With Camp Near, Huskies Aren't Shy On Job Experience

Two years ago, the University of Washington football team was forced to use players, veterans even, who hadn't really started before or certainly not much at all.

Names like Enokk Vimahi, Gaard Memmelaar, Max McCree and Jacob Bandes come to mind.

Last season, the Huskies turned to a host of newcomers and made them get their feet wet right away as first-teamers in true freshmen John Mills, Dezmen Roebuck, Raiden Vines-Bright, Dylan Robinson and others.

While more freshmen have forced their way into the lineup for the coming 2026 football campaign, Jedd Fisch's roster now basically provides him and his coaching staff with an experienced crew to work with -- 31 different players have been starters in Montlake or somewhere else across the college landscape.

That's 15 on offense, 16 on defense.

Collectively, they've taken the field for 391 starting assignments, with 223 coming on defense.

Playing for the UW alone, these players bring 187 starts to the season at hand.

No deer-in-the-headlight Huskies this season.

Development is the standard. Under @CoachJeddFisch, continuity is a weapon.

187 starts in purple and gold. 10 players on offense. 11 players on defense. 🙌☔️ pic.twitter.com/hbU5mPnKgz
— Washington Football (@UW_Football) July 24, 2026

The players with the most starts are all one-time transfers topped by senior safety Alex McLaughlin with 36, with 23 coming from Northern Arizona, and senior linebacker Jacob Manu with 32, 27 of which happened at Arizona.

Add senior offensive tackle Drew Azzopardi with 30 starts, with 24 coming at the UW after arriving from San Diego State, and junior linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah with 24, 21 of them coming at Washington State.

While Fisch's Arizona connection to this team is quickly winding down, the Huskies still have three Tucson transplants adding starts to their totals in senior edge rusher Isaiah Ward, who has 19 career starts, including 11 with the Wildcats; junior cornerback Manny Karnley, who joined the UW with 10 starts at Virginia and 6 at Arizona, and Manu.

Of their time Power 4 accrued starts elsewhere, UW players bring a collective 50 from current Big 12 teams, with senior linebacker Xe'ree Alexander's logging 6 starts at UCF; 5 from the SEC, all by sophomore defensive tackle Kai McClendon; and Karnley's 10 in the ACC.

HUSKIES AS PRIOR STARTERS	STARTS
OFFENSE	(168)
TE -- Decker DeGraaf	UW 16
TE -- Kade Eldridge	UW 1, USC 1
OT -- Drew Azzopardi	UW 24, San Diego State 6
OT -- Kolt Dieterich	Sam Houston State 19
OT -- Soane Faasolo	UW 4
OG -- John Mills	UW 11
OG -- Geirean Hatchett	UW 17, Oklahoma 1
C -- Landen Hatchett	UW 15
WR -- Dezmen Roebuck	UW 10
WR -- Rashid Williams	UW 3
WR -- Christian Moss	Kennesaw State 18
QB -- Demond Williams Jr.	UW 15
QB -- Elijah Brown	Stanford 3
RB -- Jayden Limar	Oregon 3
RB -- Trey Cooley	Louisville 1
DEFENSE	(223)
ER -- Jacob Lane	UW 13
ER -- Isaiah Ward	UW 8, Arizona 11
ER -- Logan George	Idaho State 12
DT -- Elinneus Davis	UW 10
DT -- Darin Conley	Ball State 12
DT -- DeSean Watts	Sacramento State 11
DT -- Kai McClendon	Mississippi State 5
LB -- Jacob Manu	UW 5, Arizona 27
LB -- Xe'ree Alexander	UW 5, UCF 7, Idaho 6
LB -- Buddah Al-Uqdah	UW 3, Washington State 21
LB -- Zaydrius Rainey-Sale	UW 2
CB -- Manny Karnley	Virginia 10, Arizona 6
CB -- Dylan Robinson	UW 5
S -- Alex McLaughlin	UW 13, Northern Arizona 23
S -- Rylon Dillard-Allen	UW 3
NB -- Rahshawn Clark	UW 5

The Huskies also have mined the Big Sky Conference for players with 52 starts at the FCS level in senior edge rusher Logan George's 12 at Idaho State, Alexander's 6 at Idaho, sophomore defensive tackle DeSean Watts' 11 at Sacramento State and McLaughlin's time served at Northern Arizona.

As he stated at Big Ten Media Days, Fisch is reluctant to use the transfer portal much at all going forward, preferring to recruit and develop his own players.

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