30-Day Countdown: Day 10 - Numerology

It’s not uncommon for college players to switch numbers during their career. The single digit jersey numbers seem to be a right of passage. As players move on, younger guys grab the coveted numbers left behind.

Quite a few key players are wearing new numbers this season:

DB Kyler Gordon was 19, now 2

QB Jacob Sirmon was 11, now 3

DB Alex Cook was 11, now 5

RB Sean McGrew was 25, now 5

RB Richard Newton was 28, now 6

DB Cameron Williams was 16, now 6

DB Keith Taylor was 27, now 8

QB Dylan Morris was 16, now 9

DL Josiah Bronson was 90, now 11

WR Puka Nacua was 15, now 12

LB Laiatu Latu was 56, now 13

OL Corey Luciano was 47, now 74

WR Ty Jones was 20, now 88

That’s 13 players, all of whom could be key contributors, wearing new numbers. Most of the guys slid down to lower numbers, while Ty Jones went high, and Corey Luciano —now a full-time OL— is wearing an offensive line number instead of a TE numeral.

Let’s break these down:

The RBs

Sean McGrew as #5 and Richard Newton as #6.

The Husky one-two punch in the backfield have changed from numbers in the 20’s to single digits. Will it be hard to tell the two apart when they line up in the backfield? Not really. Newton is five inches taller, and stands a little less upright than McGrew when playing halfback. And when they run the football, there is no doubt who is who. Newton runs angry and like he just had five cups of coffee, while McGrew has a smooth style with effortless jump-stops and the ability to slide past defenders.

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The DBs

Kyler Gordon as #2, Alex Cook as #5, Cameron Williams as #6, and Keith Taylor as #8.

With Elijah Molden (#3) factored in, DBU will have five players wearing single digits this season. Gordon is expected to make great strides in his second season, as is safety Cam Williams. Alex Cook is now wearing his third jersey number since coming to Washington (he wore #15 as a WR his freshman season, then switched to #11 last year when he moved to DB).

Taylor is poised for a big senior season, and #8 will look good on him when he reels in his first career interception.

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The QBs

Jacob Sirmon as #3, Dylan Morris as #9

We have no idea who will start at quarterback against Cal. If it’s not yet another #10 (Ethan Garbers) or a grad transfer (Kevin Thomson #7), the starting QB will be a player who changed from a double-digit to single digit jersey.

Sirmon has flowing locks out the back of his helmet, and now wears the number dawned by the Huskies’ top two all time passers (Jake Browning & Cody Pickett). Morris went from Joe Montana’s #16 to the Drew Brees #9. Never liked 16 for a QB. Looks like something they hand a walkon.

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The WRs

Puka Nacua as #12, Ty Jones as #88

I LOVE Jones as #88. Never liked him as #20. With #88 as a wideout, that is throwback stuff to Michael Irvin & Lynn Swann. He really needs a long towel hanging out the back of his pants, and maybe a random elbow pad and a cool pacifier-like mouth guard.

Nacua as #12 is interesting. There was no #12 last year on the team, so this seems like a jersey switch that means something special to the player.

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The Big Boys

Josiah Bronson as #11, Laiatu Latu as #13

Big men wearing small numbers.. what is this? The SEC??

It’s great. Bronson “downsizing” to #11 will remind us of Elijah Qualls, a big man wrecking things in a QB’s number. And Latu’s game is perfectly suited to wearing a number in the teens. Perhaps he wants to register 13 sacks this year to match his jersey. He probably thought 56 sacks was a little out of his reach.