Top 5 UW Transfers From Spring Football

Demonstrating once more where the program's talent pool priorities lie, University of Washington recruiters sorted through the hundreds of transfer portal entries and came up with just one clear-cut starter for next season in cornerback Manny Karnley.

Yet Karnley wasn't a typical transfer in the sense that he played his freshman season for coach Jedd Fisch and his staff in Arizona before bouncing around some, spending 2025 spring football at Miami and playing the ensuing season for Virginia. Rather than a transfer, this is a reunion.

For that matter, Karnley, like most of the 14 transfers brought in, was injured with some sort of muscle pull and didn't appear in Friday night's Husky Spring Game.

Yet when 100 percent, he is considered the big find of this group.

"To be able to have him his true freshman year and see how he's matured over time has been great," UW secondary coach John Richardson said. "He's like a sound vet that we have right now and he played a ton of games and he played at a high level last year, as well. He's kind of come in and really settled the group right now."

In the UW's third spring practice, he intercepted a Demond Williams Jr. and returned it roughly 40 yards, which was heads up but haphazard because No. 1 running back Jordan Washington suffered a spring-ending neck injury while trying to get in the way of the runback.

Four practices later, Karnley was at his very best with three pass break-ups in 10 snaps, no doubt inspired by coering receivers where the Seahawks make it happen.

ELIJAH BROWN

The Huskies went after Stanford's back-up quarterback and part-time starter to provide them with a certain comfort level should Demond Williams Jr. be sidelined, which is always a possibility for a running QB.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Brown, only a sophomore, seems comfortable in Montlake, accurate enough, and in a good position to compete for the starting job whenever Williams chooses to move on. In the Spring Game, he connected on 7 of 11 passes for 27 yards.

DARIN CONLEY

The Huskies have this Ball State transfer in waiting should freshman defensive tackle Derek Colman-Brusa have any trouble navigating Big Ten opposition. They gave the 6-foot-3, 290-pound Conley regular turns with the No. 1 defense.

He was a 12-game starter last season in the MAC, so he's battled-tested. The only bad thing he did this spring was step on line coach Jason Kaufusi's toe with his cleats during a drill, causing the other guy momentary pain.

DESEAN WATTS

If Watts had two or three more inches on him, the 6-foot, 313-pound junior would have NFL scouts all over him. His quickness is upper level.

In the 12th spring practice, he showed it off by beating the Husky offensive line off the ball and getting his hands on Demond Williams Jr., spinning him around aggressively before doing a catch and release with the QB supposedly off limits.

TYLER ROBLES

The Texas State transfer has the kicking job to lose. He was highly accurate at his previous stop, connecting on 21 of 23 field-goal attempts.

While UW scrimmage kicking opportunities were infrequent, the 5-foot-7, 178-pound Robles drilled a 44-yarder in the 12th spring practice, with his strong kick clearing the goal posts by a good 10 yards with everybody watching.

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