It is tier season.
It is poll season.
This week, for Washington and its 17 conference peers, it will be talking season. The Big Ten’s three-day Media Days event begins Tuesday at the Hilton in downtown Chicago. Jedd Fisch, Demond Williams Jr., Landen Hatchett and Jacob Manu will be there for UW's turn on Thursday.
I’ll be there, too, for my fourth conference media day ahead of my fourth season covering UW as an independent reporter. Thanks for your continued support of On Montlake. Your subscription dollars allow me to make these trips and tell you everything you need to know about your favorite team.
Today, I want to examine two fixtures of annual preseason coverage that help paint a picture of how Washington is perceived ahead of Year 3 under Fisch: the preseason Big Ten media poll — including my own ballot — and The Athletic’s 2026 quarterback tiers.
We’ll start with the latter, a tiered ranking by Antonio Morales and Sam Khan Jr. of the 138 FBS quarterbacks expected to begin the season as their team’s starter, based on conversations with “roughly three dozen coaches, general managers, personnel directors, scouts and front office staffers across the country, representing every conference.”
Rankings and lists abound, I know, but I choose to highlight this one because Antonio and Sam are sharp dudes who arrive at their ranking by talking to folks who know what they’re looking at, in addition to their own informed analysis.