Husky Roster Review: Powell Will Play Anywhere in the Secondary

The continual tinkering with personnel by Kalen DeBoer's University of Washington football coaching staff is like trying to find a cure for something. These guys have no qualms about experimenting for the good of Husky mankind.

They converted Jaxson Kirkland from an All-Pac-12 left tackle to an all-conference left guard. Transformed Ulumoo Ale from an offensive guard to a defensive tackle. Turned edge rusher Jeremiah Martin and offensive guard Geirean Hatchett into temporary tight ends.

For the recently concluded spring practice, they pulled Mishael Powell out of his cornerback comfort zone of four seasons in the program and made him the starting hybrid Husky, which is just another term for nickel back.

This was no demotion, just a better fit for one of the Huskies' more determined players, someone who came to the UW as a walk-on and was rewarded with a scholarship as a first order of business for the then-newly arrived DeBoer.

While Powell gave two coaching staffs a corner they could trust, this was the very same non-scholarship player who left UW receivers strewn all over the field and slow to get up in the one and only Jimmy Lake-led spring practice of 2021.

He looked like a cross between a cornerback and a safety, which is what the hybrid Husky position resembles.

"I can play anywhere," Powell said. "I feel comfortable at nickel, at safety and at corner. Where we are with this plug-and-play right now, [it's just] see where we're pitch strong, but I can play anywhere on the field."

The DeBoer staff clearly wanted to upgrade the cornerback speed even more and it appears to have done that with new acquisitions, while putting this 6-foot-1, 206-pound junior from Seattle in more of a physical, traffic-cop role in the secondary. Everyone wins.

Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Powell is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, where we sum up their spring football performances and surmise what might come next for them.

Mishael Powell changed his position and his number this spring, moving from cornerback and 23 to hybrid Husky and No. 3.

Defensive backs Mishael Powell (3), Asa Turner (20) and Kamren Fabiculalan (13) share a spring-practice moment last month in Husky Stadium.

Mishael Powell has done everything so far for the Huskies, playing multiple positions, collecting 54 tackles, knocking down 3 passes and forcing a fumble ... except for supplying an interception.

Mishael Powell is the last walk-on player to earn a scholarship, receiving his from Kalen DeBoer in 2022 shortly after the coach took over.

Co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell gestures while offering spring football instruction to his junior hybrid Husky Mishael Powell.

Mishael Powell, offering the dub sign, answers to Washington, walk-on and winner as he enters his fifth season in the Husky football program.

Mishael Powell emerged from Seattle's O'Dea High School with scholarship offers from Ivy League schools, but chose to take his chances as a UW walk-on.

Mishael Powell changed his number from 23 to 3, claiming a jersey digit that was worn last season by All-Pac-12 edge rusher Jeremiah Martin.

Mishael Powell went from walk-on to cornerback starter, opening in nine games last season and sitting out four because of injury.

Like soldiers, Mishael Powell (3) and his Husky teammates perform prescribed warm-up exercises 30 minutes into each practice before going into extensive drills.

In 2021, Powell leap-frogged a lot of scholarship cornerbacks to play for the first time and even start three games, largely as an injury fill-in for the future NFL first-rounder Trent McDuffie.

Lake's staff put its faith in a guy who decided he would pass up Ivy League scholarships and eventually make the Huskies pay for him. DeBoer rewarded him without seeing Powell live on the field, then made him one of his cornerback starters.

Everything seemed to be working back there until UC Davis transfer Jordan Perryman went down with a leg injury in the season opener against Kent State and Powell got hurt in the third game against Michigan State.

The Husky secondary was never the same again last season, with the corner position turning into a weekly tryout for a cast of thousands for more than a month.

Powell and Perryman later returned and helped the UW finish the season with a seven-game winning streak, but one had to wonder if either guy ever returned to 100 percent.

Spring Ball 23 is over. Looking forward to Mishael having a great upcoming season. Go Dawgs! 💛💜🏈 pic.twitter.com/sI52HuPVC1
— L. Darrell Powell (@ldp061059) April 23, 2023

Now Powell is the fifth starting wheel among the Husky opening defensive backs, replacing Dominique Hampton, who went back to his more natural safety position. Spring provided Powell with a chance to adjust to his new assignment.

Always open to change, he's swapped out his jersey number from 34 to 23 to 3, seemingly showing off his elevated status by going lower each time — everyone wants a single digit these days.

Powell wasn't totally unfamiliar with the demands of the Husky position. The ever-tinkering DeBoer coaches, maybe envisioning this move early on but needing him at corner initially, put him through some hybrid paces in practice last season.

"I want to do whatever I can to help this team, whether that's move positions, whether that's do whatever I have to do, whether that's climb a mountain," Powell said.

MISHAEL POWELL FILE

Service: Powell didn't play in any games during his first two seasons in the UW program, but he's since logged 21 games and started 11 times for two different coaches. He represents the last Husky walk-on to be elevated to a scholarship player.

Stats: He has 54 career tackles, 43 coming in 2022, with a forced fumble, but he's looking to elevate his pass-defense numbers. He had 3 pass break-ups, but is still waiting on his first Husky interception.

Role: With two seasons of eligibility remaining, Powell can expect to be a UW secondary mainstay for some time. He appears to be in the perfect position to accentuate his skills, with the Husky enabling him to be a blitzer much of the time as well as be a coverage guy.

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