Brock Huard’s 4 takeaways from UW Huskies fall football practice

The UW Huskies have begun fall football practice with just a month before they run out of the tunnel at Husky Stadium for their 2025 season opener against Colorado State.

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What stood out as the Dawgs embark on Year 2 of the Jedd Fisch era? Former NFL and UW quarterback Brock Huard watched the first practice in person and shared four takeaways during the Blue 88 segment on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk. Let’s dig into what he had to say.

Demond Williams Jr. looks ‘totally different’

Huard was impressed by dual-threat sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr., who has drawn a lot of hype heading into his first full season as UW’s QB1.

The speedy Williams took over the starting job down the stretch last fall and showcased his electrifying skill set, finishing with a 78% completion rate, 10 total touchdowns and only one interception – capped by a sensational 422-yard, five-TD performance against Louisville in the Sun Bowl.

Huard said Williams – listed at 5 foot 11 and 190 pounds – appears to have bulked up considerably from last year’s true freshman campaign.

“Demond looks like 20 pounds (bigger) – like a totally different human being,” Huard said. “When I saw him exactly one year ago as a freshman, (he was) throwing picks, scatterbrained, running around. He was a great athlete, just teeny.

“And now, he looked kind of like Russell (Wilson) looked when he was a rookie (with the Seattle Seahawks). Like, whoa, this dude is a dude. And poised and just under control.”

HOW’D HE MAKE THIS PLAY?! pic.twitter.com/yEwMOKliTO

— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) December 31, 2024

RBs are ‘unbelievably impressive’

Huard raved about the physique of running backs Jonah Coleman and Adam Mohammed, who he said are both built like a “brickhouse.”

Coleman, a 5-foot-9, 228-pound senior, rushed for 1,053 yards, 5.5 yards per carry and 10 TDs last season. Mohammed, a 6-foot, 215-pound sophomore, ran for 193 yards and 4.6 yards per carry last fall.

“These are mooses,” Huard said. “And they’re moving. The two backs are unbelievably impressive.”

We’re taking a look back at one of Jonah Coleman’s big 2024 performances 🤩#B1GFootball x @UW_Football pic.twitter.com/8qRKhUp7ft

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) May 27, 2025

Lots of length at cornerback

Huard also pointed out the cornerback duo of 6-foot-4 seniors Ephesians Prysock and Tacario Davis.

Prysock, who followed Fisch from Arizona ahead of the 2024 season, recorded six pass breakups while starting all 13 games for the Huskies last fall. Davis, an incoming transfer from Arizona, totaled 21 pass breakups over the past two seasons – including a Pac-12-leading 15 pass breakups in 2023.

NO FLY ZONE 🚫✈️

Tacario Davis has been named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week. pic.twitter.com/2acU0LLorf

— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) September 30, 2024

8 wins feels about right

Huard’s overall impression was that the Huskies have the look of an 8-4 team. That would be a notable step forward from last year, when they finished 6-7 in a season of massive coaching and personnel turnover.

“They felt like an eight-win team,” Huard said. “They didn’t feel like Michael Penix and Rome Odunze (on the 2023 Huskies). They don’t got those kind of dudes everywhere. But this did not feel like a fringe bowl team. This felt like an eight-win Big Ten team that, if a couple more things fall the right way in the years ahead, they could make even more noise.”

Listen to the full Blue 88 segment at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune into Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

More on the UW Huskies

• Jedd Fisch says UW Huskies ‘can really take that next big step’
• Phil Steele has higher expectations for UW Huskies this season
• UW lands one of the top running back recruits in the country
• UW Huskies WR Denzel Boston drawing first-round NFL Draft hype
• Washington QB Demond Williams Jr. wins Manning camp event

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