Washington re-signed 61 of its players from the 2025 season. It signed 25 members to its class of 2026, and has added nine players from the transfer portal thus far. Head coach Jedd Fisch expects to add six more players from the transfer portal over the next few days. Five transfer portal players are planned to take visits to Washington in that span. In total, Fisch expects 86 scholarship players on the roster this spring for practice, with an additional 15 to 16 non-scholarship players. That brings the roster total to 101 or 102 players before the start of practice in April. On Wednesday, he discussed the team’s progress in the 2026 transfer portal cycle.
Jedd Fisch On Transfer Portal
“I do not and will not subscribe to trying to build a football team through free agency,” Fisch said on Wednesday during a press conference. “That is not us.” His stance on transfer portal recruiting is as a supplementary role to high school recruiting. “We are going to bring in players, we are going to develop those players, and we’re going to see how good they can get.”
Defensive Line Priority
“We needed to bring in depth at the D-Line,” Fisch said. “That was obviously a big part for us.” The Huskies lost eight players along their interior defensive line after this season, either due to the transfer portal or graduation. Among that group were Anterio Thompson, Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei, and Bryce Butler, who each had more than 300 snaps last year. The lone returning starter is Elinneus Davis, who started 10 games (played all 13) and logged 424 snaps in 2025. That was the second-most among all Washington interior defensive linemen. “We love having Elinneus back, that was huge for us to re-sign Elinneus,” Fisch added.
Thus far, Washington has picked up three interior defensive linemen in the transfer portal. Ball State transfer Darin Conley is the most experienced of the group, having played 846 snaps in two seasons in Muncie. The 6’-3” and 285-pound interior lineman started all 12 games this past season with 28 tackles, 4.5 for loss, and 1.5 sacks. The year prior, Conley played in all 12 games for Ball State, and now joins the Huskies with two years of eligibility.
DeSean Watts was a junior college transfer prior to his lone season last year at Sacramento State. In 2025, Watts started nine games with 36 tackles, four for loss, and two sacks. He’s 6’-2” and 318 pounds and his run defense grade ranked first among all FCS defensive linemen last year, according to Pro Football Focus.
Washington also picked up Mississippi State transfer Kai McClendon. In Starkville, McClendon played in all 12 games as a true freshman in 2024 with five starts. He had 30 tackles that year with two for loss. McClendon tore his ACL during spring practice, causing him to miss the entire 2025 season. He’ll join the Huskies with three seasons of eligibility remaining.
But this staff’s pursuit of defensive linemen is not complete, according to the head coach. Said Fisch, “We’re continuing to look at the D-Line and how we can continue to get to where we want to get there.”
Experience Void at Cornerback
Cornerback was another immediate need in terms of experience. Ephesians Prysock and Tacario Davis each head to the NFL, leaving rising sophomore Dylan Robinson (who started five games as a freshman) as the only cornerback with meaningful reps.
“We felt we needed to bring in one more corner that was a starting FBS corner,” Fisch said on Wednesday. “So we brought in Manny Karnley for that.” The former Virginia Cavalier started 10 games in 2025, played in all 14, and logged 675 snaps. His eight pass breakups led the team, and he also had an interception and 26 tackles a year ago. Karnley allowed 27 receptions on 53 targets for 350 yards and just two touchdowns on the year.
Fisch and company recruited Karnley during his high school days. He was a class of 2023 recruit who appeared in one game for the Wildcats under Fisch that season. A year later, he started six games as a redshirt freshman in 2024, playing alongside Davis in the secondary with new head coach Brent Brennan. The cornerback stands at 6’-3”, and not only has some experience under this coaching staff, but has played 25 games of college football with more than 1,000 snaps at cornerback. Karnley fits the description of what Washington needed at the position as the expected starter.
Main Image: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
