Husky Roster Review: Green Returns to Normal Maturation Rate

The cornerback from Texas had to burn a redshirt year in 2022.

Dan Raley | Jun 5, 2023

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Washington Huskies

University of Washington coaches sent then-freshman cornerback Jaivion Green on to the field early and often in 2022, nine games in all.

For a week 8 game against California, co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell even suggested the 6-foot-2, 197-pound newcomer from Houston would start in Berkeley that weekend.

The Huskies ended up turning to less drastic means, choosing to use Green as a reserve once more in a 28-21 victory over the Bears.

Yet it illustrated how dire the UW cornerback situation became last season when the coaching staff found itself considering a developing freshman as a first line of defense.

To be honest, Green likely should redshirted rather than played more than any other UW freshman, let alone started in a Pac-12 game. Yet it was a desperate situation.

"I think he got put in an extremely difficult position a year ago," Morrell said. "Like we got down and he probably wasn't ready to quite play yet, but we didn't have a choice. We just had to put him out there."

Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Green, who wears No. 22 on defense, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.

UW cornerback Jaivion Green (22) gets his hands on wide receiver Rome Odunze during the final spring scrimmage as Ralen Goforth (10) provides support.

Jaivion Green played in nine games at cornerback last season for the Huskies, the most of any freshman.

Jaivion Green chases down UW wide receiver Rome Odunze after his teammate catches this pass in the final spring football scrimmage.

Jaivion Green had a testy freshman season, pushed into action in nine games as injuries decimated the cornerback position.

Jaivion Green from Houston is one of six players on the Husky roster who hail from the Lone Star state, joined by Ja'Lynn Polk, Jabbar Muhammad, Anthony James, Will Nixon and Diesel Gordon.

GREEN LIGHT :: Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

Jaivion Green unloaded on this Stanford receiver with a pass break-up in last year's 40-22 victory and celebrated the hard hit.

Holding up as best he could, Jaivion Green appeared in nine games for the Huskies who needed his services.

With his freshman season a thing of the past, Green said he came out of the experience relatively unscarred even after having more than one long pass sail over his head.

"I'm learning each and every day," he said during spring ball. "I'm still a young player. I just turned 19 the other day."

The Husky coaching staff thought long and hard about redshirting Green after he'd played in his four games, the maximum for preserving eligibility, and even sat him out of a 45-38 loss at Arizona State.

However, cornerback injuries continued to pile up, sending four players to the sidelines, with Davon Banks eventually lost for the season.

This past spring, Green showed up nearly 10 pounds lighter to make himself quicker and he rotated between the first- and second-unit defenses as the Huskies now try to season him at a more reasonable rate.

Kalen DeBoer's staff will have six new cornerbacks at fall camp in Oklahoma State transfer Jabbar Muhammad, Oregon transfer Darren Barkins, JC transfer Thaddeus Dixon and freshmen Caleb Presley, Curley Reed and Leroy Bryant. Add in returnees Elijah Jackson, Banks and Green, and position play should be noticeably improved.

Green came close, but he didn't start as a freshman. He probably won't start as a sophomore either, but now the coaching staff can bring him along at a reasonable rate.

"He's a great kid, eager to learn," Husky coach Kalen DeBoer said of Green. "He's going to be a good football player for us."

Service: Green appeared in nine games, sitting out only against Michigan State, Arizona State, Washington State and Texas. For his extended service, the coaching staff named him UW Freshman of the Year.

Stats: The young Texan came up with a pass break-up that was hard to miss. He leveled a Stanford receiver, taking him off his feet, and stood over him for an extended time to soak it all in.

Role: The Huskies will take the pressure off Green and use him for regular rather than desperate needs. Depending on how the competition shakes out, he should be a back-up player.

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Published Jun 5, 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.