Caple: Did UW Huskies football come out of portal season ahead?

Feb 7, 2025, 11:10 AM

UW Huskies Insider

The UW Huskies aren’t done with the transfer portal in 2025.

At present, the Huskies appear to have scholarships committed to 93 players for next season. Assuming the House v. NCAA settlement does get approved in April, a team actually could distribute up to 105 football scholarships, but Huskies coach Jedd Fisch has made clear he plans to maintain the old 85-scholarship limit.

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So, more attrition is coming when the spring portal window opens April 16. The Huskies will be about halfway through their spring practice schedule by then, and some players, presumably, will have gathered enough information via practice reps to know whether they might be better off trying to play somewhere else. Injuries and attrition could also dictate that Fisch search for another player or two to round out the roster.

Unlike last year at this time, however, the bulk of UW’s offseason portal activity is behind it. Fisch mentioned recently that the Huskies will have something like 85 scholarship players on campus for spring practices (which I’m confident is an all-time high), including the majority of the 43 new scholarship players they’ve added via the portal and 2025 recruiting class.

With the portal at least quiet for the time being, let’s take a look at how Washington fared, position by position, and whether the Huskies came out ahead overall.

First, a few quick figures:

• At present, Washington has added 15 scholarship players from the transfer portal (16 if you count Johntay Cook II).

• Of the 15, nine came from Power 4 schools, while four came from G5 schools (or Washington State) and two came from FCS. Three transferred from the Big Ten or SEC.

• At present, 18 scholarship players from Washington’s 2024 roster have entered the transfer portal.

• Of those 18, three transferred to Big Ten or SEC schools, with a total of 13 landing at Power 4 schools, three landing at G5 schools, one transferring to an FCS school and two others still TBD.

Keep in mind that we are assessing portal departures only, and not players whose eligibility expired (Carson Bruener, Alphonzo Tuputala et al.). I’ve also included the priority rating I assigned each position in November.

• Quarterback

November priority: Low
OUT: N/A
IN: Kai Horton (Tulane)

The need here was fairly simple: an experienced-ish backup quarterback, or nobody. The Huskies must think Horton is a better fit for backup duties than Shea Kuykendall, who transferred from Northern Colorado last offseason (and is still on the roster). UW didn’t lose any quarterbacks to the portal, so you can call this a net win — though if all goes according to plan, the Huskies will never need Horton with the game on the line.

• Running back

November priority: Medium
OUT: Cam Davis (Minnesota), Sam Adams II (N/A)
IN: N/A

Adams’ departure had long been expected, though I was a little surprised to see Davis, a senior in 2024, choose to play a seventh college season with a medical waiver. I had thought UW might seek a veteran-ish tailback to complement Jonah Coleman and Adam Mohammed, but coaches must like what they have. Combined with a couple expected departures — I’d considered Davis a departing senior, anyway — I’d call this a neutral outcome.

• Wide receiver

November priority: High
OUT: Keith Reynolds (Miami-OH), Jason Robinson Jr. (North Carolina), Johntay Cook II (N/A)
IN: Omari Evans (Penn State)

Obviously, Cook is a tough one to categorize, because he was an addition before he became a subtraction. UW effectively replaced his spot with Evans, Penn State’s third-leading pass catcher in 2024. Evans doesn’t possess the same athletic ceiling as Cook, but obviously comes with a far greater floor. Reynolds showed some promise in 2024 and Robinson didn’t play as a true freshman. I was a little surprised to see Reynolds move on, but the Huskies did sign five receivers in their 2025 class, so something had to give with the numbers. Evans at least gives them an immediate starter.

• Offensive line

November priority: Very High
OUT: Gaard Memmelaar (UCF), Kahlee Tafai (Minnesota)
IN: Carver Willis (Kansas State), Geirean Hatchett (Oklahoma)

A guard and a tackle out, a guard and a tackle in. Willis would have been UW’s top offensive lineman if he’d been on the roster a year ago, so that’s an upgrade, and the Huskies would have preferred to keep Hatchett around last year, when he transferred from UW to play for the Sooners. Injuries to Soane Faasolo and Maximus McCree thrust Tafai into starting action last season, but he wouldn’t have been in line for similar duty had he stayed. Memmelaar was a regular starter at guard, and we’ll assume Hatchett takes his place. It remains to be seen whether the Huskies will meaningfully upgrade their o-line play, but it feels like they’re in a better place today than they were when the season ended.

• Tight end

November priority: High
OUT: N/A
IN: Kade Eldridge (USC)

The Huskies made it through last season with two healthy scholarship tight ends. But they didn’t lose any to the portal, and the NCAA’s JUCO waiver gave Quentin Moore another season, and UW signed two tight ends in its 2025 class. Adding Eldridge gives the Huskies a third tight end with at least some college experience. Jordan Paopao’s position group is trending upward from its dire 2024 numbers.

• Defensive line

November priority: Very High
OUT: N/A
IN: Simote Pepa (Utah), Anterio Thompson (Western Michigan)

Pepa can be a difference maker at nose tackle when healthy, which hasn’t been often the past couple seasons. Thompson started at JUCO, spent one year at Iowa and was a regular contributor at Western Michigan last season, though this will be a big step up in competition. The position is still a huge question mark, but the Huskies didn’t lose any of their current d-linemen to the portal and did add two who should play a lot in 2025.

• EDGE

November priority: Low to Medium
OUT: Lance Holtzclaw (Utah), Jayden Wayne (California), Maurice Heims (Idaho)
IN: Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei (Arizona)

It wasn’t hard to forecast the departure of the three outbound transfers, considering how crowded the depth chart was for UW last season. Uiagalelei is a lot bigger than Voi Tunuufi, but can fill a similar role in terms of playing both inside and outside. Coaches seemed more intent on clearing space at this position than upgrading it, which isn’t the worst thing, if you like the guys already on your roster. Zach Durfee and Russell Davis II getting and staying healthy will be key.

• Linebacker

Priority: Very High
OUT: Khmori House (North Carolina), Bryun Parham (UConn)
IN: Buddha Al-Uqdah (Washington State), Xe’ree Alexander (UCF), Jacob Manu (Arizona)

The Huskies already had to replace three seniors … then House left for North Carolina. Al-Uqdah and Alexander could easily begin the season as the starting duo, considering they’ve combined to play more than 2,000 defensive snaps the past two years. Manu is recovering from a torn ACL and might not be available for the start of the season, but could potentially be a key player in 2026. House played well as a freshman in 2024. Losing him was a blow. Adding three players with so much experience, though, was key to solidifying the position, even if the Huskies will now be in search of a new position coach.

• Cornerback

November priority: Medium to Low
OUT: Thaddeus Dixon (North Carolina), Jordan Shaw (Texas A&M), Elijah Jackson (TCU), Curley Reed (Louisiana), Darren Barkins (N/A)
IN: Tacario Davis (Arizona)

The deficit here would look much worse if not for the addition of Davis, though I suppose they might have kept Dixon if not for Davis’ arrival, so maybe it’s all the same. Shaw was an unexpected loss after he played most of the snaps at nickel last season. While UW maybe would have liked to keep Jackson for depth, he wasn’t going to compete for a starting job in 2025, and Reed and Barkins pretty clearly needed to look elsewhere to get on the field. If Davis returns to his 2023 form and pairs effectively with former Arizona teammate Ephesians Prysock, you probably won’t feel as if the Huskies missed out on anything. But that might have been true if they’d just rolled with Dixon, too.

• Safety

November priority: High
OUT: Peyton Waters (North Carolina), Tristan Dunn (California), Justin Harrington (West Virginia)
IN: Alex McLaughlin (Northern Arizona), CJ Christian (FIU)

Dunn and Harrington weren’t going to be in the plans for 2025, but Waters’ departure has to hurt a little; he was one of six true freshmen who didn’t redshirt last season. Then again, the Huskies added both McLaughlin and Christian — two players with more than 2,800 combined defensive snaps — to compensate for the graduation of Kam Fabiculanan and Cam Broussard, so Waters might not have felt he had a clear path to playing time. McLaughlin has two seasons of eligibility remaining. Christian has one, but that could change, depending on how the NCAA handles JUCO participation going forward. This is sort of an interesting study in modern roster construction. Do you build around the promising young recruit, or target known commodities in the portal?

• Specialists

November priority: Low
OUT: *Jack McCallister (Nebraska)
IN: LS Ryan Kean (Utah Tech)

It could be that UW chose to swap Kean for Cameron Warchuck, another scholarship long snapper who transferred in from Colorado last season, though Warchuck is still on the roster. Maybe the spring will provide an answer there. McCallister was a walk-on but handled punting duties for the past three seasons. UW didn’t replace him via the portal, choosing instead to sign Dusty Zimmer, a third-year sophomore from Australia.

This article was originally published at OnMontlake.com, the home for Christian Caple’s full UW Huskies football coverage. Subscribe to On Montlake for full access to in-depth UW Huskies coverage.