SEATTLE — Before the Washington Huskies began a day of scrimmaging beneath blue skies and spring sunshine, they took a moment to celebrate the accomplishments of their former teammates.
Already, former receiver Denzel Boston and cornerback Tacario Davis had become NFL Draft picks — Boston to the Cleveland Browns in Friday’s second round, and Davis to the Cincinnati Bengals in the third.
On Saturday morning, the Denver Broncos grabbed running back Jonah Coleman in the fourth round, and the San Francisco 49ers selected both offensive lineman Carver Willis and cornerback Ephesians Prysock before the end of the fourth, too. Players watched Willis’ selection during a team meeting, cheering and high-fiving one another after his name flashed across the screen, and coach Jedd Fisch and receivers coach Kevin Cummings each attended Boston’s local watch party on Friday night.
Just before Fisch addressed reporters on Saturday afternoon, a sixth UW player came off the board when the Atlanta Falcons picked defensive tackle Anterio Thompson in the sixth round. And the Jacksonville Jaguars later made it seven by selecting edge rusher Zach Durfee — the world may soon know him better as “Prospect X” — in the seventh round.
On the whole, this was a best-case scenario draft for the Huskies, who sent five players to the NFL Combine, each of whom was picked in the first four rounds. The seven-player haul represents UW’s fourth-best output in the seven-round era (from 1994 on), behind only 2024 and 1998 (10 players selected) and 2019 (8). Thompson and Durfee also became UW’s first draft picks not invited to the Combine since Dwayne Washington in 2016 (seventh round, Detroit).
Fisch also noted the selection of Arizona defensive backs Treydan Stukes, Genesis Smith and Dalton Johnson, who, like Coleman, Davis and Prysock, all played for Fisch with the Wildcats.
“Those guys all committed to us when we were 1-11, and actually, 1-23 if you look at the 12 games before we arrived,” Fisch said, referencing Arizona’s 12-game losing streak ahead of his one-win debut in 2021. “So, pretty amazing.”
The Huskies scrimmaged for 130 or so plays on Saturday, Fisch said. I’ve got highlights, observations and more of what the coach said (including video) after Saturday’s practice: