Naone Makes Big Move To Change Up Husky TE Pecking Order

The second-year player bids for the starting job against WSU in the Apple Cup.

Baron Naone has moved up the depth chart at tight end. | Dave Sizer photo

By now, there shouldn't be any real surprises as the University of Washington football team puts the finishing touches on its starting lineup for Sunday's season opener against Washington State at Husky Stadium.

Leave it to Baron Naone to provide a bit of intrigue.

With Monday's depth chart release, the second-year tight end from West Linn, Oregon, is listed as an either/or player sharing the position with returning starter Decker DeGraaf, who's opened 16 games over his first two seasons in Montlake and was a Freshman All-American in 2024.

Naone apparently has closed the gap on his older teammate.

"I think he and Decker are going to split most of the reps all game and all season," coach Jedd Fisch said. "And keep going back and forth and making the other guy better."

While DeGraaf has done nothing to lose any of his allure as a player, Naone clearly has made himself a much more noticeable candidate than before, especially as a receiver, making several difficult grabs during the 19 fall camp practices.

"He had a fantastic camp," Fisch said. "He's caught the ball well. Blocked exceptionally well. Gotten bigger."

Naone currently carries a 6-foot-4, 260-pound physique, compared to DeGraaf who is just as tall only 10 pounds lighter.

Baron Naone meets with the media in fall camp. | Dan Rale

As a freshman, Naone appeared in seven games, getting pressed into regular duty as the second tight end at midseason when Kade Eldridge broke his foot and Quentin Moore suffered a concussion at Michigan.

This Husky tight-end battle is one of three positions that come with a question mark as the team prepares to meet WSU.

At nickelback, returning starter Rahshawn Clark and freshman Jeron Jones remain in competition to see who goes out on to the field first against the Cougars.

In his first full season, the 6-foot, 200-pound Clark played in 12 games and started five times before undergoing offseason shoulder surgery.

Baron Naone played nearly a dozen plays against Illinois. | Dave Sizer photo

Yet another freshman, Jones would be the fourth to become a starter should he win the job. He's impressed his coaches with the ability to play both cornerback and nickel at a high level as a younger player.

The other position that still has some uncertainty is at linebacker, where Zaydrius Rainey-Sale and Xe-ree Alexander are listed as the starting options.

Alexander started five games and was named LA Bowl defensive MVP, while Rainey-Sale opened two games late in the season.

Baron Naone had a strong fall camp at tight end for the Huskies. | Dave Sizer photo

Naone, however, remains the big story here because of how far he's come against such an established player as DeGraaf.

Fisch anticipates his top two tight ends taking turns as the starter, often playing together in two tight-end sets and even teaming at times with Eldridge, who will assume a fullback role from time to time by lining up in the backfield.

"Baron has really done an amazing job of getting better, getting better, getting better," his coach said. "He's a second-year player who's going to play a lot of football for us."