6 and Out: What the UW Lost to the Transfer Portal

Each Husky scholarship player departure this offseason is examined for pros and cons.

Author:
Dan Raley
Updated:
Dec 30, 2021 10:03 PM EST
Original:
Dec 30, 2021

On social media, the college football players thank their coaches, teammates and any number of people for memories to be treasured forever in a long-winded salutation, promise they're a (insert mascot name here) for life and in the final sentence they deliver the gut punch.

They're out of here.

You, the fan, is a little nonplussed by this, having sat through the wind, rain and even a lightning storm to support these guys, and exclaim something you haven't said in earnest since your high school days, "You're breaking up with me?!!"

One by one, a half-dozen University of Washington scholarship football players have cut the cord over the past few weeks in Montlake, deciding they just don't want to be Huskies anymore.

The ensuing reaction goes from surprise to disdain, followed by the almost automatic outsider suggestion that these guys weren't all that good anyway, that someone else easily will replace them, and don't let the weight-room door hit you on the way out.

Reality is there were going to be a significant number of roster moves for the Huskies following a 4-8 disaster of a season, some making sense, some not so much. Players might have been discouraged by their roles. Scarred by the losing. Didn't like the new coach. Tired of wearing purple. Maybe were encouraged to hit the road.

Keeping all of that in mind, let's review the pros and cons for each of these six outgoing UW transfers since the coaching change:

Mark Redman

The 6-foot-6, 250-pound sophomore tight end from Newport Beach, California, arguably represents the greatest loss of talent for the Huskies. While he caught just one pass over 16 games, Redman arrived with a big body and was ready to play as a true freshman. From the outset, he showed himself to be a proficient blocker, honing a down-and-dirty skill that will make him a desirable NFL prospect. He left the UW concerned that the use of the tight-end position would be diminished some in new coach Kalen DeBoer's spread offense, and maybe rightly so. Curiously, he transferred down a level by leaving the Pac-12 for San Diego State, but it's close to home. He has three seasons of eligibility remaining.

Jackson Sirmon

The Huskies lost their leading tackler and a 16-game starter over two seasons in Sirmon, an intelligent and physical inside linebacker who's a coach's kid (the son of California defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon), which sounds like a lot. Yet he topped the UW with 92 tackles largely because fellow linebacker and usual leader Edefuan Ulofoshio was injured at midseason. Recently named All-Pac-12 honorable mention, Sirmon likely won't draw conference accolades higher than that at his next destination because he lacks the necessary burst to cover the field like a Ulofoshio. A microcosm of his game was his 54-yard fumble runback against Boise State late in the 2019 Las Vegas Bowl ... that came up 35 yards short of the end zone. He didn't register a sack in his Husky career. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound junior from Brentwood, Tennessee, will make a nice second linebacker for someone else, maybe for Cal and his dad, but a swifter Carson Bruener is ready to take his spot after replacing Ulofoshio for half a season, with the even swifter Ulofoshio coming back to reclaim his job. Sirmon has two seasons of eligibility left.

Terrell Bynum

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior wide receiver from Long Beach, California, seemed like he was totally committed to playing his final college season for the Huskies after he met with DeBoer, and then he wasn't. It's possible he wanted to hear from the new coach that he would be the UW's featured pass-catcher, but sophomores Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan, and maybe even incoming freshman Germie Bernard, stand a better chance of securing that role because they're faster and more elusive. Bynum started 19 of 34 games in his Husky career and caught 65 passes for 934 yards and 6 touchdowns, decent numbers for sure but replaceable.

Cooper McDonald

The native of Haslet, Texas, played right away at outside linebacker for the Huskies, rotating in as a true freshman and starting 10 games this past season, He leaves Seattle to play at San Diego State alongside his brother Caden McDonald, a senior inside linebacker for the Aztecs. Similar to Redman, who will continue to be his teammate, the younger McDonald drops down a level by heading to the Mountain West, which isn't necessarily the route you take to get to the NFL, which is his stated goal. The 6-foot-3, 245-pounder finished with a modest season stat line of 26 tackles, including 5.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, and was more filler than impact player. He should enjoy a productive college career over time, but, similar to Sirmon, he needs more quickness to be an all-conference guy.

Taki Taimani

The Huskies invested a lot in the 6-foot-2, 330-pound junior defensive tackle from Salt Lake City, starting him for 14 games over the past two seasons, but they didn't get much back in return. An amicable guy, Taimani lacked the strength and aggressiveness to be a force up front. Had he stayed, Taimani would have come off the bench and been a spot player. He supplied season stats of 43 tackles, including a pair of tackles for loss, but he didn't register a sack this past fall or in any of his four years in the program. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining. Look for him to become a Mountain West player, maybe at Utah State.

Sawyer Racanelli

This guy has great hands, Cooper Kupp hands. Yet the comparison stops there. Given an opportunity to play early in the season, when three fellow UW wide receivers were injured and out, Racanelli couldn't do anything with this big chance to step up and make a breakthrough. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound sophomore from Brush Prairie, Washington, left with 5 tackles from playing special teams but he had no receptions over two seasons. He seems destined to be a Big Sky player. He has three seasons of eligibility remaining.

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