Husky Roster Review: Rogers Showed Up Ready to Play
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Tybo Rogers was one of the first to commit in the University of Washington's 2023 recruiting class. One of the first to enroll this winter. Clearly the first freshman to make big inroads in spring football practice.
For the 5-foot-11, 192-pound running back from hard-scrabble Bakersfield, California, where he played for a team called the Drillers, there's no turning back now.
While other newcomers were bogged down by the playbook or adjusting to the faster pace of play, Rogers showed he wasn't interested in going through some long, drawn-out initiation process.
During his 15 spring practices, Rogers often carried the ball against the Huskies' first-team defense. He even entered a pile-up and came out swinging when the other guys wanted to test his toughness. He passed inspection nearly every time out.
"I think his ceiling is extremely high," coach Kalen DeBoer said at the end of spring ball. "We're just trying to push him through the process because we feel like he's got that. It's just a matter of when — when he's ready."
Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Rogers, who wears No. 20 on offense, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.
While the UW running-back position is well-stocked with veteran players of different styles, Rogers likely is going to play this coming season and probably a lot.
He is the perfect running back for the Grubb/DeBoer offense, hand-picked because he's shown himself to be equally capable of running, receiving and blocking — a non-negotiable prerequisite for the job.
He's the opposite of all of those Texas-produced tailbacks, four in all, who were one- or two-dimensional types for the system and transferred out after learning they weren't a good fit for the up-tempo UW offense at all.
Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said he likes the running back's serious demeanor, mentioning that Rogers wouldn't even smile at his jokes during recruiting.
As spring ball was winding down, Lee Marks, the Husky running-backs coach, confirmed his young prodigy from Central California plays with a bit of an edge.
"He's not going to back down, that's for sure," Marks said. "He's obviously got to learn to pick and choose his battles a little bit. ... I would say the upperclassmen on defense are doing a good job getting Tybo ready for Saturday."
USC, UCLA, California and Utah were among those who tried to pry Rogers loose from the UW by offering him a scholarship after he'd made his oral commitment to the DeBoer staff, but he resisted their advances.
It helped the Huskies that Rogers played his senior season at Bakersfield High for coach Rashaan Shehee, who nearly three decades earlier emerged from Bakersfield's Foothills High to become a standout UW running back and that very same three-prong player.
In one spring practice, Rogers put everything on display by racing 40 yards up the sideline to score after catching a Dylan Morris pass. Later that morning, he broke through for a 20-yard run and loudly cracked helmets with cornerback Jaivion Green, sending offensive teammates excitedly running up the sideline and screaming his name.
Fairly soon on Saturdays, it seems, the Husky Stadium pubic-address announcer could be doing the same — calling out his name.
TYBO ROGERS FILE
Service: Rogers has 15 spring practices on his UW ledger and the coaches didn't hold back in putting the early enrolled freshman in just about any situation. He was the most advanced of the nine first-year players who reported for duty.
Stats: He showed himself to be the effective multi-purpose back the UW coaches prefer. He runs and catches equally well. Slowed by a shoulder injury last fall, Rogers had his best season at Bakersfield High as a junior, rushing for 1,246 yards and 10 touchdowns, while catching 31 passes for 614 yards and 6 touchdowns. He also scored on a kickoff return and intercepted 3 passes.
Role: Rogers will probably line up behind Cam Davis and Dillon Johnson, if not others, in the running-back pecking order when football restarts, but the coaching staff likely won't be able to resist using him this season.
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