Takeaways from Washington's Sixth Fall Practice

Rome Odunze showed NFL scouts why he should be taken in the first round.

With at least five or six NFL teams in attendance, wide receiver Rome Odunze began one of the last remaining practices open to the media with a sensational play. During the second team portion of the day on what might have been a sack in a real game for linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio, quarterback Dylan Morris threw a jump ball to Odunze, who went over the top of defensive back Mishael Powell to take the ball away before walking into the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown.

Yes, Dylan Morris. Michael Penix didn't participate in the team portions of practice on Wednesday, but offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said there's no cause for concern. "If he's even at 99 percent, we want to make sure we take care of the big guy," he said after practice on Wednesday.

In his stead, Morris and true freshman Austin Mack have done an effective job of leading the offense and Mack, who turned 17 years old in June, has made huge improvements over the last few days when he's had to step up. He also would have taken a beating in a real game on Wednesday, taking sacks on back-to-back plays.

Linebacker Carson Bruener broke through the middle of the offensive line on the first play and then cornerback Darren Barkins came flying off the edge on a well-timed blitz to touch Mack down. From that point on, it was the Odunze show.

Good morning, yes that’s Michael Penix making a few throws in this drill pic.twitter.com/UyKnTjcl9Q

— Roman Tomashoff (@rtomashoff34) August 9, 2023

During one-on-one drills, Odunze beat Jabbar Muhammad in the end zone and made a physical play to rip the ball from the cornerback before touching one foot down for the score. Then, in the final team period of the day, he once again broke away from the defense to reel in a 31-yard reception and had one man to beat before going out of bounds.

In a somewhat laidback day of practice, the Huskies did a lot of work in the red zone. The plays run in the most important part of the field resulted in three touchdowns for the offense, with Cam Davis, Richard Newton and Devin Culp all finding the end zone.

Giles Jackson got up to avoid the yoga ball tackler pic.twitter.com/7F5nN8Lu1X

— Roman Tomashoff (@rtomashoff34) August 9, 2023

Inside the Notebook

• Cornerback Davon Banks continues to stand out at practice and was rewarded with some early reps during the first-team period of the day.
• The Pittsburgh Steelers were out in full force on Wednesday with three scouts in attendance. They need help on both sides of the line of scrimmage, so it's possible they were interested in getting a closer look at Washington's talent in the trenches.
• Freshmen Zachary Henning and Jalen Klemm took snaps with the third team at offensive tackle today as the coaching staff continues to figure out the depth chart.
• Coach Kalen DeBoer ended Wednesday's practice with a punt fielding competition, with offensive and defensive linemen taking turns fielding punts. The defense won after a grab from Jacob Bandes, who was instantly mobbed by his teammates.

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