Inside The Huskies

UW Should Target a Portal WR — And Here's Who It Might Be

The Huskies could be replacing all three starting receivers in 2024.

Roman Tomashoff

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The Washington Huskies' passing offense has been anchored by future NFL-caliber wide receivers in Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Ja'Lynn Polk. While each has additional college eligibility, most NFL draft experts believe they will forgo it to enter the next NFL draft. 

That would in all likelihood elevate Giles Jackson, Germie Bernard and Denzel Boston into starting roles while true freshmen Rashid Williams, Taeshaun Lyons and Keith Reynolds would assume the second-string positions.

Add Justice Williams and Jason Robinson Jr. as incoming freshmen in the 2024 class, and Washington will have a largely inexperienced group of wide receivers around its new quarterback and could use an extra player from the transfer portal to help add experience to its pass-catching corps. 

Replacing Michael Penix Jr. won't be easy for coach Kalen DeBoer and his staff, but surrounding the next signal-caller with a talented group of pass-catchers should make the task easier for whoever is under center for the Huskies.  

While the transfer portal doesn't officially open until today, on Monday, experienced receivers already have announced their intentions to look for a new school and could be targets for DeBoer's coaching staff. 

Texas A&M's Raymond Cottrell and South Alabama's Caullin Lacy are among some of the most coveted options, but wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard might have his sights set on a former highly touted recruit from Washington state.

Last Wednesday, sophomore receiver Tobias Merriweather announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal after spending two years at Notre Dame. The former 4-star recruit from Union High School in Vancouver, now ranked as the fourth overall prospect in the transfer portal by 247 Sports, caught 15 passes for 285 yards and 3 touchdowns during his time with the Fighting Irish and could play a bigger role for the Huskies.

The 6-foot-4, 204-pound receiver could be asked to run a lot of routes outside the numbers while continuing to develop as a route runner under Shephard and would potentially see an uptick in targets in Washington's offense.

There appears to be mutual interest between Merriweather and Washington's coaching staff, too, with a recruiting analyst predicting the receiver's next destination to be the UW.

The Huskies' passing attack will look a lot different in 2024 and adding a talented transfer receiver such as Merriweather with his reputation could be a big benefit for Washington's offense moving forward.

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Roman Tomashoff
ROMAN TOMASHOFF

I've followed the Huskies for my entire life, and to be in a position where I get to cover them full-time is nothing short of an honor. After graduating from Lasell University in 2019, I moved to Seattle to pursue my dream of working in sports media. While writing for the Husky Haul, I also covered local sports for the Everett Daily Herald before the COVID-19 pandemic. After being hired by Realdawg.com in February of 2021, I also transitioned into doing a lot of entertainment writing, as I work on a variety of magazines as a contributing writer for Centennial Media, and have also contributed to Emmy Magazine, as well as Walt Disney Television Studios. 

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