With 22 UW Football Commits in Hand, Time to Fill Out Future Lineup
![Dylan Robinson gives the Huskies another 4-star recruit and a second Robinson. Dylan Robinson gives the Huskies another 4-star recruit and a second Robinson.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_1170,h_658,x_0,y_330/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/inside_the_huskies/01j34pdkh4r7ee0fpxbe.jpg)
With 4-star cornerback Dylan Robinson committing to the University of Washington football team, coach Jedd Fisch has 22 pledges for the class of 2025, enough to send a full complement of starters onto the field if only bodies were required.
Crunching numbers, the recruiting site 247Sports bumped Fisch's first unfettered UW talent grab to No. 17 in its national rankings, elevating a collection of prospects buoyed by Robinson's presence and that of six others given 4 stars to describe their supposed elevated skill levels.
While none of these players will arrive until next winter at the earliest, it's hard not to envision a future Husky lineup filled with a majority of these names leading a Fisch team into battle in the Big Ten Conference.
To do this, we've designated the 2027 season as the launching pad for most of these guys to move up, allowing them to play one more high school season and spend two years at the UW to get physically ready to play FBS football. They will wait for others to graduate, head to the NFL, get beat out or enter the transfer portal.
"We're looking to build this thing," Fisch said. "Whatever time it takes, however long it takes, but my biggest thing is we have to find a way to sustain success and be able to go back to back to back in top recruiting classes and be able to start finding our way year in and year out."
Commemorating Robinson's pick-up, this projected starting lineup begins on defense, in the secondary, at corner. It will come together for a home opener in three years against Fresno State that should be christened the Kalen DeBoer Old Girlfriends Bowl and a conference schedule devoid of Michigan and Ohio State but filled with heavyweights in Penn State and USC.
Envision a 2027 starting cornerback tandem of the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Dylan Robinson from La Verne, California, and the 6-foot, 185-pound D'Aryhian Clemons from Spanaway, Washington. You might have difficulty finding a faster pair in pass coverage than these two guys.
Robinson said he ran 4.4 seconds in his only camp dalliance with the 40-yard dash so far, while Clemons reportedly has a best time of 4.38. That could make it real tough for opponents to go deep against them.
Waiting in the wings is a third corner in Ramonz Adams, a 6-foot-1, 160-pound Texas import and Texas Tech de-commit, but only because we don't know if he has a 40 time or not. For that matter, Adams might turn out to be a nickelback and not have to wait to play behind anyone.
At free safety is 6-foot-3, 210-pound Donovan Robinson, no relation to Dylan, who hails from Wilmette, Illinois, north of Chicago, though the Huskies might convert him to linebacker once he gets to Seattle.
The Huskies don't have another safety in hand in this class unless Dylan Robinson finds a home there instead of cornerback. Put them him and his Illinois namesake together and the Huskies could start an all-Robinson duo side by side.
At linebacker, Fisch's staff has to feel extra enthused about the potential of teaming a pair of highly touted 4-star players together in 6-foot-3, 225-pound Zaydrius Rainey-Sale from Spanaway, Washington, and 6-foot, 210-pound Jonathan Epperson. They each run 4.6 seconds in the 40. Rainey-Sale also is a wide receiver with a long scoring catch of 54 yards, while Epperson has been used at running back, with a long run of 68 yards.
Up front, the Huskies will choose matching first-team edge rushers from Caleb Smith of Montgomery, Alabama; Devin Hyde from Atherton, California; and Victor Sanchez Hernandez of Mukilteo, Washington -- each ironically carrying a listed 6-foot-5, 240-pound frame. Smith and Hyde might be a little more polished early on while Sanchez Hernandez continues to grow into his big body.
The UW's interior defensive line is unsettled today without a proven playmaker or anchor and remains so moving forward -- representing the program's biggest vulnerability -- with 6-foot-3, 295-pound Dominic Macon, a project from Happy Valley, Oregon, the only commit so far. In 2027, he'll need someone from another class to join him as a starter coming out of a stance.
Moving to the offense, we'll choose 6-foot-1, 215-pound Ashton "Dash" Beierly from Santa Ana, California, as the quarterback over 5-foot-10, 210-pound Treston "Kini" McMillan from Mililani, Hawaii -- note everyone has a catchy nickname behind center here -- mainly because Beierly is three inches taller.
The future Husky QB will hand off to 6-foot-2, 195-pound running back Julian McMahan from Danville, California, a 1,113-yard, 7-touchdown rusher as a junior with a long run of 78 yards.
Beierly will throw to any combination of wide receivers in 6-foot-1, 185-pound Chris Lawson from San Francisco; 6-foot,190-pound Raiden Vines-Bright from Bradenton, Florida; 5-foot-10, 170-pound Dezmen Roebuck from Marana, Arizona; and 6-foot-2, 190-pound Deji Ajose from Oakland, California. We'll start with Lawson, a 4-star recruit, and pair him with Vines-Bright, who plays for the IMG powerhouse in the sunshine state.
As juniors, Lawson caught 68 passes for 969 yards and 11 touchdowns; Vines-Bright snagged 59 balls for 1,114 yards and 9 scores at Corona del Sol High in Tempe, Arizona, before moving to Florida; Roebuck hauled in a whopping 121 balls for 1,332 yards and 8 TDs; and Ajose, a two-way player, had modest totals of 28 catches for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns.
At tight end, same as at linebacker, the Huskies are rightly enthused to have another pair of 4-star players available in 6-foot-5, 215-pound Vander Ploog from Fullerton, California, and 6-foot-4, 235-pound Baron Naone from West Linn, Oregon. Ploog is taller, Naone 20 pounds heavier. Pick 'em. Or just start and play them together a lot.
The UW, with so many young offensive linemen on the roster -- five in the 2023 class and three more in 2024 -- have three commits for 2025 in 6-foot-4, 325-pound Champ Taulealea from San Jose, California; 6-foot-6, 275-pound Jake Flores from San Juan Capistrano, California; and 6-foot-4, 290-pound Lowen Coleman-Brusa from Burien, Washington.
Taulealea is a 4-star recruit, Flores is similarly heavily recruited though not as highly ranked, at least not yet, while Coleman-Brusa is just now discovering what his body can do.
Overall, the Huskies have what appears to be a very sound talent base for a Big Ten future, with a little of everything lined up on paper, and only the defensive line remains low on numbers and hype.
For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington