The Washington wide receiver room is facing a lot of attrition heading into next season. It lost its three leading targets in Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk, and Jalen McMillan. The “big three” combined for 3,358 receiving yards last season, good for 48% of the offense’s total production. The trio is off to the NFL and that leaves a largely inexperienced group out wide.
New Number One’s
The new number-one wide receiver is likely to be a guy who has yet to suit up in purple and gold. Jeremiah Hunter transferred to Washington in late December from Cal after spending four years in Berkeley. Hunter played three seasons for the Golden Bears and tallied 13 touchdowns for 2,084 receiving yards. The new Husky led Cal’s receiver room in each of the last two seasons. Hunter was tabbed a four-star transfer in the winter cycle and will be the most experienced in Washington’s receiver room by a significant margin. He’s been on the field for over 1,600 snaps in his career with 143 catches and 25 contested catches. The next-most experienced player in this room has 102 career targets.
That player is Giles Jackson, the likely number-two wide receiver next season. In 2023, Jackson played behind the “big three” and only saw 19 targets. His numbers aren’t huge, but his resume is lengthy. Jackson transferred to Washington in 2021 after spending two seasons in Ann Arbor at Michigan. He’ll be a sixth-year player this Fall and has averaged 20 targets per season with 11 yards per catch. Giles is a talented player and came out of high school as a four-star receiver.
Inexperienced Wide Receivers at Washington
After the fifth- and sixth-year seniors mentioned above, the remainder of the non-true freshmen are a group of talented, but very inexperienced pass-catchers. Denzel Boston has the most experience in this group with seven targets last season. He played in nearly every game last season but had just five catches. At 6’4” and just over 200 pounds, Boston has a great wide receiver frame and will likely evolve into one of Will Rogers’ top targets. He’ll be a redshirt sophomore this season.
The only other wide receivers with targets last season include Rashid Williams and Camden Sirmon with two each. Williams is a redshirt freshman who caught the only two balls thrown his way in Washington’s win against Cal last season. Sirmon will be a fourth-year junior after missing much of the 2022 season due to injury.
Five other wide receivers are currently on the Washington roster, and none of them have recorded a target. Redshirt freshman Vincent Holmes made the switch from safety this offseason to wide receiver. He played in four games last year including the Pac-12 Championship win over Oregon. Juniors Owen Coutts and Jackson Girouard have not recorded any targets, but Girouard did see action in Washington’s victory over Cal last season. Keith Reynolds and Luke Luchini are both redshirt freshmen. Reynolds saw action in two games, and Luchini was a scout team player who did not get any game action.
Class of 2024 Wide Receivers
Washington was able to land three quality wide receivers in its 2024 class. Justice Williams was an industry four-star recruit from California with a prototypical wide receiver frame at 6’4” and 195 pounds. Williams played in 33 games at the varsity level at Oaks Christian High School where he caught 115 passes for over 1,700 yards and 15 touchdowns. He had offers from Oregon, Miami, and Utah among others, but signed with Washington.
Jason Robinson was a three-star out of high school and is a prototypical slot receiver. He’s 5’10” and 160 pounds and has been evaluated as one of the best pure route runners out of the state of California. Robinson is quick in his route running and gets in and out of his breaks up with the best receivers in his class. He transferred to San Juan Hills High School for his senior year where he tallied 900 receiving yards, nine receiving scores, and two rushing touchdowns.
Audric Harris was among the group of Arizona transfers in January. He enrolled early in Tucson to play for Jedd Fisch but ended up following his head coach to Seattle in the transfer portal. Harris played high school football at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, where he caught 13 touchdowns his senior year. He finished 2023 with 1,051 receiving yards on 51 catches.
