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Muhammad Likes What He Sees in Washington's Freshmen Corners

The young defensive backs are steadily progressing in practice for the Huskies.
Roman Tomashoff|
Muhammad Likes What He Sees in Washington's Freshmen Corners
Muhammad Likes What He Sees in Washington's Freshmen Corners

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Washington Huskies

Junior cornerback Jabbar Muhammad said one of the reasons the University of Washington's coaching staff did everything in its power to recruit him out of the transfer portal was so he could mentor the younger players.

"My role was to come here and take the corner room under my wing, and give them the knowledge that I have," Muhammad said. 

Washington pulled in an impressive group of cornerback recruits in the 2023 class: 4-star Caleb Presley, 4-star Curley Reed and 3-star Leroy Bryant. While Bryant is the only one who has played in a game so far, Muhammad has been impressed with what they've shown in practice.

"Those guys are some film junkies," he said. "They're trying to learn the playbook and play as fast and physical as they can. The older guys in the room like me, we try to teach them as much as we can. At the end of the day, they're going to hit that learning curve. I've been there. 

"It's tough getting the playbook down, trying to learn everything, but they're making strides every single day and I'm happy for those guys."

Muhammad has helped improve Washington's pass defense immeasurably this season and his impact could extend well beyond that. As the coaching staff relies mainly on a rotation of Muhammad, Elijah Jackson and Thaddeus Dixon at cornerback, the position should become much deeper in 2024.

Bryant, Presley and Reed all have an opportunity to play their way into significant snaps in 2024 and continue to improve Washington's pass defense. All three provide different skill sets that can help the Huskies going forward. 

Reed brings length and talent in press coverage while he also possesses the size to stick with bigger receivers on the outside. 

Presley is an impressive athlete with great footwork who could have a prominent role on the perimeter of the defense. 

Bryant is an impressive playmaker who is always looking for the football and has shown the coaching staff enough to receive game time against Michigan State and California, has come up with 3 tackles.

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Roman Tomashoff
ROMAN TOMASHOFF

I've followed the Huskies for my entire life, and to be in a position where I get to cover them full-time is nothing short of an honor. After graduating from Lasell University in 2019, I moved to Seattle to pursue my dream of working in sports media. While writing for the Husky Haul, I also covered local sports for the Everett Daily Herald before the COVID-19 pandemic. After being hired by Realdawg.com in February of 2021, I also transitioned into doing a lot of entertainment writing, as I work on a variety of magazines as a contributing writer for Centennial Media, and have also contributed to Emmy Magazine, as well as Walt Disney Television Studios. 

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