Phil Steele’s outlook for the UW Huskies in 2026

The UW Huskies enter the third season of the Jedd Fisch era looking to take break through into the ranks of College Football Playoff contenders.

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But can they do it?

College football guru Phil Steele believes there’s a chance.

Steele, who’s popular college football preview magazine released earlier this month, shared his outlook on the Huskies’ 2026 season with Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy on Monday.

“I think progress is they’re going to flirt with a playoff berth depending on what they do in the last five games of the season,” Steele said.

The Huskies close their season with a tough five-game stretch that’s bookended by road games against Nebraska and rival Oregon and also features home contests with defending national champion Indiana and Penn State.

“But this is a team clearly capable of flirting with a playoff berth,” he said.

As for the Demond Williams Jr. transfer-portal saga that dominated headlines during the offseason?

“I think that stuff that happened, it’s all in water under the bridge,” Steele said. “He’s firmly with the team.”

Steele highlighted the departures of NFL draft picks wide receiver Denzel Boston and running back Jonah Coleman as big losses for the Huskies, but he’s fairly confident in a couple other areas of the team.

“They do lose their top running back. But remember, Coleman didn’t have the type of year (he was expected to). He was banged up last year,” Steele said. “They do lose their top wide receiver in Boston. Those would be the biggest question marks, would be the skill (positions). But I rate the offensive line No. 21 (in the country), and defensively (they’re) a top-25 unit on all three units (defensive line, linebacker and defensive backs). In fact, I rate them a top-20 defense coming into the year.”

Players to watch

Williams is clearly the most impactful player for UW as a dual-threat quarterback capable of getting himself in the Heisman conversation with a big season. With that in mind, Steele highlighted five other players to watch, which included four true sophomores.

“When you look at receiver, Dezmen Roebuck is a guy that is really going to emerge this season,” Steele said. “I think he fills in the shoes of Boston and may be even better. So keep your eyes on him.”

Roebuck, a three-star recruit in the class of 2025, is coming off a strong true freshman season, hauling in 42 receptions for 560 yards and seven TDs in 13 games.

“Left guard John Mills is an NFL-caliber guy,” Steele said. “He’s arguably the best player maybe in the program and a great talent, and he’s going to be a captain this year. Keep your eyes on John Mills – 6-6, 338 (pounds) – and he’s going to be a big part of that offensive line.”

Mills, another three-star recruit from the ’25 class, started 11 games (10 at left guard, one at right tackle) during his true freshman season. He was an All-Big Ten honorable mention. Steele named Mills to his preseason All-America second team for 2026.

“And then one guy you may not want to see, but Hunter Green at punter coming in from San Diego State. He’s a guy that looks like an NFL punter,” Steele said. “He’s 6-4, 230. Last year had a 42.1 net (yardage on punts). I think they’re in great shape if he comes on the field. He’s going to give him tremendous field position, which is a big plus for both the offense and the defense.”

Green averaged 47.0 yards on 63 punts last season for San Diego State, including 22 punts of 50 yards or more and 26 downed inside the 20-yard line. He was a second-team All-Mountain West selection.

“And then in the secondary, I’d go with Dylan Robinson at corner and Rylon Dillard-Allen at strong safety as two guys that are clearly all-conference potential.”

Robinson was a four-star recruit from the ’25 recruiting class. The 6-foot-3 cornerback had 16 total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack and a forced fumble in 12 games as a true freshman.

Dillard-Allen, another four-star prospect from UW’s strong 2025 recruiting class, had 40 total tackles and two tackles for loss in 13 games last season.

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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