Husky Offensive Line Still Needs to Prove Itself

The UW had trouble scoring in its Saturday night scrimmage.

Drew Azzoparid (74), Landen Hatchett and D'Angalo Titialii (75) are UW offensive-line candidates. / Skylar Lin Visuals

One hundred and twenty scrimmage snaps later, following the most concentrated session of play-calling in fall camp so far, nothing has really changed about Jedd Fisch's initial University of Washington football team.

Coming out of Saturday's ninth practice held at night, the biggest concern remains the offensive line and whether it can effectively move people out of the way, beginning with the opener against Weber State in less than three weeks.

For an hour and a half in Husky Stadium, the UW couldn't score until backup quarterback Demond Williams Jr. handed the ball to reserve running back Daniyel Ngata, who skirted around the right side and made a dash for the end zone from 7 yards out, diving in at the cone ahead of freshman safety Paul Mencke Jr.

Two more touchdowns followed fairly quickly, both on 1-yard runs by sixth-year senior Cam Davis, but the long period of nothing happening offensively had to be disconcerting if not worrisome for those involved.

"I tell the guys keep working on your fundamentals, get tougher, get stronger, play hard and see what happens," Fisch said of his full-replacement Husky offensive line.

The good news for Fisch was he was able to begin the scrimmage with sophomore Landen Hatchett at center and use the thickly built 6-foot-2, 310-pound player, who's coming back from knee surgery, for multiple series time before sitting him down in a precautionary move. Hatchett is expected to receive full clearance to practice by midweek, acording to his coach.

The Saturday night scrimmage began in an inauspicious manner with quarterback Will Rogers dumping a 2-yard pass to running back Jonah Coleman, the tailback picking up 4 yards and Rogers throwing an incompletion, and the next group came in. Coleman, a little dinged up, wouldn't play beyond that first offensive set.

If Fisch had to face Weber State today, he'd pair Hatchett with Ohio State senior transfer Enokk Vimahi and junior Gaard Memmelaar at the guards, and San Diego State sophomore transfer Drew Azzopardi and redshirt freshman Soane Faasolo at the tackles.

Hatchett played in nine games in 2023 before suffering a torn ACL during Sugar Bowl practice in December and, when healthy, is projected for big things at the UW.

The 6-foot-4, 299-pound Memmelaar, somewhat of a journeyman who has played in four career Husky games in 2022, likewise is coming off a knee injury and surgery that forced him to miss all of last season.

Vimahi, who goes 6-foot-4 and 301 pounds, is a sixth-year trying to show he can become a full-time starter with his new team after appearing in 36 outings for the Buckeyes and opening games just twice as an injury fill-in. A lot is riding on his performance.

The 6-foot-8, 295-pound Faasolo has yet to play in a Husky game after redshirting his entire first season in Seattle to build strength and muscle mass.

At this time, Azzopardi gives the Huskies their lone sure thing in a blocker up front, with the 6-foot-7, 308-pound player coming off a season in which he started six times for his Mountain West team -- making him healthy, experienced and considered highly reliable entering the coming schedule.

While the Huskies struggled offensively, it was the UW defense ironically that was somewhat short-handed over the course of the scrimmage, going without senior Kamren Fabiculanan, junior Makell Esteen and Sacramento State junior transfer Cameron Broussard at safety, all starting candidates, and using standout junior edge rusher Zach Durfee, coming off elbow surgery, only at the beginning.

The 6-foot-3, 193-pound Broussard, a first-team All-Big Sky selection in 2023, had emerged as possibly the most impressive safety candidate for the Huskies with his size and speed before injuring a hand in a previous practice and sitting out on Saturday.

Transfer Cameron Broussard (8) was impressive at safety for the UW before injuring a hand. / Skylar Lin Visuals

All of those players are expected to be back mid-week and practicing full-time.

If Fisch is unable to find a certain comfort level with his offensive line as is, especially on the interior, his alternatives are 6-foot-2, 320-pound Portland State transfer D'Angalo Titialii at center and in 6-foot-5, 297-pound freshman Paki Finau and and 6-foot-2, 320-pound freshman Michael Levelle Watkins at the guards.

The coach has two weeks to shuffle people around before he needs to be locked in with five starters for the week leading up to the Aug. 31 opener.

"I think we're just continuing to progress and continuing to get better and find the right group of five we're going to play with," Fisch said hopefully.

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