Jaivion Green Elevated to No. 1 Cornerback for Cal Game

If his promotion holds, he'll become the first true freshman to start in the DeBoer era.

If all holds true for the rest of the week, Jaivion Green will start at cornerback for the University of Washington football team in Saturday night's matchup at California — becoming the first true freshman of the DeBoer era to open a game.

The Husky coaching staff was torn whether to redshirt Green and sat him out of the 45-38 loss at Arizona State two weekends ago, but listed him with the No. 1 defense on the depth chart to begin this week.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound corner played in last weekend's 49-39 victory over Arizona, effectively pushing him over the four-game limit that would have preserved his first year of eligibility.

"He's a great kid eager to learn," Husky coach Kalen DeBoer said on Monday. "He's going to be a good football player for us. It probably wasn't the expectation at the beginning of the season that he's in the rotation at the level he's at right now, but he's hungry. We're becoming more confident with him each snap."

If he takes the field first as planned, Green will replace redshirt freshman Elijah Jackson, who started the past two games but apparently still isn't fully recovered from an injury that made him begin the season late.

Green would become the sixth different player to start at one of the cornerback positions, with a spate of injuries virtually wiping out the position group and forcing the Huskies to use young players who haven't been ready.

Grad transfer Jordan Perryman and sophomore Mishael Powell were the season-opening starters, but each went out with an injury.

Perryman, who came to the UW after being named as a two-time, All-Big Sky cornerback for UC Davis, has been back for three games. Yet he clearly still has leg issues, limping badly after getting beat on a 39-yard touchdown pass by Arizona's Dorian Singer.

"We haven't seen the best of Jordan at all," DeBoer said. "I just know that. Hopefully, in the last four or five weeks. I do think he's getting healthier."

Green would be the third player with freshman status used as a corner starter, joining Jackson and redshirt freshman Davon Banks, the latter opening in the 40-22 victory over Stanford. 

Junior Julius Irvin also started four games at corner after converting from safety, but since he's been used only on special teams. DeBoer said he was working through injuries.

The Husky depth chart lists a No. 1 secondary of sophomore Kamren Fabiculanan at hybrid Husky, junior Asa Turner and senior Alex Cook at the safeties, and Perryman and Green at the corners.

Original starting hybrid Husky Dominique Hampton and Powell remain questionable for this week's game at Cal, but haven't been ruled out.

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