{"id":73743,"date":"2025-05-01T12:00:44","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T16:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=73743"},"modified":"2025-09-16T21:38:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T01:38:52","slug":"washington-spring-game-players-to-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/05\/01\/washington-spring-game-players-to-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting You Set: Washington Spring Game, Players & Schematics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDawgs After Dark\u201d kicks off on Friday night under the lights inside Husky Stadium. The month of April included new defensive installations, four fluid rotations of offensive linemen, and young players beginning to make their presence felt in purple and gold. Before Washington gets its Spring Game going, we\u2019re breaking down some of things to keep an eye on based on what we saw all month.<\/span><\/p>\n

Get Set For Washington’s Spring Game<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Versatility in the Backfield<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This Spring had been our first real opportunity to evaluate Husky running back Jordan Washington<\/a>. The former four-star in the class of 2024 initially enrolled at Arizona. He didn\u2019t transfer to Washington until just after Spring football wrapped up a season ago. Washington utilized his redshirt last season, appearing in just two games with four snaps. Since then, Washington has added nearly 30 pounds to his 5\u2019-11\u201d frame<\/a>, bringing him up to 185 pounds. With Washington in the backfield, one thing you\u2019ll notice about this room is its versatility.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to have a rocket ship and two physical A-gap runners is a luxury,\u201d running backs coach Scottie Graham said after practice this Spring. Throughout the duration of this month\u2019s practice sessions, Washington has taken a bulk of meaningful snaps with the second team offense and has begun to show the difference maker he can be. \u201cIt just gives your play caller, coach Fisch, an option to do different things,\u201d Graham said. \u201cIf you\u2019re trying to circle them, you put Jordan in. If you\u2019re going downhill, you put Adam [Mohammed] in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Even with the different running styles, Graham was sure to mention how the trio of backs is capable in the blocking game. \u201cOur backs, including Jordan, they pick up blitzes. It\u2019s really a physical part of the game, it\u2019s a fight, and they all do it really well.\u201d This backfield returns its power from a season ago. And with Washington, it adds breakaway potential without sacrificing the fundamentals of pass protection.<\/span><\/p>\n

New-Look Secondary<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On defense, Ryan Walters\u2019 schematics will look different compared to the Husky defense a year ago. We\u2019ve broken down the different tendencies of Walters\u2019 secondary<\/a> as well as the different responsibilities of the two safety positions<\/a>. But one player to keep an eye on this Friday is Northern Arizona transfer Alex McLaughlin. The junior made an impact earlier this month, recording a forced fumble, a tackle for loss, and a pass breakup during one team period. McLaughlin then followed that up with a two-tackle-for-loss performance in the team\u2019s final scrimmage of the Spring.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of the nature of his position at box safety, McLaughlin plays a lot closer to the formation. So much so that oftentimes it might appear as though he\u2019s lined up at linebacker or nickelback. His responsibilities at strong safety at Northern Arizona translate very well to what he’s being asked to do here at Washington. McLaughlin is a tackling safety who’s quick to diagnose run plays when playing up on the formation. This combination makes him a great fit at box safety, and he continues to show why on the field. McLaughlin is someone to track during Washington’s Spring game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Freshman Standout<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Out wide, the Huskies have dealt with a few limitations this Spring. Denzel Boston<\/a> was out all Spring, but third-year sophomore Rashid Williams<\/a> and senior Omari Evans<\/a> missed a little bit of time as well. Their bumps and bruises were minor, according to receivers coach Kevin Cummings, but it allowed for increased reps for players lower on the depth chart all month.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of those players is Chris Lawson. The true freshman and former four-star was one of the top performers all month, and he capped it off with a quality outing last Saturday during Washington’s final scrimmage<\/a> of the Spring. Lawson hauled in seven passes for 67 yards and a pair of short-yardage touchdowns. \u201cChris has been awesome for us,\u201d Cummings said this Spring. \u201cHe\u2019s been out there making plays, he\u2019s a dog, he loves to compete, physical player. He\u2019s brought a real, real big attitude part to our group.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the course of the month, Lawson played meaningful snaps as the outside receiver. He showed he’s able to elevate above defenders to pull down contested catches. The freshman has great timing to high-point the football and has the body control to adjust to passes that are off target. He\u2019s also taken snaps at the slot, and Jedd Fisch said that the freshman is involved in the competition at that position. \u201cI see right now a really good competition [in the slot] with Kevin Green and Audric [Harris], and then see where these young guys fit in,\u201d Fisch said. \u201cDoes Chris Lawson have a shot to play in the slot for us?\u201d With three true freshmen on campus already and two more arriving this summer, it\u2019s clear that this coaching staff wants to utilize several receivers in this offense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Offensive Line Rotations<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The rotational depth at the offensive line has been a stark contrast to what this team had a year ago. Eighteen offensive linemen participated in Spring practice. That\u2019s given the offense a chance to experiment with different guys at different positions while running two fields of practice to increase reps for the entire offense. On Friday night, you\u2019ll likely see a few different groups of five up front.<\/span><\/p>\n

The starting group for the majority of Spring practice has been Carver Willis<\/a> at left tackle, Paki Finau at left guard, Landen Hatchett at center, Geirean Hatchett at right guard, and Drew Azzopardi at right tackle. But the luxury of having so many guys available is that this group can be fluid. In particular, the right guard spot has been a competition between a handful of players. Hatchett seems to be the front-runner, but Zach Henning has earned several reps with the first team this Spring. That competition has also included true freshmen Champ Taulealea and John Mills. Don\u2019t be surprised to see true freshmen along the offensive line frequently during Washington’s Spring game. That\u2019s because there\u2019s an expectation that they\u2019ll be contributors come this Fall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would expect that we\u2019ll have freshmen offensive linemen playing,\u201d Fisch said earlier this Spring. \u201cI expect one of the freshmen, if not two, to be a significant contributor or starter.\u201d Fisch referenced two of his former offensive linemen at Arizona who became freshmen All-Americans during his time at the helm. \u201cThat\u2019s what we do, we believe in that,\u201d Fisch continued. \u201cWe\u2019re going to pay the best five. If one of those guys are it, they\u2019ll play.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo from Nick Lemkau<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cDawgs After Dark\u201d kicks off on Friday night under the lights inside Husky Stadium. The month of April included new defensive installations, four fluid rotations of offensive linemen, and young players beginning to make their presence felt in purple and gold. Before Washington gets its Spring Game going, we\u2019re breaking down some of things to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3944,"featured_media":73753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,35612],"tags":[34555,33773,1666,33519,10272,33152,509,33385],"class_list":["post-73743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-bigten","category-washington-huskies","tag-alex-mclaughlin","tag-chris-lawson","tag-jedd-fisch","tag-jordan-washington","tag-ryan-walters","tag-scottie-graham","tag-washington-huskies","tag-washington-spring-practice"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3944"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73743"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73754,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73743\/revisions\/73754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}