With New Additions, Here's What UW Lineup Would Look Like Now

The Huskies still have a lot of work to do before they will settle on 22 starters.

The UW will ask Landen Hatchett and others to provide better protection for Demond Williams Jr. in 2025. / Skylar Lin Visuals

If the University of Washington football team had to play a game today -- and the Sun Bowl was a distant memory rather than next up -- the Huskies would trot out 14 returning starters, counting new acquisitions from other schools.

While there are certain to be more roster additions before the transfer portal treasure hunt is over, this month and in April, the UW lineup as it stands now probably still present plenty of questions about whether it can go toe to toe up front with, say, an Ohio State and Michigan, on both sides of the ball.

Three offensive-line starting jobs appear secure, but the guards remain an unknown in terms of production unless freshman Paki Finau is ready to go as a first-teamer and former Husky and Oklahoma transfer Geirean Hatchett has his health back after missing all but two games with a biceps injury while playing for the Sooners.

On the other side of the line, the UW would hope that junior Jayvon Parker is fully recovered from an Achilles tendon rupture that cost him more than half of this season and that Utah transfer Simote Pepa, a 6-foot-3, 340-pound senior who largely was used in a reserve role by the Utes, can presumably handle a bigger workload.

The Huskies also appear to be down at least one experienced veteran at wide receiver, linebacker and cornerback in order to be competitive with the Big Ten's upper echelon.

In pass-catchers Denzel Boston, Rashid Williams and Audric Harris, their season reception totals are a deeply cascading 60, 10 and 1 so far, respectively.

At linebacker, as it stands currently, the UW is counting on Jacob Manu, an Arizona transfer and former first-team All-Pac-12 performer, to recover from a knee injury that sidelined him at midseason and, hoping against hope, that incoming freshman Zaydrius Rainey-Sale matches his recruiting hype and is ready to play a lot after he enrolls in school.

At cornerback, the Huskies might get starting senior Thaddeus Dixon back if he were to press the court ruling that junior-college play no longer counts against FBS eligibility.

PROPOSED 2025 UW STARTING LINEUP
OFFENSE (7)	DEFENSE (7)
WR -- Denzel Boston (returning starter)	ER -- Zach Durfee (returning starter)
WR -- Rashid Williams	DT -- Jayvon Parker
WR -- Audric Harris	DT -- Simote Pepa
LT -- Carver Willis (Kansas State starter)	ER -- Isaiah Ward (returning starter)
LG -- Paki Finau	LB -- Jacob Manu (Arizona starter)
C -- Landen Hatchett (returning starter)	LB -- Zaydrius Rainey-Sale
RG -- Geirean Hatchett	NB -- Jordan Shaw (returning starter)
RT -- Drew Azzopardi (returning starter)	CB -- Ephesians Prysock (ret. starter)
TE -- Decker DeGraaf (returning starter)	CB -- Leroy Bryant
QB -- Demond Williams Jr. (r. starter)	S -- Alex McLaughlin (NAU starter)
RB -- Jonah Coleman (returning starter)	S -- Makell Esteen (returning starter)

Of our 14 listed returning starters for 2025, 11 are holdover Huskies, six of whom who have opened five games or fewer so far this season.

They include freshman quarterback Demond Williams Jr., who was made the starter for the Oregon game to end the regular season and the upcoming Sun Bowl against Louisville. His center will be sophomore Landen Hatchett, who's started four games at right guard and another at left, but none as the snapper.

Add to that freshman tight end Decker DeGraaf, who's started five games exclusively in two tight-end formations while becoming a three-time, first-team Freshman All-America selection; sophomore edge rusher Isaiah Ward, who's started five games early and late in the season; junior safety Makell Esteen, who's started four times, also early and late; and junior edge rusher Zach Durfee, who was limited to three starts and six games played before a series of injuries ended his season.

To be better than the 6-6 team it is now, the UW will need more ready-to-go bodies up front, working the transfer portal as long as it can to find them.

This portal window opened on Dec. 9 and will close to new entries after Dec. 28, thus giving players 20 days to decide whether to stay or go.

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