UW HUSKIES

Caple: Five 2023 UW Huskies recruits to watch this spring

Jan 12, 2025, 9:52 AM

The UW Huskies’ 2025 roster is far from set. While the winter transfer portal window has officially closed, there is another portal window in the spring, and UW is still a good seven or eight scholarships over the 85-man limit coach Jedd Fisch wants to maintain.

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So, more attrition is coming.

For now, though, we have at least some sense of which players will be around for the spring. Among that group is a thinning number of players from coach Kalen DeBoer’s 2023 recruiting class — his first and last full recruiting class at the school.

Here are five 2023 signees we’ll have our eyes on this spring who will be trying to make their biggest contributions yet at the college level.

OL Landen Hatchett

Even as he recovered from a knee injury sustained in December 2023, Hatchett played 591 snaps in UW’s 13 games, seventh-most among offensive players. He should play an even bigger role next year, though, after what should be a fully healthy offseason. Hatchett mostly played guard for the Huskies as a sophomore, with senior Portland State transfer D’Angalo Titialii handling the center duties. Now a junior, though, Hatchett figures to slide back over to center, which has long been considered his best position.

DL Elinneus Davis

Though the Huskies added three veteran defensive linemen via the transfer portal, there seems little question that Davis will be relied upon for greater contributions in 2025. As a redshirt freshman in 2024, he played 169 snaps in 11 games, finishing with an overall defensive grade of 72.4 from PFF. He filled mostly a rotational role as a redshirt freshman, but the 6-foot-2, 309-pound Minnesota native performed well enough to believe he should be a big part of the Huskies’ future on the defensive interior.

CB Leroy Bryant

Bryant battled injury to some degree and spent the season as UW’s fourth cornerback and wound up playing only 47 snaps in three games. It seems the starting outside corner jobs in 2025 will be occupied by Ephesians Prysock and Arizona transfer Tacario Davis, but with starting nickel Jordan Shaw moving on, there could be an open competition for that position (though Dyson McCutcheon returns after playing 254 snaps there in 2024). Regardless, Bryant will be a key backup for a secondary that could be one injury away from needing to rely on its unproven depth at cornerback.

WR Rashid Williams

He wound up playing the fourth-most snaps among UW receivers as a redshirt freshman, though that still meant Williams was on the field for a relatively scant 166 plays. He finished the season with 11 catches for 138 yards and a touchdown. The Huskies return star receiver Denzel Boston and added Texas transfer Johntay Cook II via the transfer portal. Williams might not see a huge uptick in playing time, but should continue to battle for rotational snaps and at least be part of the Huskies’ passing attack.

EDGE Jacob Lane

The Emerald Ridge High School (Puyallup) product has shown flashes of his athletic potential, such as when he made a big tackle for loss in UW’s victory over Michigan. He was on the back end of UW’s rotation at edge rusher, though, and played only 88 snaps in nine games. 2025 will be a crucial year for Lane, who finished the 2024 season with nine tackles, to prove he can be a productive pass rusher in a crowded, veteran room.

This column from UW Huskies football insider Christian Caple is exclusive to Seattle Sports. Subscribe to OnMontlake.com for full access to Caple’s in-depth Husky coverage.

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