Inside The Huskies

One Number Change for an Otherwise Set UW Football Roster

Jaivion Green turns in No. 22 for something a little more streamlined.
Dan Raley|
One Number Change for an Otherwise Set UW Football Roster
One Number Change for an Otherwise Set UW Football Roster

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Washington Huskies

One way to tell that University of Washington football is on an upswing, that a big season is ahead, is to look at the roster.

In Montlake, not much is happening.

At a time that players typically would be changing uniform numbers or even dropping off, almost nothing is changing.

Everyone is comfortable who they are and where they are as everyone anticipates trying to top Kalen DeBoer's 11-2 coaching debut.

A roster update over the weekend shows just one UW player requesting a new identity, with sophomore cornerback Jaivion Green switching from No. 22 to the infamous 0.

The Houston native claims a number worn last season by edge rusher Sav'ell Smalls, who packed up his bags before spring football was complete and later transferred to Colorado and Coach Prime, joining Deion Sanders' program rebuild.

Long outlawed in the college ranks, the No. 0 was made available to players everywhere in 2021 and wide receiver/kick returner Giles Jackson immediately became the first UW player to claim it, followed by Smalls last season on the defensive side.

With the Huskies shorthanded, the 6-foot-2, 207-pound Green appeared in nine games at cornerback last fall, more than any other freshman — and was named UW Freshman of the Year.

Personnel-wise, wide receiver Jabez Tinae officially exited the UW program entering the week, a move that was long expected for the oft-injured player. It appears just one other player has chosen not to return in walk-on cornerback Charlie Fuller from Los Angeles. He spent a season and a half with the Huskies and didn't appear in a game.

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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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