ago and they were considered gigantic at the time.

Short of bringing in a scale, the eye test with John Mills, Jack Shaffer and Champ Taulealea at the recent Husky Pro Day, of which they were spectators, seemed to verify everything that Fisch was saying was spot on.

These guys were huge.

"I think we have some fantastic young players that are here," Fisch said the week before Pro Day.

Stand them up next to the departing Huskies who were trying to impress the NFL scouts that day and the new guys made necks crane.

Mills, in particular, seemed to just tower over everyone while standing off to the side. Maybe his long stringy blond hair made him look even taller, but he appeared every bit as heavy as Fisch said he was.

"'We just weren't big enough," the coach has said of last season's line.

Two weeks before spring practice begins, the Husky online roster hasn't been updated to signify any of the weight gain these players might have experienced since enrolling for winter quarter.

Champ Taulealea is one of the UW's three big-bodied freshman offensive linemen on campus.
Champ Taulealea is one of the UW's three big-bodied freshman offensive linemen on campus. | UW

Mills from San Francisco currently lists at 6-foot-6 and 320 pounds, Shaffer from Bismarck, North Dakota, goes 6-foot-6 and 325, and Taulealea from Milipitas, California, checks in at 6-foot-5 and 330, and those dimensions clearly are old news.

The Huskies worked hard to bring these guys to Montlake, flipping Shaffer from Iowa State in September and Mills from Texas in December, while Taulealea might have received the most recruiting attention in this trio while choosing the UW over several SEC suitors.

Jack Shaffer has come from North Dakota to play for the Huskies.
Jack Shaffer has come from North Dakota to play for the Huskies. | UW

Whereas added size was high on the UW wish list, especially since the Huskies got tossed around like rag dolls last season in places such as Iowa and Penn State, how quickly any of these guys factor into the competition for instant playing time will be worth monitoring.

"Our offensive line is going to look extremely different," Fisch said.

Bigger is definitely the theme here.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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