Clear skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 59F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Clear skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 59F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Sam Huard looks to hand off the ball during the spring preview on April 30, 2022 at Husky Stadium. The Huskies return to practice beginning August 4, 2022 with the commencement of fall camp. 

Sam Huard looks to hand off the ball during the spring preview on April 30, 2022 at Husky Stadium. The Huskies return to practice beginning August 4, 2022 with the commencement of fall camp. 

It has been over three months since the Washington football team last put on the pads, but the hiatus certainly didn’t put a pause on a tumultuous offseason. While off-the-field conference realignments have left rumors swirling about the future of UW football and the Pac-12, the Huskies will bring the focus back to the gridiron, beginning fall camp Aug. 4. 

As personnel decisions remain for first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer and his staff leading to the Sept. 3 kickoff, The Daily highlights the five biggest stories to follow entering camp. 

The most important position on the field is also the one that remains the most in flux for Washington. At the Pac-12 Media Day, DeBoer confirmed that the competition for starting quarterback remains wide open entering fall camp. 

Conventional wisdom has leaned towards junior transfer Michael Penix Jr. winning the starting job, uplifted by his experience in DeBoer’s offensive system at Indiana. But redshirt freshman Sam Huard had the most eye-opening spring game performance of the bunch, and redshirt sophomore Dylan Morris was a staple of consistency in spring practice.

DeBoer announced his intent to name the starter after the second scrimmage of fall camp, but the sheer magnitude of the decision may lead to a prolonged deliberation. 

“You want to make 100% sure that you know,” DeBoer said. 

The new staff was able to prevent a complete roster fallout last winter, and the majority of the 2021 core remains intact. But it was too little too late to salvage a 2022 recruiting class that signed just 10 players and finished 11th in the Pac-12. Instead, DeBoer and crew looked to the transfer portal to sharpen the roster. 

The most experienced addition is Pittsburgh senior transfer Cam Bright, a linebacker with 177 career tackles under his belt, 23.5 for loss. Another addition was UC Davis transfer cornerback Jordan Perryman, who is a strong candidate to win a starting cornerback spot. 

On the offensive side of the ball, Penix Jr. headlines the transfer group, alongside New Mexico transfer Aaron Dumas, who could jockey for the starting running back spot during fall camp. The Huskies also brought Kennedy Catholic High School alum Junior Alexander back to Seattle from Arizona State, joining an already crowded wide receivers room. 

DeBoer mentioned unabashedly in the spring that running back was the position of greatest concern for the Huskies. The offseason saw the graduation of sixth-year seniors Sean McGrew and Kamari Pleasant, and the defection of Caleb Berry and Emeka Megwa to the transfer portal. Sophomore Cameron Davis and junior Richard Newton highlight the group’s returners, but the duo is relatively unproven, and the door remains wide open for a newcomer to take the helm. 

UW added reinforcements with Dumas last winter, as well as Virginia graduate transfer Wayne Taulapapa and Nebraska redshirt freshman transfer Will Nixon in the spring. The Huskies aren’t lacking in running back quantity, but will search for a more consistent level of quality throughout fall camp. 

In a rather rare occurrence, the Huskies are void of a player mocked to be taken in the first round of the next NFL Draft. But while opposing coordinators may not yet have anyone on the UW roster highlighted, there are several Huskies who could soon make them reach for the yellow Sharpie. 

The obvious candidate to be the face of the Huskies is junior Zion Tupuola-Fetui, who burst onto the scene with seven sacks in just three games in 2020, but missed the majority of 2021 with an achilles injury. “ZTF” is primed for a full season in 2022, and his talent, paired with a natural swagger and punchy nickname, puts him on the short list of UW’s brightest stars. 

A star could also be born out of the wide receivers group, the position that DeBoer heralded as one of the Huskies’ most impressive in the spring. The core is headlined by sophomores Jalen McMillan and Rome Odunze, who will fill a larger role following the departure of Terrell Bynum to USC. 

While spring practices can provide a glimpse, fall camp is the first real showing of how a team looks on the field. If the spring serves as a period of learning and installation of new schemes, August is the month-long dress rehearsal before the curtains finally open for the regular season. 

The unmitigated disaster that was last season left Huskies fans downtrodden with the uninspired 4-8 campaign, desperately hoping for a positive viewing experience in 2022. DeBoer wasn’t shy in his confidence in bringing about that change. 

“I think we’re going to be a lot of fun to watch,” DeBoer said. “The style of play that we have, it’s always going to work around the talent we have in our program. We have a lot of talented players so I think it’s going to be something where you’ll want to be there at Husky Stadium.” 

With the woes of 2021 now becoming a distant memory as the new staff reshapes the program, a fresh slate and a preview of the new-look Huskies is to be embraced by the UW fandom. 

Reach Sports Editor Ethan Kilbreath at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @EthanArles

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