Washington comes out for its game with 23-ranked Illinois Saturday. The 23rd-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini played the Washington Huskies in Big-Ten Football Saturday, October. 25, 2025 at Husky Stadium, in Seattle, WA. (Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times)
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By
Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
Washington’s defensive-line churn continued this weekend.
Dominic Macon, a 6-foot-3, 310-pound defensive tackle who just completed his freshman season at UW, announced he will enter the transfer portal in a post on his social-media accounts Sunday afternoon. He’s the 19th Washington player to enter the transfer portal since it opened on Jan. 2. Macon will have four years of eligibility remaining.
Macon, who hails from Savannah, Ga., played at Adrienne C. Nelson High in Oregon where he was also a state champion wrestler. He did not appear in a game during his lone season at Washington.
His departure means both of the freshman defensive tackles UW signed during the past recruiting cycle will depart after one season. Caleb Smith announced his entrance in the transfer portal Wednesday.
Macon is the fifth UW defensive tackle to enter the transfer portal, joining Smith, and juniors Bryce Butler, Armon Parker and Jayvon Parker. Only Butler, who transferred to Texas Tech, has announced a new school for 2026. Additionally, Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei, Logan Sagapolu and Simote Pepa exhausted their eligibility while Anterio Thompson announced he will forgo a potential final season of college football to pursue the NFL.
The Huskies have added three defensive tackles in the transfer portal: DeSean Watts out of Sacramento State, Darin Conley from Ball State and former Mississippi State defensive tackle Kai McClendon, who missed the entire 2025 season with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.
Macon is also the fifth true freshman to depart UW after just one season. Along with Smith, the Huskies have seen wide receivers Raiden Vines-Bright and Marcus Harris and local linebacker Jonathan Epperson Jr. announce their entrances into the transfer portal.
Epperson and Harris, who transferred to UCLA, were considered four-star prospects by the 247Sports composite ratings when they signed before the 2025 season. Vines-Bright, who is from Tempe, Ariz., and will head home to Arizona State, was the only one in position to potentially contribute significant snaps in 2026. UW signed 27 freshmen during the 2025 cycle, and then added 25 incoming freshmen before the 2026 season.
Andy Yamashita: ayamashita@seattletimes.com. Andy Yamashita is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, primarily covering Washington Huskies football.
