UW Spring Preview: Next Husky RB Starter Far From Certain

Eight scholarship rushers are vying for the job in Montlake.

Dan Raley | Mar 4, 2023

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Washington Huskies

Wayne Taulapapa wasn't particularly flashy, not all that big, certainly not blazing fast, but he became the University of Washington's No. 1 running back last fall for one main reason.

He didn't make mistakes.

The Virginia transfer ran through the right holes, caught the ball when thrown to and blocked whoever tried to get at his quarterback.

That's all Husky offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb asks of his focal back. Do it right and you will play.

So with that simple job description, the Huskies will scavenge for Taulapapa's replacement over the coming month and a half of spring football from among eight candidates who weigh in with different abilities though not have quite the total package.

The first four who will audition are the most experienced of the bunch in Cam Davis, last year's UW back-up; Dillon Johnson, just in from Mississippi State's similarly wide-open Air Raid attack; Arizona State transfer Daniyel Ngata, who's been forgiven for the touchdown he scored to help beat the Huskies four months ago; and Richard Newton, a hard-nosed sixth-year senior looking for a last bit of glory.

None of these four have run for 100 yards in a college football game. Johnson possesses an SEC resume that counts the most starts, 14 in 35 games over three seasons. Newton owns the longest run (54 for a score in 2020). Davis offers up the top 40 time (4.5 seconds). Ngata has family roots in Montlake, following his older brother Ariel, a linebacker, to the UW four years after his sibling transferred out.

SOUTHERN COMFORT :: Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports

Dillon Johnson has two seasons of eligibility remaining at the University of Washngton after spending three years at Mississippi State.

DOUBLE DUECE FOR 6 :: Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

Cam Davis celebrates one of his 13 rushing touchdowns during the 2022 season with Husky teammates Taj Davis (3) and Devin Culp (83).

SCOOTIN' NEWTON :: Darren Yamashita/USA TODAY Sport

Richard Newton goes the distance with a flat pass from Michael Penix Jr. against California in Berkeley, putting up a stiff arm just in case.

ENEMY LINES :: Patrick Breen/USA TODAY Sports

Daniyel Ngata is shown running the ball for Arizona State against the UW and Dom Hampton, and now he's one of the Huskies after transferring.

Sam Adams II skips into the end zone after catching a touchdown pass against Arizona. He had a pair of receptions for scores during the season.

RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE :: Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports

Will Nixon tries to elude a beefy Arizona State defender during the game in Tempe. Nixon came to the UW as a transfer from Nebraska and showed toughness.

Tybo Rogers played for former UW running back Rashaan Shehee at Bakersfield High School before enrolling at the UW this quarter as one of the early enrollees.

LOBO ON THE LOWDOWN / Skylar Lin Visuals

Aaron Dumas spent the 2022 season as a UW redshirt after transferring from New Mexico. He'll try to move up the depth chart and enter the rotation this spring.

The 6-foot, 215-pound Johnson would seem to be the most well-rounded back among these applicants and an early favorite entering the competition. He has career totals of 229 carries for 1,198 yards and 11 touchdowns and a much more amazing 149 receptions for 864 yards and a score for a backfield player. The Huskies no doubt will ask him right away to disprove the snide remark made by the late Mike Leach that he wasn't always tough enough.

Davis, at 6-foot and 216 pounds, is a hard-working player now in his fifth Husky season. He's fast enough to return kickoffs, which he did last season. He's capable of taking a pounding but isn't always as elusive as he should be once he gets across the line of scrimmage, running into tacklers rather than away from them. In his career, he's run the ball 209 times 903 yards and 15 TDs, and hauled in 38 receptions for another 278 yards.

Newton, who carries a 6-foot, 214-pound frame, is the most powerful of all these ball carriers, but his violent style has lent to a string of injuries in recent seasons. He has 224 carries for 971 career rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. He's caught two scoring passes among 12 receptions for 119 yards and he's thrown one in the 2019 Las Vegas Bowl.

Ngata, more compact at 5-foot-9 and 187 pounds, brings career ASU totals of 136 carries for 689 yards and 6 touchdowns to the mix, and he's caught 14 passes for 98 yards. One of his scores last season came on a 1-yard plunge against the UW in the Sun Devils' 45-38 upset in the desert.

Four more backs with lesser credentials will try to make their competitive presence felt in sophomores Will Nixon, Sam Adams II and Aaron Dumas, plus incoming freshman Tybo Rogers.

Nixon showed a certain amount of toughness when he supplied 89 yards rushing and 66 yards receiving while scoring twice for the UW in 2022.

Adams scored twice on receptions last season while rushing for 40 yards and catching passes for another 35 in some cameo roles.

Dumas owns the lone 100-yard game (143 for New Mexico in 2021) on the college level among these eight backs, coming up with it against DeBoer and Fresno State in 2021, and the longest run of the group at 63 yards, also against his coach. He got lost in the competition and sat out all UW games last season.

Tybo is another multi-purpose back, considered a custom fit for the Huskies, after his recruitment from Bakersfield, California. He rushed for 1,756 yards and 11 TDs and caught 61 passes for 1,118 yards and 13 more scores in his prep career, numbers that have to endear him to the UW staff.

Taulapapa reset the Husky running-back bar at a high level for whomever his successor will be. He made the coaches use him a lot and finished up his UW stay with four 100-yard rushing games, hitting the mark in his final three outings. Mostly, he did everything asked of him and did it right.

UW RUNNING-BACK CANDIDATES

Dillon Johnson, 6-0, 215, Jr., played in 35 games, 14 starts

Cameron Davis, 6-0, 206, Jr., played in 29 games, 3 starts

Richard Newton, 6-0, 214, Sr., played in 26 games, 3 starts

Daniyel Ngata, 5-9, 187, Jr., played in 26 games, 2 starts

Will Nixon, 5-11, 200, So., played in 14 games (3 at Nebraska)

Aaron Dumas, 5-9, 199, So., played in 11 games, 5 starts (all at New Mexico)

Sam Adams II, 6-2, 206, So., played in 9 games

Tybo Rogers, 5-11, 192, Fr., ready to debut

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Published Mar 4, 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.