Husky Coaches Rave About Progress of Austin Mack, Their QB of the Future
It was easy to see the quarterback skill set that Michael Penix Jr. brought with him two years ago when he joined the University of Washington football team, but the newcomer still had to go through the prerequisite competition and win the job from returnees Dylan Morris and Sam Huard.
Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers likewise will face a similar situation in spring football, though the other candidates in Austin Mack, Will Haskell and Dermaricus Davis won't have previous college football starting experience to put up against him.
However, Husky coach Kalen DeBoer made sure to single the 6-foot-6, 226-pound Mack when quizzed about what's coming.
"Austin Mack has been amazing this year," he said. "He is everything and then some of what we had hoped for and expected. The guy is going to play some big-time ball here for us in this program."
While he didn't draw any game snaps, the freshman from Folsom, California, received a week of regular team repetitions during fall camp when Penix came up with a sore arm, continued to draw serious snaps during the season and went through concentrated end-of-the-year practice time last week.
UW offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb seconded DeBoer's assessment of their young quarterback following the latter's late-season audition.
"Austin Mack, he did a really good job," Grubb said. "I thought he showed up."
Naturally, the Huskies aren't willing to begin their first season in the Big Ten with a totally unused and inexperienced player behind center, no matter what his talent level is, hence the signing of a veteran, rent-a-quarterback for 2024.
To keep the UW at a contender level in the new conference surroundings, the coaching staff will turn to Rogers, a 40-game starter in the SEC with 1,361 completions in 1,876 attempts for 12,315 yards and 94 touchdowns, and 28 interceptions.
Figure Mack to assume the back-up role held by Morris the past seasons and be eased into game-day snaps, with Morris in the transfer portal and most likely finishing up elsewhere.
"He had a great fall," DeBoer said of Mack. "He got a lot of reps, even in team sessions, and just wasn't hanging out with the scout team. He was with us. You can just see what he's capable of. We're super excited about him."
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