While UW Starters Are Set For Saturday, Here's a Peek at 2026 Lineup

By now, all of the University of Washington football starters have been revealed for Saturday night's opener against Colorado State at Husky Stadium.

It's a good blend of veterans and youth among the first 22 players to take the field -- nine seniors, six juniors, five sophomores and two freshmen.

In fact, with so many underclassmen at key positions, you could practically choose the Husky first-teamers for 2026.

Why not?

While Jedd Fisch's second team in Montlake looks fairly well stocked with talent, his third offering next year could be that much better with quarterback Demond Williams Jr. entering his third season, the current huge freshmen offensive linemen learning how to use their bodies better to uproot opposing defenses and some really talented defensive backs taking over the secondary.

History will show that previously successful Husky football coaches Don James, Jim Owens and Chris Petersen made significant program breakthroughs in their third seasons on the job. Kalen DeBoer, of course broke that mold with a pair of exemplary teams in his two years in town.

While Denzel Boston and Zach Durfee could come back in 2026, but likely will head directly to the next NFL Draft, we've come up with the next set of starters without that dynamic duo for a year from now, when the Huskies will open against Washington State and Eastern Washington at home with a third non-conference opponent yet to be revealed.

The UW also will host Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Penn State at Husky Stadium while returning to Nebraska and Purdue after 15- and 36-year gaps between visits there and playing at Michigan State, Oregon and USC, as well.

With so many young players having established themselves, choosing a future top 22 -- and doing so without some expectant transfer portal help or any more freshmen such as offensive lineman Kodi Greene coming ready to play immediately -- this just wasn't that difficult.

Here goes, with an overly optimistic outlook for each player:

OFFENSE

TE Decker DeGraaf -- After maybe an All-Big Ten honorable mention season in 2025 that included 40-plus receptions, DeGraaf will be on everyone's top tight ends lists.

LT John Mills -- You start your best offensive lineman at left tackle, the NFL money position, and that's what the Huskies will do with Mills, with him likely playing at 335 pounds or so, a year from now. If Mills was in the classic North Dallas Forty movie, he'd be the Joe Bob Priddy character.

LG Paki Finau -- After alternating for a full season with Mills, Finau will play next to him and at 315 pounds will be the lightest player on a huge offensive line.

C Landen Hatchett -- Entering his senior year as a probable 19-game starter and packing up to 320 pounds, he'll be in the conversation for the Big Ten's best center.

Champ Taulealea, left, and Soane Faasolo, a couple of Bay Area guys, leave the field in deep discussion. | Dan Raley

RG Champ Taulealea -- This 330-pound guard becomes a starter after a freshman season in which he rotated in and out and waited his turn. Remember, he got the first freshman audition with the current No. 1 UW offensive line before Mills.

RT Drew Azzopardi -- Azzopardi will enter his third season as a full-fledged UW starter, weigh around 320 and be a respected senior pining for an NFL career.

WR Rashid Williams -- After a full season as a sophomore starter, Williams likely will step into the role as the Huskies' top passing target in 2026. The Williams-to-Williams T-shirts will be selling at a rapid clip.

WR Raiden Vines-Bright -- After starting as a freshman, RVB will continue to dazzle with his speed and physicality that enables him to take the ball away from defensive backs.

Chris Lawson wheels around a coach on the East practice field. | Skylar Lin Visuals

WR Chris Lawson -- After dealing with injuries over the first half of his freshman year, Lawson will catch up to the others and show why he was the highest rated of the Huskies' five wide receivers who arrived in 2025.

QB Demond Williams Jr. -- For this Williams, the magic numbers are 302 and 207. That's what former UW QB Marques Tuiasosopo did to Stanford in passing and rushing yards in the same afternoon in a 35-30 victory in 1999. This speedy and pinpoint QB could be capable of matching that rare 300/200 feat. Williams mania should be in full force by this time.

RB Adam Mohammed -- The impressive understudy finally gets the job all to himself. He probably comes off a 500-yard rushing season looking for 1,000.

DEFENSE

ER Jacob Lane -- He is the epitome of player development, playing a lot as a true freshman for the national championship runner-up team, even more as a sophomore, now starting for the first time as a junior and seemingly finishing up with a highly productive senior season.

DT Jayvon Parker -- This Parker, packing 330 pounds on a 6-foot-3 frame, is fully recovered from an Achilles tendon tear that gave him a delayed start and kept him as a sub in 2025. He enters his fifth season at the UW and starts for the first time and has a big year.

DT Elinneus Davis -- Making steady improvement and getting bigger every season, the 6-foot-3, 317-pound Davis has this defensive tackle spot all to himself. This Minnesota native especially will want to play well when Minnesota comes to Husky Stadium for the first time in 50 years.

Elinneus Davis (90) celebrates his first career sack against Eastern Michigan. | Skylar Lin Visuals

ER Isaiah Ward -- Bobby Wagner's nephew with enter his fourth consecutive season as a starting candidate at Arizona and the UW combined, hoping to make a splash, put a little more weight on his 6-foot-5, 235-pound frame and, who knows, play an NFL season at the same time as his ageless uncle in 2027.

LB Buddah Al-Uqdah -- He enters into his fourth season as a full-time starter, his second at Washington, as dependable as ever on the second row. He can be the pilot or the co-pilot.

LB Jacob Manu -- No slight to Deven Bryant, who likely starts all of 2025 as a sophomore, but Manu, after redshirting, recovers from his knee injury and establishes himself as the UW's top linebacker. In 2023 for Arizona, he was the Pac-12's best LB and top tackler.

NB Rahshawn Clark -- This guy is the Kyler Gordon of this Husky secondary, someone with great coverage skills who fits in here and there as a younger player, makes plays and keeps building toward an NFL career.

Rahshawn Clark (20) comes up to tackle Luke Gayton in the UW Spring Game. | Skylar Lin Visuals

CB Leroy Bryant -- The ultimate competitor moves over after a season of starting at nickelback and becomes the Huskies' most prominent coverage guy and leading interceptor with two seasons of eligibility remaining.

CB Dylan Robinson -- With Tacario Davis and Ephesians Prysock having moved on to the NFL, Robinson emerges from his freshman season to become the next extra-large Husky cornerback at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds. He has talent, too.

S Alex McLaughlin -- He enters his fourth season as a full-time starter at the UW and Northern Arizona looking to take someone's head off, which is his calling card, and convince the NFL he can play at that level.

S Rylon Dillard-Allen -- The player nicknamed "Batman" takes over as the No. 1 free safety, with plenty of attitude and looking for his next pick-6. He had them in the UW Spring Game and the mock game as a freshman. He'll have a couple when it counts, too.

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