Husky Roster Review: After Redshirt, Brailsford on Fast Track to Play a Lot
Parker Brailsford, compared to the other University of Washington offensive linemen, was a little on the small side when he arrived on campus. As a scholarship freshman, he didn't play in a game either. He was one of two first-year players who never left the sideline last fall and the other, defensive tackle Armon Parker, was recovering from a knee injury.
That might seem to suggest that Brailsford was way behind the others in his 2022 Husky class. That would be wrong.
In the most recently held spring football practice, the 6-foot-2, 272-pound center from Mesa, Arizona, was one of the breakout players, having put on more than 20 pounds since he showed up in Montlake and impressing his coaches with his strength and leverage.
Brailsford was so ready to go over the 15 practices in March and April, he lined up as the No. 2 center much of the time but also demonstrated the flexibility to move over to offensive guard if it will get him on the field any sooner.
"I'm really excited about Parker," UW offensive-line coach Scott Huff said. "We're really, really lucky to have him."
Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Brailsford, who wears No. 72 all to himself, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.
Notably strong, Husky center Parker Brailsford (72) easily lifts wide receiver Denzel Boston (12) into the air after Boston's spring scrimmage touchdown catch.
Parker Brailsford offers up a pad for fellow center Landen Hatchett to strike during spring football.
Parker Brailsford (72) and Landen Hatchett (66) move to the next drill during Husky spring practice in April.
Redshirt freshman center Parker Brailsford holds onto a football while other linemen such as Landen Hatchett go flying around him.
In 2022, Parker Brailsford was the only one of eight freshmen on scholarship who took part in Husky spring practice.
Landeon Hatchett's eyes wander in this exchange with Parker Brailsford, who sticks his head into his teammate's chest.
Parker Brailsford gets initiated by Husky football in 2022 by having to push a truck tire down the field in winter workouts.
Parker Brailsford participated in 2022 spring practice, the first for the Kalen DeBoer coaching staff, by graduating early from high school.
Parker Brailsford is veteran UW player now that he's gone through a pair of spring practices in Montlake.
Brailsford has compact size reminiscent of Nick Harris, the UW's two-time All-Pac-12 center now in the NFL, with a caveat — he's stronger than Harris was at a similar stage in his career, according to his coach.
"He benches over 100 pounds over his weight and that's pretty good," Huff said of the redshirt freshman. "He can move and he's got very good technique for a young player."
While acknowledging he was undersized initially, Brailsford was never disheartened by this for a moment or the fact that game time, even mop-up duty in a Husky blowout, wasn't forthcoming right away. He threw himself into a season of development rather than go through the motions.
"A lot of people think scout team is a bad thing," Brailsford said. "It's 'Oh, I'm on the scout team. I'm not playing or whatever." But that's the time you can work on all of your technique and work on everything you need to work on to be able to play. I'd say scout team [for me] is definitely a big factor."
In spring ball, the self-motivated Brailsford lined up at center behind sixth-year senior Matteo Mele and ahead of the highly regarded freshman Landen Hatchett. He also showed the potential to move over to guard if the guys in competition now don't completely satisfy the coaching staff.
While the Kalen DeBoer's coaches prefer to get their freshmen into games as quickly as possible — with six of eight scholarship newcomers drawing snaps last fall — Brailsford never once was bothered that it didn't happen for him.
Before that, he wasn't outwardly concerned either that Jimmy Lake's UW coaching staff, the one that got a commitment from him, was no longer on the job, replaced by DeBoer and his coaches. He was coming to Seattle all along.
"Coach DeBoer just told me his plan and what he was going to do," Brailsford said. "I just just believed in him the whole time."
It appears the feeling is mutual for this young, strong and motivated lineman.
PARKER BRAILSFORD FILE
Service: While he didn't play in a game as a freshman, Brailsford was the only player from his class to participate in 2022 spring football. So he has a pair of springs on his ledger, making him more experienced than his football classmates.
Stats: The number he has that's notable is an added 22 pounds on his frame in a year's time.
Role: Brailsford, so strong and smart, is going to play in his second season in the program. At some point, likely a year from now, he's going to factor into serious consideration for a starting assignment.
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