Earlier this week, I rolled out my annual pre-camp list of Washington’s 22 most important players — known commodities, mostly, who will either start or play a significant number of snaps.
Now, it’s time to focus on a different portion of the roster: those players not listed who can most positively impact Washington’s 2026 season.
This list isn’t for players like John Mills, Dezmen Roebuck, Jacob Manu or even Demond Williams Jr., whose own progression will be paramount. Rather, it’s meant to identify those players who either haven’t yet contributed in a major way, or would raise the team’s ceiling to the greatest degree by leveling up.
To give you a sense of the kind of player we’re targeting here, these are the eight I identified prior to the 2025 season, plus some brief reflection on how each panned out:
DL Armon Parker: Though he did get on the field after missing three full seasons — for 112 defensive snaps in eight games — Parker sustained another injury and his impact was minimal.
RB Jordan Washington: It wasn’t quite a breakout year, but Washington did get involved. He even cracked the single-game 100-yard mark, thanks largely to his 68-yard touchdown run against Purdue.
TE Kade Eldridge: There was a role for the former USC transfer last year as a third tight end and fullback, but an injury against Michigan cut his season short.
LB Jacob Manu: You knew Manu’s talent, but it was unclear how much he’d play as he recovered from an October 2024 ACL injury. As it turned out, he made it back by UW’s fourth game. He was a difference-maker when available, but played only four regular-season games in order to preserve a redshirt.
OL Geirean Hatchett: The veteran o-lineman made the list for the steady presence he could bring to a group that was still a bit in flux, and he wound up being the only lineman to start every game.
S Vincent Holmes: The idea was that Holmes could help UW out by pushing for the No. 3 safety role, but Rylon Dillard-Allen established pretty early on that he would be handling those duties.
EDGE Jacob Lane: Coming off a big spring, I figured Lane could elevate the Huskies’ pass rush by winning a starting job and becoming a fixture on the edge. He did wind up starting every game, and tied for the team lead in sacks and pressures.
WR Audric Harris: He was in the mix for playing time for a second consecutive season, but the top rotation of Denzel Boston, Dezmen Roebuck and Raiden Vines-Bright (and Rashid Williams, before he got hurt) played the bulk of the snaps.
With the benefit of hindsight, players such as Roebuck, Bryce Butler and Xe’ree Alexander — a freshman who outperformed expectations, a returner who greatly elevated his play and a transfer who broke camp as a backup but became a top defensive player by season’s end — would have fit this list ahead of last season.
Here are the nine players I have in mind ahead of training camp in 2026: