As UW Cornerback Position Gets a Remodel, Here's the Progress

The University of Washington cornerback position is a lot like an old, dilapidated house in Seattle. They're taking a sledgehammer to it.

Husky recruiting offered distinct clues big changes were coming with five new players plucked from the high school, junior college and transfer portal ranks to help with the makeover.

Three days of spring practice verified all of this, with everything at cornerback ripped down to the studs.

Last year's starters are gone — Jordan Perryman graduated and Mishael Powell changed positions, moving to the hybrid Husky role.

When the No. 1 UW defense took the field for the first time last week, sophomores Elijah Jackson and Jaivion Green drew the opening reps. They have two Husky game-day starts between them, and 10 and 9 career appearances, respectively. As first-team players, they could be place-holders.

By the second practice, junior-college transfer Thaddeus Dixon was so impressive in his movements he was elevated and playing opposite Jackson with the ones, where he remained until the Huskies paused for spring break.

"I've been impressed with Thaddeus Dixon, stepping out there and really not backing down," UW coach Kalen DeBoer said in wrapping up the first week. "And we're throwing a lot of things at him from a schematic standpoint."

Dixon is a 6-foot-1, 190-pound newcomer from Long Beach City College, someone who supposedly was down the list of all the cornerbacks soon to show up but could be near the very top.

He's the smallest of this group, at 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, but he's also the most experienced, after appearing in 31 games and starting 13 of them for Oklahoma State. He was All-Big 12 honorable mention.

With two seasons at Long Beach City College, Dixon comes in as a junior, which makes him older in class standing than everyone except Muhhammad, who's also a junior. He intercepted 5 passes in the JC ranks.

Jackson is in his fourth season at the UW, but still just a sophomore because of pandemic provisions. He's played in 10 games and started against Arizona and Arizona State last season.

He was named UW freshman of the year after starting nine games last season and going without a redshirt. The biggest of the Husky corners, the 6-foot-2, 197-pound Texan had 3 tackles and a pass break-up.

Banks started against Stanford and Cal while appearing in 8 games before a season-ending injury took him out. He's the only cornerback with a Husky interception, pilfering one at Arizona State in 2022.

A Louisiana product, Reed was a sophomore starter for a Lake Charles College Prep team that advanced to the state semis, sat out with a knee injury as a junior and bounced back for a 5-7 team as a senior.

The Huskies want him as a cornerback, but he caught 58 passes for 837 yards and 6 scores for his Rodriguez High team. He had 5 interceptions in two seasons. He was named Player of the Year in his region.

Considered the state's No. 1 recruit, Presley from Rainier Beach High originally was committed to Oregon before flipping to Washington. He could contend for playing time right away.

Oklahoma State transfer Jabbar Muhammad brings the most credentials of the Husky corner candidates — 13 starts in 31 Big 12 games — yet he was slowed by an undisclosed injury before running with the No. 2 defense last Friday.

"Jabbar's been working through a few things, getting back physically," DeBoer said. "He'll be good to go. It's nothing serious. It's just kind of a carryover from a small thing he had in workouts."

Husky sophomore cornerback Davon Banks was in uniform for the opening three practices, but he's coming off a season-ending injury, again unspecified, and has been ruled out of all contact this spring.

That leaves three more corners to join the Huskies in stages in Seattle's 6-foot, 180-pound Caleb Presley, who is expected to take part in the rest of spring practice when it resumes on March 29; and 6-foot-1, 180-pound Curley Reed of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and 6-foot, 185-pound Leroy Bryant from Fairfield, California, both scheduled to join the UW for fall camp.

Any one of these three could shake things up in the UW cornerback search, depending how quickly they adjust to the schemes and demands.

By then, DeBoer's coaching staff should know exactly who's best suited among all of these replacement parts to shore up a position area that's been badly in need of a remodel.

The winners will be whomever best prevents touchdown passes from sailing over their heads, which was a problem last fall, and piles up pass break-ups and interceptions, which have been too infrequent.

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