Will 2024 be Washington's Year of the Freshmen?

On Adam Mohammed, Decker DeGraaf, Demond Williams Jr. and a promising group of youngsters.

Adam Mohammed turned heads in his collegiate debut. (Photo courtesy of UW Football)

The question has been asked repeatedly since Adam Mohammed arrived at Washington, and more than a few times since he made his collegiate debut last weekend. In case you were wondering, his high-school coach doesn’t really have an answer, either.

How, as a chiseled tailback with 5,180 career rushing yards and 113 total touchdowns, did Mohammed not receive greater recruiting acclaim?

“We said the same thing for the last two years,” said Aaron Walls, who coached Mohammed at Glendale (Ariz.) Apollo and has known him since Adam was 8 years old. “‘What are people not seeing?’ They always had an excuse as to why — maybe he’s not fast enough, maybe he’s not big enough.”