Rosengarten Should Turn His Credentials into UW Playing Time

They're the 520 guys — five offensive linemen who arrived at the University of Washington in the Class of 2020.

Most of them were heavily recruited; all of them came with their own position.

Roger Rosengarten, Geirean Hatchett, Myles Murao, Gaard Memmelaar and Samuel Peacock.

Two tackles, two guards and a center.

Kalen DeBoer and his coaches acknowledged how pleasantly surprised they were to find this quintet of redshirt freshmen O-linemen on the roster when they took over.

"There's a lot of youth, but there are a lot of guys we feel confident that we can grow and develop to be great offensive linemen for us," DeBoer said.

For two years, these players have put on muscle and added to their strength, learned technique and waited for older guys to use up their eligibility.

Well, it's time for one or more of them to cross that 520 bridge to meaningful minutes.

Coming out of spring practice, Rosengarten seems the most ready for a promotion.

In April, the Colorado native split a lot of snaps with junior Matteo Mele at No. 1 right tackle and he should make it tough for the new coaching staff, which includes holdover line coach Scott Huff, to keep him out of the lineup. They shared a position previously occupied by Victor Curne, who moved to right guard.

"It starts with athleticism," offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said of Rosengarten. "I think he's a guy who moves real well."

UW RIGHT TACKLE DEPTH

1) Roger Rosengarten, 6-6, 294, R-Fresh., Highlands Park, Colo.

2) Matteo Mele, 6-6, 295, Jr., Tucson, Ariz.

3) Robert Wyrsch, 6-7, 285, R-Fresh., Capitola, Calif.

Rosengarten is the only one of the 520 group who has played on Saturdays so far, drawing minutes against Montana, Michigan, Colorado and Washington State in 2021 and Arizona the season before. These were scripted appearances to preserve four years of eligibility for the tackle.

He arrived from Valor Christian High School in the southern Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch. His coach was Ed McCaffrey, who left the high school ranks when Rosengarten did to become the football leader for Northern Colorado University.

Rosengarten's athleticism as a 6-foot-6, 294-pound tackle has his new coaches highly enthused about using him a lot going forward and anywhere they need.

"I think Roger Rosengarten can play left and right tackle," Grubb said.

Behind him on our depth chart is Mele who's paid a lot of dues and even started once before, against Arizona at center in 2019 in his hometown, while appearing in 16 career games.

He'll readily deserve the job if he can stay one step ahead of Rosengarten.

Robert Wyrsch was one of two lineman recruited in 2021 and he's someone with a big frame who needs to get a lot heavier.

Conclusion: Rosengarten has one of the highest recruiting pedigrees on the UW roster, turning down offers from Ohio State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Michigan, Miami, USC and others in order to set down in Montlake. He's disappointed no one since he joined the Huskies. Providing the new staff doesn't return Curne to right tackle and Mele doesn't stubbornly hang in there, Rosengarten seems poised to be a starter. He has the ability to become an all-conference player before he's done in Seattle.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Husky FanNation stories as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Husky FanNation on Facebook by searching: Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated

Follow Dan Raley of Husky FanNation on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven

Add us as a preferred source on Google