The University of Washington football team had ten players drafted by the NFL, including three first-round picks, two of whom were in the top ten, as well as five free agents.
Former Husky coaches Chris Petersen, Jimmy Lake, and Kalen DeBoer deserve credit for bringing these players to Montlake.
What happens now?
Pro Football Focus recently released its way too early top 50 draft prospects for 2025, and no Huskies were singled out, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. The only returning UW starters are senior linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala and junior cornerback Elijah Jackson, neither of whom are established pro football prospects.
However, there is enough of talent at the UW; it simply hasn’t been identified yet.
This is similar to a year ago, when almost no one predicted Rome Odunze would eventually become the No. 9 overall pick and the first- or second-best receiver in the country, and Troy Fautanu would go with the No. 20 pick on the first day and be regarded as the first guard off the board.
After reviewing the talent gathered, inherited, sculpted, and envisioned by new UW coach Jedd Fisch during the recently concluded 15 spring practices, here is one man’s assessment of the Huskies’ top ten players for next season, rated in order of overall football ability.
HUSKY TOP 10 TALENT
1. Denzel Boston, WR — No one dominated Husky spring practice at any position more than the 6-foot-4, 207-pound Boston, who dropped only one scrimmage ball, which was surprising given the circumstances. Everyone had relatively plain stats in the purposefully abbreviated 48-minute, running-clock spring game, with the exception of Boston, who caught 7 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown. He has size, speed, and more muscle, and he wants to weigh 215 pounds. He’s only a sophomore in class and should have a very successful year.
2. Ephesians Prysock, CB — No one dominated Husky spring practice at any position more than the 6-foot-4, 207-pound Boston, who dropped only one scrimmage ball, which was surprising given the circumstances. Everyone had relatively plain stats in the purposefully abbreviated 48-minute, running-clock spring game, with the exception of Boston, who caught 7 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown. He has size, speed, and more muscle, and he wants to weigh 215 pounds. He’s only a sophomore in class and should have a very successful year.
3. Zach Durfee, ER — An NCAA injunction now reversed and a spring elbow injury have hindered this 6-foot-5, 255-pound junior from truly exhibiting his talents for the Huskies. However, DeBoer’s coaching staff couldn’t hide their desire to play him, describing Durfee as the fastest, strongest, and most athletic edge rusher in a UW group last season that included recent third-round NFL pick Bralen Trice and one-time first-team All-Pac-12 pick Zion Tupuola-Fetui. When he was healed, Fisch’s staff immediately put him on the field with the top defense. Durfee should be good, if not exceptional, when given a chance to play for the UW.
4. Jonah Coleman, RB –Coleman, who stands 5 feet 9 and weighs 225 pounds, may benefit from a veteran Husky offensive line more than anyone. He’s a very physical back with pace, but he didn’t break any long runs during spring ball because to the lack of gaps to traverse. In the spring game, the Arizona transfer carried for only 18 yards on four carries, but caught two receptions for 42 yards. Coleman is still the guy who rushed for 179 yards against Colorado and 143 against USC. On Saturday, the junior running back expressed confidence that a dependable offensive line would be assembled and productive in due course.
5. Landen Hatchett, C — If Hatchett hadn’t been dressed in shorts and a T-shirt every day and hadn’t left his helmet in the locker room, folks may have assumed he was totally committed to spring ball. rather than diligently rehabbing a knee ailment sustained in December. He passed the football to each of the quarterbacks. He received handoffs from them and ran the ball in some non-contact drills. He made the practice rounds and spoke to almost everyone like a pro. When healthy and involved, the 6-foot-2, 310-pounder will be a team leader who might earn honors. He played nine games as a freshman in 2023. He want to be great.
6. Jeremiah Hunter, WR — The Huskies let him practice with the second unit for the longest period this spring before promoting him, stating that he needed to understand the complexities of a pro-style system, which was the primary reason he transferred from California to the UW. Whether running with the No. 1 or No. 2 offense, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Hunter proved to be a physical and aggressive wide receiver. In the spring game, he caught three passes for 16 yards and scored once. During his Cal career, he caught 143 balls for 2,056 yards and 13 touchdowns, one of which came at Husky Stadium. He should put up massive numbers again this season.
7. Carson Bruener, LB — After two seasons of coming off the bench for DeBoer’s coaching staff and garnering All-Pac-12 honorable mention this season, Bruener is driven to prove to everyone that he deserved better and that he’s an NFL player in the making. He’s listed at 6’2″ and 226 pounds, although he appears considerably bigger. He still covers a lot of ground and has four games with 14 to 16 tackles in his Huskies career. He’s taken an even more aggressive leadership role on this UW team. He is the 14-year-old NFL veteran’s son, and he appears to be driven to have a successful professional career.
8. Drew Azzopardi, OTÂ — The Husky offensive line went from having great players in numerous positions last season to starting over with entirely new faces. At 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds, the San Diego State transfer is surprisingly fit and agile for an offensive lineman. When he was in the portal, others thought so highly of him that Azzopardi picked between Arizona, Washington, UCLA, and Tennessee. Still a sophomore, he and Hatchett are the UW O-line’s foundation, and it will be interesting to see which three players join them as starters.
9. Alphonzo Tuputala, LB — He is the most experienced player on the UW roster, having made 27 starts in 40 outings. Last season, he and Bruener were stacked at one linebacker spot, but this season, they’ll play side by side on the No. 1 offensive, providing the Huskies two physical and seasoned players to anchor their defense. Tuputala, whose four tackles tied for the spring game lead, is a rugged player who will not be out of position on the field. He will also try to complete a pick-6 this season after intercepting a Utah pass last November and went 76 yards before dropping the ball one yard short of a touchdown. He has returned for a sixth UW season to become an NFL player.
10. Grady Gross, PK — Gross, a former walk-on turned scholarship player, has established himself as the Huskies’ most reliable kicker. They fully expect him to succeed every time. He was not awful in 2023, converting 18 of 22 field-goal attempts and all 63 extra-point kicks. He made 33- and 42-yard field goals in the spring game this past Saturday, and he was also improving on his distance, coming up just two yards short of putting a 63-yarder through the uprights in practice.
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