Memmelaar Holds UW to Blocking, Singing Standards

Coming off a knee injury, the offensive guard from Idaho appears fully recovered.

Gaard Memmelaar was limited in spring ball while recovering from a knee injury. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Offensive guard Gaard Memmelaar was stretching on Monday before the University of Washington's fifth football practice when he heard Landen Hatchett nearby singing badly off key while the center was going through knee rehab exercises.

"Hey Landen," he called out.

"Yes?' Hatchett responded.

"Shut the [bleep] up," Memmelaar instructed, drawing laughs all around.

While that exchange was all meant to be humorious, it was just another harmony building moment, literally, for an offensive line going thorugh a complete overhaul.

"It's' fun with him, he's a good teammate," Hatchett said. "He'll hold you accountable and he'll get after you a little bit, which is njce and you kind of need that. Also I give it right back to him."

While Hatchett hasn't been medically cleared, Memmelaar, who missed last season with his own knee injury, one that came much earlier that his teammate's, stepped in at No. 1 left guard once this fall camp began and hasn't taken a play off.

The Huskies are counting on the 6-foot-4, 299-pound strongman and ranch hand from Caldwell, Idaho, to be one of the veteran building blocks for a line that will provide pass protection for Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers and open holes for Arizona running back Jonah Coleman to scoot through.

Memmelaar always has been one of the UW enforcer types, getting into multiple scrapes during 2023 spring ball before injurying his knee at the outset of fall camp a year ago.

He looks like some sort of futuristic warrior with heavy braces on his right knee and left arm, black gloves on his hands and his short-cropped crewcut and thin beard.

On Monday, he held his own while blocking Montana State defensive tackle transfer Sebastian Valdez, no small feat against a guy expected to provide the Huskies' best defensive push up front in a half-dozen seasons.

Memmelaar bench-presses 415 pounds, Valdez 405, in what might be the Huskies' two strongest players.

Memmelaar is the last vestige of the UW's five-man offensive line that was signed in 2020. Offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten now plays for the Baltimore Ravens, as a second-round draft pick; Hatchett's older brother, offensive guard Geirean, transferred to Oklahoma; offensive tackle Myles Murao is a returning starter for San Diego State; and offensive tackle Samuel Peacock medically retired.

For now, Memmelaar appears to be a solid fixture at left guard while Drew Azzopardi and Soane Fassolo seem to have claimed full-time jobs at right tackle and left tackle, respectively. That leaves center and right guard to be sorted out.

"He was little bit early in the timeline," said Brennan Carroll, the Huskies' offensive coordinator and offensive-line coach, of Memmelaar's UW return. "He probably could have done some things at the end of spring, but we wanted to protect him and make sure he had a great summer, no setbacks during the summer months, and it's worked well because he's been great in camp so far."

In Monday's practice, the Huskies continue to work at putting together an offense in which Rogers gets the ball out in a hurry while commandeering a short passing gains or he hands it to Coleman who runs behind Memmelaar and the others in a determined fashion.

The only time Rogers went deep was on the first play of the scrimmage, lobbing one for California wideout transfer Jeremiah Hunte that fell incomplete.

Near the end of the scrimmage plays, Rogers twice hooked up with senior wide receiver Giles Jackson for 8-yard touchdown passes while junior running back Sam Adams broke free for a 12-scoring run.

While Memmelaar was in charge of the music choices to begin practice, running backs coach Scottie Graham likewise took upon himself to correct any fashion missteps.

Linebacker Bryun Parham showed up with his jersey rolled up, exposing his bare midriff, which didn't meet Graham's uniform standards.

"This isn't San Diego State," barked Graham as he pulled the guy's jersey down.

"I played at San Jose State," Parham corrected, a little perplexed by this give and take.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington