Shaffer Needs To Get Something Off His Chest -- He Can't Bump

UW Roster Review: The redshirt freshman offensive guard failed badly in celebrating the end of practice.

Jack Shaffer runs onto the field for the Spring Game. | Dave Sizer photo

As a young offensive guard from North Dakota, Jack Shaffer remains in development. Truth be told, he's still learning basic skills.

The chest bump, for instance.

Upon hearing three horns signal the end of the University of Washington's 11th spring football practice -- a happy moment for everyone involved -- Shaffer and freshman defensive tackle Derek Colman-Brusa went airborne for a celebratory chest bump.

Colman-Brusa came down OK.

Shaffer, however, crash-landed. He bounced off his teammate and hit the ground hard, leaving the 6-foot-6, 351-pound redshirt freshman -- the second heaviest player on the Husky roster -- in a giant heap, if not scrambling to get to his feet.

Jack Shaffer is a sophomore offensive guard from North Dakota. | 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.

To be sure, Shaffer, who hails from Bismarck, is one of the more gregarious players on this football team.

At the Rose Bowl last season, UCLA fans sort of adopted him, chatting him up while he wandered the sideline during the UW's 48-14 blowout victory and feeling responsible when he got summoned to play near the end.

Jack Shaffer (65) goes through warm-up exercises. | Dave Sizer photo

That Pasadena venture marked his college debut and his only Husky game appearance so far.

This spring, Shaffer operated at left guard with the No. 2 offense. He looked noticeably slimmer after he and fellow freshmen John Mills and Champ Taulealea each arrived at the UW weighing more than 360 pounds for 2025 winter workouts.

"The size and the power and the strength that those guys have naturally, being that big, I've got to see if its translatable to this level," UW line coach Michael Switzer said last year.

An interesting spring moment came when Mills closely monitored Shaffer who was subjected to a post-practice punishment drill for some sort of misstep. It involved the latter jogging 10 yards in Husky Stadium, dropping to the ground and getting up, and running another 10, over and over.

Shaffer remains five pounds lighter than the heaviest Husky, a distinction that currently belongs to 6-foot-7, 356-pound freshman offensive tackle Dominic Harris.

The trick is to get his weight and mobility in sync as much as possible -- which means Shaffer at some point hopefully will be able to stick a chest bump with the best of them.

Center Parker Cross, left, and Jack Shaffer mix it up in a line drill. | Dave Sizer photo

What he's done: Shaffer originally committed to Iowa State but flipped when the Huskies made him a Big Ten offer. He's played in just that aforementioned UCLA game as a freshman while learning his position.

Starter or not: The plan someday is to get this big Dakota kid in the lineup, but it might take awhile. Entering fall camp, Shaffer plays behind Husky 2025 classmates and starters in Mills at left guard and Taulealea at right guard. Dislodging either one of them might be difficult if not near impossible.