Taj Davis Ran Crisp Route to Become UW Starting Wide Receiver

Chuck Morrell, University of Washington co-defensive coordinator and former Montana Tech head coach, put it fairly succinctly the other day about playing time.

His message, speaking to everyone: If you show us as coaches you belong on the football field on game day, it is our responsibility to get you out there.

Wide receiver Taj Davis held them to it.

With most of the Husky starters fairly well set — even going as far back to spring practice — Davis unseated one-time Texas Tech transfer Ja'Lynn Polk as the first-teamer, no small feat, with a strong fall-camp finish.

"My confidence grew a ton," Davis said. "Having a coach like JaMarcus Shephard come in and step in and be able to teach us what he's been teaching his receivers in the past, you know, he has a really good resume."

When spring camp began, new Husky offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb publicly identified Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Polk, all wide receivers, as the three players who seemed to best fit the new spread offense being installed.

This meant that Davis, a six-game starter in 2021 largely because Polk was injured, faced an uphill battle from the beginning to become a first-teamer again.

A difficult proposition for sure, but not impossible.

Grubb repeatedly told in weekly briefings how Davis, a 6-foot-2, 193-pound sophomore from Upland, California, began attacking his receptions, meaning he was jockeying for position and chasing down passes rather than waiting for the ball to reach him.

Meantime, Polk enjoyed a strong camp, as well, as he's tried to bounce back from an injury-interrupted first season at the UW. He broke his collarbone on the first play of the opening game while making a 13-yard catch against Montana and he sat out in recovery until the final two outings against Colorado and Washington State.

Davis redshirted his first year at the UW, opted out of the 2020 season because of the pandemic and played for the first time last fall, and he caught 26 passes for 329 yards and a touchdown against California.

In the spread offense, all of these Husky wide receivers will play significantly, yet, as Davis will tell you, it does feel good to be called a starter. But it's not the bottom line.

"Obviously, we're all out here competing for the starting position," he said. "I'm happy to say that there's a strong unit we have in wide receivers. No matter who is out there starting, starting first, I know we're all going to show up and make plays when it's time to be made."

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