Receivers Dominate Washington's Ninth Practice

The Husky receiver corps lived up to the hype on Monday

When practice started on Monday, it looked like cornerback Jabbar Muhammad and the defense could hang with Rome Odunze and the rest of the Washington Husky receiving corps. Muhammad stuck with Odunze well on the first drive, playing strong with the much larger receiver, forcing an incompletion from Michael Penix Jr.

Then, the tempo of practice changed thanks to Michigan State transfer Germie Bernard on the final drive of the first team period. After Bernard made a full-extension grab on a stop route against cornerback Thaddeus Dixon, Bernard turned around and ran him over before the play was blown dead.

From that point on, it was a full go for the offense. Odunze got Muhammad back during 1-on-1 drills, and pulled in a touchdown on an over-the-shoulder grab off a perfect throw from Michael Penix Jr. Denzel Boston also got in on the action, getting the better of Muhammad as well during 1-on-1's.

Battling on both sides 💪🤝#PurpleReign ☔️ pic.twitter.com/ZjkUV8q9RC

— Washington Football (@UW_Football) April 3, 2023

Odunze then beat Muhammad again in the second team period of the day for a 45-yard touchdown. While this might read as Muhammad has really struggled this spring, he looks like a very fluid athlete who has lived up to the billing he had when he arrived at Washington. 

Every cornerback on the roster has taken their lumps against Odunze this spring, who looks like he's in line for an All-America-caliber season.

I was trying to grab a video of the safeties doing this drill… the resulting product ft. Meesh Powell and Asa Turner was much better pic.twitter.com/8OPY3mMtbE

— Roman Tomashoff (@rtomashoff34) April 10, 2023

The coaching staff spent part of practice working on red- zone situations, and the offense scored a touchdown on all four drives during those periods. The most impressive score came from Odunze, who beat Elijah Jackson on a two-yard "jerk route," made famous by Julian Edelman in Super Bowl 49 (sorry Seahawks fans).

This was the first time head coach Kalen DeBoer's squad has worked on red-zone and goal-line snaps during spring practice. He's said that some plays down in the red zone take a little longer to install, but it appears the offense picked it up quickly.

Boston reeled in a touchdown against freshman cornerback Caleb Presley in a "welcome to college football" moment for the highly-touted recruit. Penix also added a touchdown on a quarterback draw and running back Sam Adams II closed the period off with a rushing touchdown.

Notes and observations

It wasn't just the scholarship receivers who had a great day, walk-on receiver Owen Coutts played noticeably well during the 7-on-7 portion of practice. Coutts, a 6-foot-4, 217-pound sophomore from Ballard High School made three or four catches that picked up big gains and looked like a player that could take snaps if the Huskies find themselves in a pinch.

Last season, linebacker Ralen Goforth went viral with USC when he laid a hit on Utah quarterback Cam Rising that knocked his helmet off. While his latest hit wasn't as violent, he popped off Boston's helmet.  It wouldn't be a surprise if he becomes the defense's enforcer this fall.

While this has become a regular occurrence, it's still spectacular to watch Penix throw the football. He uncorked a 60-yard bomb to Taj Davis on Monday, and while it fell incomplete, it's no secret that Washington's quarterback has one of the most talented arms in the country.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Roman Tomashoff of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @rtomashoff34 or @UWFanNation

Have a question? Message me on Twitter!