Washington spring practice, Day 7: Running backs everywhere, Germie Bernard speaks and more
Washington spring practice, Day 7: Running backs everywhere, Germie Bernard speaks and more
In a crowded competition at running back, Cam Davis leads the way ... but Daniyel Ngata and others will have something to say about that.
SEATTLE — Daniyel Ngata seems to be in the right place.
Why? Because he said this after Wednesday’s practice:
“I didn’t want a starting position to be handed to me at all. If I’m going to start, it’s got to be (because) I earned it, for sure, (because) I worked for it. I worked my tail off for it. I know the players, here, the competition here is going to push me to be great, no matter what.”
Makes sense, then, why he chose Washington as his transfer destination after leaving Arizona State, in spite of a number of factors that might have turned other running backs away. For one, the Huskies have six scholarship backs still on the roster from last season, and one of them, Cam Davis, scored 13 touchdowns in 2022.
Ngata isn’t UW’s only tailback transfer, either. In fact, he took his official visit to Seattle the same weekend as Mississippi State transfer Dillon Johnson. Ngata played 152 snaps at ASU in 2021 and 159 last season, sitting behind star tailbacks Rachaad White and then Xazavian Valladay. He wanted to find somewhere he could play more, but also somewhere with the requisite coaching and competition to make him better.
He believes he found that at Washington.
“They said they’ve got guys, but we want more guys that can do more,” Ngata said. “They saw I’ve got a lot in my toolbox.”
Such as?