In Adding Omari Evans, the Huskies Had the Need for Speed

The Penn State wide receiver was the fastest player on his former team and runs a 4.31 40-yard dash.

Wide receiver Omari Evans, now with the Huskies, takes a break against the Boise State. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Omari Evans didn't start that many games for the Penn State football team, catch a lot of passes or visit the end zone all that often, yet he always brought one thing to the table.

He can run.

Faster than anybody in State College, Pennsylvania, and probably now in Montlake.

"Omari has a super power," Nittany Lions coach James Franklin said memorably during the CFP playoffs.

It was that well-advertised swiftness that brought the 6-foot, 190-pound wide receiver to the University of Washington through the transfer portal this past offseason, looking for a place to finish up his senior year.

By all accounts, Evans runs the benchmark 40-yard dash in 4.31 seconds.

"We also wanted an element of speed," UW receivers coach Kevin Cummings said. "We know that speed in your offense, especially at the receiver position, changes the game. Looking at what he had and what was available in the portal, our priority was to get some legitimate speed into the room."

Penn State wide receiver Omari Evans, now a Husky, makes a touchdown catch over Boise State Broncos. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

With the elusive and strong-armed Demond Williams Jr. at quarterback, the Huskies showed what was possible in the Sun Bowl when the freshman threw 4 touchdown passes to the speedy Giles Jackson, who continually got open against Louisville.

In a sense, Evans, who started six of 38 games for Penn State and caught 30 career passes for 564 yards and 7 scores in his career, becomes the new Jackson, only faster.

Coming out of Killeen, Texas, Evans originally was a quarterback playing Friday Night Lights football and since then he's had to learn all the nuances of being a wide receiver.

In the CFP playoffs, he effortlessly caught a 38-yard scoring strike, badly beating the Boise State secondary in a 31-14 victory over the Mountain West team. It was a chance for him to show off his best attributes to a national audience.

No doubt the Huskies were watching him while he auditioned on a big college football stage.

"We"ve got a lot of guys on our team right now that we have a lot of confidence in," Cummings said. "The thing we were just lacking was a little bit of leadership and little bit of veteran presence."

And with Evans, they now have that blazing speed.

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