Long Line for UW Quarterback Forms Right Over There

The University of Washington football team already has five quarterbacks on scholarship, and none are seniors, with each of them being tutored by former NFL signal-callers JP Losman and Matt Cavanaugh.

So why not add another one to this happy mix?

On Tuesday, Blake Roskopf, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound QB from Desert Edge High School outside of Phoenix, made his intentions known that he is committed to the UW.

It's fair to say when this 4-star recruit presumably reports to spring football a year from now, something has got to give with the current stockpile of Husky quarterbacks.

It begins with Demond Williams Jr., who will be a senior in 2027.

As speedy and talented as he is, with LSU supposedly trying to pry him loose from the UW roster this past winter, Williams likely is in it for the long haul to play out his eligibility with the Huskies for one main reason.

He stands 5-foot-11 on a frame approaching 200 pounds.

Demond Williams Jr. hands off to Jordan Washington in spring ball. | Dave Sizer photo

NFL teams are well past its previous infatuation with compact QBs such as Fran Tarkenton, Doug Flutie and Kyler Murray and likely aren't going to draft Williams high enough for him to come out early.

He's played in 26 games for the Huskies so far, starting 15 of them, and likely will play in another 26 or more before he heads to the NFL Scouting Combine in 2028.

What that does is leave everyone behind him such as Stanford transfer Elijah Brown, redshirt freshmen Dash Beierly and Kini McMillan, freshman Derek Zammit and Roskopf bunched up behind Williams, though somebody no doubt will get impatient with this process well before next spring and move on.

Running back Brian Bonner Jr. heads to practice with QBs Kini McMillan, Derek Zammit and Elijah Brown. | Dan Raley

Brown has three seasons of eligibility remaining. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound sophomore started four of nine games at Stanford over two seasons and is still trying to prove he deserves a more prominent role as a college player.

He came very highly regarded as a 4-star recruit out of Southern California powerhouse Mater Dei High School, where he led the Monarchs to a pair of state titles and a 42-2 record.

The 6-foot, 213-pound Beierly likewise hails from Mater Dei, where he replaced Brown as the starting quarterback in 2024 and directed that team to a 13-0 record and a championship season. His Husky game experience so far consists of one play in the LA Bowl against Boise State.

McMillan, a Williams clone at 5-foot-11 and 213 pounds, comes from Mililani, Hawaii, where he was named Gatorade Player of Year in the islands after throwing for 42 touchdowns as a senior. His UW experience is two plays in the LA Bowl before giving way to Beierly.

The latest addition to the live UW quarterback competition is Zammit, who has a 6-foot, 208-pound frame and in three spring practices looks fairly polished so far. He's 2,800 miles from home, though McMillan isn't too far back at 2,600.

While these guys all dive into the competition, which is wieldy, they will answer to Losman, who was a first-round NFL draft pick, and Cavanaugh, who was part of two Super Bowl teams. They are surrounded by quarterback experts.

Some of these Husky candidates might get discouraged at times in trying to move up the depth chart, yet they couldn't find a more quarterback-friendly environment with all of those coaches on hand to develop them.

It's all about competition now.