Husky Roster Review: Expect Newton to Scrap for Snaps at Crowded Position

The tough-minded veteran returns for a sixth UW season.

Dan Raley | May 12, 2023

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Washington Huskies

The odds might be a little stacked against Richard Newton from becoming the University of Washington starting running back or even a well-utilized reserve in his sixth and final college football season.

He doesn't quite fit the profile of the multi-purpose player the DeBoer/Grubb offense demands, better resembling a power rusher on the order of Caleb Berry, Jay'Veon Sunday, Emeka Megwa and Aaron Dumas — all players, and Texans for that matter, who've left the program over the past year.

Just don't tell Newton that.

This Southern California native has made it clear he's in it for the long run with these new-age Huskies and feels he can accommodate any football ask by the current coaching staff.

Or do you not remember his 13-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of the 2019 Las Vegas Bowl against Boise State?

Throwing it, not catching it.

Newton enters his final hurrah with the Huskies well down the depth chart following 15 spring practices in which backs such as Cam Davis, Daniyel Ngata, Tybo Rogers, Sam Adams and Will Nixon were given ample opportunity to show what they could do while he missed many of the workouts with an undisclosed injury, same as touted Mississippi State transfer Dillon Johnson.

Still, Newton presses on, making himself available if and when he's needed in year two of the DeBoer empire build.

"When you play as violent as I do, you get nicks and injuries," said Newton, ever the warrior in his football outlook. "You've got to learn how to play through them. The ones you can't play through, you rehab."

Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Newton, who wears No. 6 on offense, 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.

PROUD AND THE BRAVE / Skylar Lin Visuals

Richard Newton brings toughness and resilience to the Huskies as he competes for running-back playing time in his sixth season.

With staffers hitting him every which way, Richard Newton tries to maintain good balance in this spring drill.

Richard Newton runs between the padded tackles, with one ready to fall over, during a gray spring day in Husky Stadium.

Richard Newton works on a running-back blocking drill where his hands distinctively come into play.

Richard Newton has 12 receptions for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns in his long-winding Husky football career.

REMEMBER THE ALAMO :: Daniel Dunn/USA TODAY Sports

Pressed into service, Richard Newton rushed for 44 yards on 11 carries against Texas while pulling snaps for an injured Cam Davis in the Alamo Bowl.

A Husky coaching assistant grabs at Richard Newton as he works on his balance during spring football practice at Husky Stadium.

Richard Newton has a career 971 yards rushing, 119 yards receiving, thrown a 13-yard TD pass in the Las Vegas Bowl and has 4 special-teams tackles.

Richard Newton gets popped by pads from Husky coaching staff support as those guys try to knock him off his feet.

Newton, in fact, comes off an Alamo Bowl performance against Texas in late December where he rushed 11 times for 44 yards in the Huskies' 27-20 victory, ably filling in for an injured Davis and backing up the since graduated Wayne Taulapapa.

The 6-foot, 214-pound product of Lancaster, California, in the Mojave Desert remains a tough-minded player who's done it all for the Huskies.

After redshirting with a carryover high school injury, Newton demonstrated star quality by scoring 11 touchdowns in 10 games in 2019 while coming off the bench as a redshirt freshman. He picked up three of them on the run against Hawaii. Caught a TD pass against BYU. Scored standing up against USC. Ran for two touchdowns in the Apple Cup. This tough guy also was injured again that season and missed three midseason games.

In 2020 during the pandemic, Newton got on the wrong side of the Lake coaching staff, likely showing his disenchantment over being dropped to either third or fourth in the running-back pecking order when he earlier had been promoted as the starter. While he scored on a career-best 54-yard run against Arizona, then coach Jimmy Lake notably sat him down and didn't use him for the final two of the four games.

All seemed to be forgiven in 2021 when the veteran back finally started for the first time, three games in all. Yet he became injured once more and lost his spot, and then returned for a solitary play against UCLA and caught a 9-yard pass while suffering a season-ending knee injury all at once.

Newton recovered to appear in 10 games last season for the newly arrived DeBoer coaching staff and even caught a memorable 36-yard touchdown pass against California, where he pulled out two classic stiff-arms to get into the end zone, no doubt his season highlight.

During this most recent spring ball, Newton took his reps and appeared as determined as ever make the coaches use him and then he was sidelined again.

He could have graduated and moved on or he could have entered the transfer portal to see if there were any takers with someone of his vast experience and reputable credentials, but this guy prefers to compete in Montlake.

Whatever you do, even with all of those dependable Husky backs such as Davis and transfers from the SEC to the Big Ten to the Pac-12 lined up in front of him, don't tell Newton he's done.

RICHARD NEWTON FILE

Service: Over four seasons as an active player, Newton has appeared in 26 Husky games and started three. He's run, caught and thrown for touchdowns. His current UW running-backs coach, Lee Marks, long ago tried to recruit him to Boise State, who the Huskies open against on Sept. 2.

Stats: Newton is just one burst up the middle from topping the 1,000-yard rushing level for the UW. In his career, he's run 224 times for 971 yards and 14 touchdowns. He's caught 12 passes for 119 yards and 2 scores. He's thrown that Vegas Bowl touchdown pass that went to the departed Terrell Bynum. And, on special teams last season, Newton picked up four tackles. Remember, he said he was a tough guy.

Role: There's no getting around it: Newton might have a difficult time getting on the field on offense and drawing carries this season as often as he'd like He looks to be behind Davis, Ngata, Dillon and maybe even freshman Tybo Rogers when fall camp starts up. Again, don't count out Newton and suggest to him that he's not going to be a factor. He doesn't think that way.

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Published May 12, 2023

DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.