2026 UW Roster - Offense

WoolleyDoog

WoolleyDoog

Swaye's Wigwam
Swaye's Wigwam
Founder's Club
Now that the dust has settled and rosters are pretty much set I took a look at what the UW roster looks like going into spring on offense and defense and with an eye to if I think the unit looks like it's trending up, down, or equal.

QB - Even - Demond Williams Jr. (Jr.), Kini McMillan (rFr.), Dash Beierly (rFr.), Derek Zammit (Fr.) - I have doubts to how much more ceiling Demond has but there's no way having a guy have a full season of experience and another offseason of training under his belt shouldn't be an improvement. Oh, except maybe he doesn't want to be here so I don't fucking know. Will be interesting to see if one of the younger QBs can push him at all. McMillan seems like the likely candidate.

RB - Down - Jayden Limar (Sr.), Jordan Washington (So.), Brian Bonner (Fr.), Quaid Carr (rFr.), Julian McMahon (rFr.), Ansu Sanoe (Fr.) - This is a weird group that could be just as productive or equal with Coleman/Mohammed, who were overrated in production. With all the complete unknowns here I think it can't be labelled as anything but down, until proven otherwise.

WR - Down - Dezmen Roebuck (So.), Rashid Williams (Jr.), Chris Lawson (So.), Jordan Clay (Fr.), Christian Moss (Jr.) Justice Williams (So.), Mason James (Fr.), Deji Ajose (rFr.), Trez Davis (Fr.), Blaise LaVista (Fr.) - Another group that is hard to read to me. In short UW is replacing the one consistent and productive skill player they had last year who was a first round, fourth-year talent with a true freshman in Clay and then possibly using Roebuck, who seems like a #3, as a possible #1. Rashid Williams is a wildcard.

TE - Up - Decker DeGraaf (Jr.), Kade Eldridge (Jr.), Baron Naone (So.), Austin Simmons (rFr.), Kekua Aumua (Fr.), Charlie Crowell (So.), Sam Vyhlidal (Fr.) - This one is pretty simple. They are only losing Moore who was a good blocker but very limited as a receiver and the rest of the group is a year older. Naone is an interesting one to me who I wonder if he can compete for TE1 or TE2 if he progresses quickly enough.

OL - Up - I'll include the depth by position below. Overall this group returns a lot and should get better, if only a little bit. I thought Willis was easily the best lineman last year so that's a loss and losing Finau and Henning are depth hits. I trust guys like Mills, Landen Hatchett, Azzopardi, Taulealea, and the additions of Dieterich and Greene should hopefully be enough to help the unit get at least a little better.

T - Drew Azzopardi (Sr.), Kolt Dieterich (Jr.), Kodi Greene (Fr.), Soane Faasolo (Jr.), Jack Shaffer (So.), Elishah Jackett (Jr.), Justin Hylkema (So.), Jake Flores (rFr.), Dominic Harris (Fr.)

G - John Mills (So.), Geirean Hatchett (Sr.), Champ Taulealea (rFr.), Ah Deong Yang (Fr.)

C - Landen Hatchett (Sr.), Lowen Colman-Brusa (rFr.)
 
RB could easily be better. Coleman was banged up and Mohammad did nothing except for two games.

But overall agreed. You cant project RB being better when it is such a wildcard

Hopefully the Demond thing was more getting wooed by sketchy agents promising even more generational wealth, and not bad blood. UW needs him to grow some balls against good teams next year, and Fisch needs to figure out how to call plays.
 
WoolleyDoog said:
Now that the dust has settled and rosters are pretty much set I took a look at what the UW roster looks like going into spring on offense and defense and with an eye to if I think the unit looks like it's trending up, down, or equal.

QB - Even - Demond Williams Jr. (Jr.), Kini McMillan (rFr.), Dash Beierly (rFr.), Derek Zammit (Fr.) - I have doubts to how much more ceiling Demond has but there's no way having a guy have a full season of experience and another offseason of training under his belt shouldn't be an improvement. Oh, except maybe he doesn't want to be here so I don't fucking know. Will be interesting to see if one of the younger QBs can push him at all. McMillan seems like the likely candidate.

RB - Down - Jayden Limar (Sr.), Jordan Washington (So.), Brian Bonner (Fr.), Quaid Carr (rFr.), Julian McMahon (rFr.), Ansu Sanoe (Fr.) - This is a weird group that could be just as productive or equal with Coleman/Mohammed, who were overrated in production. With all the complete unknowns here I think it can't be labelled as anything but down, until proven otherwise.

WR - Down - Dezmen Roebuck (So.), Rashid Williams (Jr.), Chris Lawson (So.), Jordan Clay (Fr.), Christian Moss (Jr.) Justice Williams (So.), Mason James (Fr.), Deji Ajose (rFr.), Trez Davis (Fr.), Blaise LaVista (Fr.) - Another group that is hard to read to me. In short UW is replacing the one consistent and productive skill player they had last year who was a first round, fourth-year talent with a true freshman in Clay and then possibly using Roebuck, who seems like a #3, as a possible #1. Rashid Williams is a wildcard.

TE - Up - Decker DeGraaf (Jr.), Kade Eldridge (Jr.), Baron Naone (So.), Austin Simmons (rFr.), Kekua Aumua (Fr.), Charlie Crowell (So.), Sam Vyhlidal (Fr.) - This one is pretty simple. They are only losing Moore who was a good blocker but very limited as a receiver and the rest of the group is a year older. Naone is an interesting one to me who I wonder if he can compete for TE1 or TE2 if he progresses quickly enough.

OL - Up - I'll include the depth by position below. Overall this group returns a lot and should get better, if only a little bit. I thought Willis was easily the best lineman last year so that's a loss and losing Finau and Henning are depth hits. I trust guys like Mills, Landen Hatchett, Azzopardi, Taulealea, and the additions of Dieterich and Greene should hopefully be enough to help the unit get at least a little better.

T - Drew Azzopardi (Sr.), Kolt Dieterich (Jr.), Kodi Greene (Fr.), Soane Faasolo (Jr.), Jack Shaffer (So.), Elishah Jackett (Jr.), Justin Hylkema (So.), Jake Flores (rFr.), Dominic Harris (Fr.)

G - John Mills (So.), Geirean Hatchett (Sr.), Champ Taulealea (rFr.), Ah Deong Yang (Fr.)

C - Landen Hatchett (Sr.), Lowen Colman-Brusa (rFr.)
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I'm uneasy about losing Finau and Henning. I don't think we should write off losing veteran quality depth. HOWEVA - let me go ahead and sprinkle some copium on this. Our OL got WAY better this year with a real OL coach. Seeing what Brennan Carroll did in Las Vegas makes me wonder what the heck he was doing at UW. I think Switzer can actually coach. The guys all seemed to take a step forward and he got a true fresh ready to play day one. That's impressive.

I have no idea what the heck to make about the TE. DeGraaf definitely took a step BACK in 25. I guess maybe Eldridge was hurt? I don't know. I've heard some good things about Naone but I have no idea. Honestly, compared to last years contributions, hard to imagine it could go down. So, I guess up it is.

I REALLY have a hard time seeing where the improvement comes from overall in our offense? How are we better equipped this year to beat our conference opponents? What got better?
 
Nice work thanks

I like where the oline is going overall even if they did lose depth talent that will come back to bite us? this year.

The specific talent I believe will get better with this staff but I can't see them being better than what was on the field last year. Moore will be a bigger loss than what we get at TE so I think realistically it's only one group getting better
 
houseofpain247 said:
I'm uneasy about losing Finau and Henning. I don't think we should write off losing veteran quality depth. HOWEVA - let me go ahead and sprinkle some copium on this. Our OL got WAY better this year with a real OL coach. Seeing what Brennan Carroll did in Las Vegas makes me wonder what the heck he was doing at UW. I think Switzer can actually coach. The guys all seemed to take a step forward and he got a true fresh ready to play day one. That's impressive.

I have no idea what the heck to make about the TE. DeGraaf definitely took a step BACK in 25. I guess maybe Eldridge was hurt? I don't know. I've heard some good things about Naone but I have no idea. Honestly, compared to last years contributions, hard to imagine it could go down. So, I guess up it is.

I REALLY have a hard time seeing where the improvement comes from overall in our offense? How are we better equipped this year to beat our conference opponents? What got better?
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Maybe not having Boston will force Judd away from the predicable fade every time in the redzone, etc. More balance.

I have no confidence that will happen, but…🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️
 
Whether it be that a lot of the money was tied up in the recruiting class, the program is poor, Jedd thinks the portal players aren't worth what they cost compared to guys already on the roster or all the above, the offense being any better than 2025 is really dependent on development and how actually good/ready some freshman are like Bonner, Clay, and Greene.

Let's say ideal doog Demond actually gets better in his second year as a starter (not crazy), the OL progresses with another of actual coaching and continuity, and the deep pool of young WR talent fills it up.
 
Play calling isn’t some crazy science. Play design and being to teach the subtle details of that to the players is the hard part.
 
PostGameOrangeSlices said:
The season is going to come down to the WR core
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I think the success of the offense will come down to if Midget Williams takes a step forward. Will he throw the ball away instead of taking needless sacks? Will he take the check down instead of taking the deep shot? Too many times a 7-10 yard completion was right there to be had and he chucked the ball out of bounds or 10 yards too far, deep down the field. If the 20 year old, second year starter can take what is given instead of getting greedy then even with Judds play calling the offense can take a step.
 
theknowledge said:
I think the success of the offense will come down to if Midget Williams takes a step forward. Will he throw the ball away instead of taking needless sacks? Will he take the check down instead of taking the deep shot? Too many times a 7-10 yard completion was right there to be had and he chucked the ball out of bounds or 10 yards too far, deep down the field. If the 20 year old, second year starter can take what is given instead of getting greedy then even with Judds play calling the offense can take a step.
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Need to get him out of the pocket routinely on design rollouts IMO.

Agree about play calling and execution, but if you have this kid making a living out of the pocket, unless the O line becomes a stalwart from one season to the next, you're asking for frustration. I'm telling you because I've been within a few feet of him and I know how tall I am: if he's 5'10" I'm a monkey's uncle.

I'm also keen to learn how he will be accepted back into the fold. I think teammates won't care because they're all chasing dollar bills; I just wonder if things will be frosty between him and the coaching staff and that might affect esprit de corps. It's just a weird dynamic these days.
 
WoolleyDoog said:
Whether it be that a lot of the money was tied up in the recruiting class, the program is poor, Jedd thinks the portal players aren't worth what they cost compared to guys already on the roster or all the above, the offense being any better than 2025 is really dependent on development and how actually good/ready some freshman are like Bonner, Clay, and Greene.

Let's say ideal doog Demond actually gets better in his second year as a starter (not crazy), the OL progresses with another of actual coaching and continuity, and the deep pool of young WR talent fills it up.
Click to expand...

And that's what I'm worried about. Basically, our improvement comes down to whether or not some true freshman are ready to play? But, we've spent the last two years saying, "But this team is young! Just wait until they get older!" Now the team is older and we're banking on the fact that the true freshman will help us!

It just doesn't make sense any more as a roster construction strategy. Get talented true freshman, patiently wait to develop them, watch them succeed for another team, hope for more talented true freshman to show up.
 
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