Patience Is Virtue for Rashid Williams, Getting His Chance After Waiting for It

Denzel Boston has been out all spring recovering from unspecified offseason surgery. Sidelined for a week with a leg injury, Penn State transfer Omari Evans, came out for Thursday's practice dressed in his purple No. 5 jersey, signaling he was back, before taking it off, indicating he wasn't ready.

Such is the state of the University of Washington receiving corps, one full of promising players but a little banged up through eight spring sessions.

Of the projected starters for the coming season, only sophomore Rashid Williams has been available throughout. Yet for him, that's not all that unusual that he's showing up every day.

Entering his third season as a Husky, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Williams has been the reliable and patient one, waiting for others to graduate and hardly glancing at the transfer portal and considering an easy out.

"I think I'm here to stay," he said "I love it here. I love my coaches and my players, I"m sorry, my teammates. Patience is key you know."

While Boston and Evans looked on, Williams continues to build a passing rapport with Demond Williams Jr., who's no relation but a close personal connection.

On Thursday, Rashid Williams slipped behind redshirt freshman nickelback Rahshawn Clark and caught a difficult 30-yard pass, one of the longer ones of the day.

It was Williams to Williams, an NIL promotional merchandise deal waiting to happen.

"Most definitely," the receiver said of a T-shirt idea. "We're just trying to get that connection down. Me and D have been making plays through the spring and stuff, and trying to keep that going."

Receivers coach Kevin Cummings likewise sees the vast potential for these players with the same last name.

"When you have a level of competition, those two guys are at the top," Cummings said. "When those two guys are on the field together, like there's nobody else that's more competitive than them and wants to win more than them."

Williams came to Washington from Pittsburg, California, as a well sought-after 4-star recruit eventually signed by Kalen DeBoer's staff.

Even when DeBoer left for Alabama, Williams wasn't going anywhere. He was so widely recruited, he already knew Cummings when the latter coached at San Jose State and Jedd Fisch and Cummings when they were at Arizona.

"I'm really comfortable with KC," Cummings said, referring to Cummings. "Through high school, he was recruiting me and stuff. When him and coach Fisch got here, it wasn't like a brand new thing. It was actually I was glad they came."

And they were more than glad he stayed.

Rylon Dillard-Allen, shown here in Dempsey Indoor, had an interception Thursday outside. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Observation No. 2: They call him "Batman" for a reason. Freshman safety Rylon Dillard-Allen, nicknamed after a super hero, made the most of his first big moment as a Husky, maybe not fighting crime but committing it.

Running step for step with freshman receiver Marcus Harris, Batman probably got away with a subtle hold, but made a great break on the ball and intercepted a pass delivered by Tulane transfer Kai Horton.

Celebrating his heady play, Dillard-Allen ran a few yards and was so fired up he punted the ball.

Observation No. 3: One of the better battles of the afternoon was between cornerback Leroy Bryant and receiver Kevin Green Jr.

On one play, they got physical with each other before Bryant knocked the pass away.

What made this match-up so noticeable was it was No. 0 going up against No. 0.

Observation No. 4: At each practice, special-teams coach Chris Petrilli lets you know where he is with his loud, raspy and demanding voice.

In one drill where players tried their best to catch a simulated punt at the goal line, down it and not go into the end zone, senior edge rusher Milton Hopkins Jr. slipped and fell. The ball would have moved to the 20 in real game conditions.

Petrilli, who both congratulated and chastised players in an animated fashion in this exercise, wanted so much to let Hopkins know he could have done better, he got frustrated and threw a harmless piece of paper at him. It didn't go anywhere and brought laughs from people watching nearby.

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