Sanchez Hernandez Is Huskies' Grand Experiment

UW Roster Review: He's the martial-arts fighter turned edge rusher.

Victor Sanchez Hernandez goes through a pad drill with a coach. | Dave Sizer photo

This past April, edge rusher Victor Sanchez Hernandez showed up for University of Washington spring football practice much like he did when he first began playing the game in high school.

Arriving a little later than everyone else, he quickly demonstrated he belonged.

In this case, the 6-foot-5, 256-pound redshirt freshman from Mukilteo, Washington, missed the first 10 Husky workouts in April with an unspecified injury before he suddenly appeared in uniform.

By the 12th practice, Sanchez Hernandez got upfield multiple times to disrupt things, on one play bending running back Beck Walker over backward for no gain.

His teammates appreciated his enthusiasm, with fellow edge rusher Logan George giving him a solid love tap on his helmet when he came to the sideline.

Victor Sanchez Hernandez (55) joins in a Spring Game celebratory moment. | Dave Sizer photo

This is one in a series of articles -- going from 0 to 99 on the UW roster -- examining what each scholarship player and leading walk-on did in spring practice and what to expect from them going into fall camp.

Sanchez Hernandez is a unique and well-traveled international athlete.

While he was born at the University of Washington Medical Center, his parents are Mexican immigrants and he speaks Spanish fluently.

Victor Sanchez Hernandez gets loose on the East field. | Dan Raley

He's a martial-arts expert, a three-time national and two-time Pan American taekwondo champion, someone who has competed all over the world.

Had he not taken up football, Sanchez Hernandez might be preparing for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

However, the football bug got to him when he entered Lynnwood High School before he finished up at Kamiak High in the northern Seattle suburbs.

"You've got to be hungry to get that quarterback," Sanchez Hernandez told FOX 13. "To me, I Interpret chasing the quarterback like me chasing my dreams. There's nothing that's going to stop me."

Edge rusher Victor Sanchez Hernandez tries put some pressure on Demond Williams Jr. | Dave Sizer photo

Kalen DeBoer's staff wasn't interested in him as a raw talent but he showed up for Jedd Fisch's Husky summer camp and talked his way into an individual tryout.

Jason Kaufusi, Fisch's UW defensive-line coach, put Sanchez Hernandez through three hours of drills and the kid walked away with a scholarship offer.

'I think whatever you want to do in this world, you can do it if you try hard and dedicate yourself," Sanchez Hernandez said in a LinkedIn interview . "Having a good heart is the most important thing."

As the Huskies have found, he has plenty of strength, speed and agility, too.

What he's done: As a player in development more than most in Montlake, Sanchez Hernandez didn't play in any UW games as a freshman. He's getting closer. He pulled on a uniform for two seasons at each high school he attended. As a Kamiak junior in 2023, he was a first-team All-Wesco selection even while playing for a 1-9 team

Starter or not: Sanchez needs to get into games first before he gets too far ahead of himself. Still, the Huskies didn't bring him in for this martial-arts-fighter-turned-edge-rusher experiment not to work. He should aim to be a starter in 2028, which is an Olympic year.