Class of 2024 Offense Recruiting Board

This past Wednesday saw the opening up of a new quiet period in the recruiting calendar. That means that players are allowed to take unofficial visits to campuses now through April 14th but that coaches can’t meet with recruits in-person off of campus grounds. That makes it a great time to try to determine which recruits are serious contenders to be a part of the Huskies’ class of 2024. If a recruit is willing to pay their own way to come up and check out a spring practice in person then it’s a sign that they’re serious interested in UW.

There are a number of recruits who have stated their intentions to get up to Seattle at some point over the next few months but plans change and sometimes those visits don’t end up happening. There are several data points we do have for many recruits right now though: reported UW offer, an unofficial visit during UW’s recruiting weekends in January, and professed interest in the Dawgs through interviews. Plus of course the closer to Washington they are, generally the more interested in the Huskies they’ll be. Though there are unfortunately many exceptions to that.

Last year I put together a back of the napkin formula to try to put together a single number for which recruits are most likely to eventually sign with Washington given the information we have right this second. It ended up being a little hard to evaluate. That’s because Washington pretty much signed their entire class within a week of all of their targets taking official visits. I waited until those visits to put in that component and then suddenly all but a couple of spots for the class were filled.

Still, I’m going to go ahead and go through the same process this year. The components I included are: recruiting rating in the 247 sports composite, # of offers, # of visits to UW, location (Washington, West region, or outside West), stated top X cutdowns, and 247 Crystal Ball status.

To help give an indication of who might be UW’s most realistic targets for 2024 we’ll run through the board now and then go through this exercise again in a couple of months after visits start to happen again. To help guide you through the numbers listed throughout the article I would break down the ranges roughly like this

— 3.0+ Recruit has multiple factors that point toward Washington being a significant player in their recruitment from here forward

— 2.0-3.0 Recruit either has visited UW campus already in 2023 or is a caliber of prospect where UW is likely to be among top few choices

— 1.0-2.0 Recruit is in-region but with low interest in UW or has visited campus in 2023 and is a 4/5-star prospect

— 0.0-1.0 Recruit has a Husky offer but has shown no sign of reciprocating the interest

Quarterback

Uncommitted Offers Extended: 3

Expected Class Size: 1-2

Current Commits: E.J Caminong

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: CA 3-star Maealiuaki Smith (1.74), CA 4-star Elijah Brown (1.25), AZ 5-star Dylan Raiola (-1.06)

At one point recently the Huskies had a pair of commitments in this class before 4-star Austin Mack reclassified and will instead be on campus before the fall. However, that still just brings Washington up to 3 QBs for 2023 and they’ll lose Michael Penix Jr. after the year. The coaching staff would likely love to bring in another player in 2024 at the position in case Mack/Caminong aren’t ready to challenge Dylan Morris but it’s more likely that player will come from the transfer portal.

There’s always the chance the Huskies could go all-out on another prep prospect in 2024 but at the moment it doesn’t seem very likely. Washington hasn’t come up in recent interviews for Smith or Brown and Raiola appears to be a battle between Georgia and Nebraska (family member on the coaching staff). I’m expecting the Dawgs to be done here.

Running Back

Uncommitted Offers Extended: 7

Expected Class Size: 1-2

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: WA 5-star Jason Brown (3.41), WA 3-star Unterrior Latin-Henley (2.55), AZ NR Christian Clark (2.24)

The running back spot is a bit of a weird one for this kind of exercise.

There were 2 crystal ball predictions put in for Washington to land Brown out of O’Dea high school who is one of if not the best RB in the country. Scott Eklund put it in at a 9/10 confidence but has since said he is only leaving the prediction up because there’s not a clear front runner; it’s just not UW. If you were to remove those CBs then it knocks Brown down to a 1.71 and into 3rd place.

There’s also confusion for the other in-state back since Latin-Henley said recently that Washington is primarily evaluating him as a defensive back while all the other schools view him on offense.

That leaves Christian Clark as the highest finisher here but guess what? More confusion! Clark has reported 25 offers including Alabama, Miami, Oregon, and USC (he’s at USC this weekend). Yet he’s unranked in any of the recruiting services. Assuming he was a minimum of an 87 (mid-to-high 3-star) grade would knock his score down to 1.82.

Perhaps the most realistic targets are the 4th and 5th place finishers. Derrick McFall out of Texas (1.56) is a low 4-star running back who visited Washington in January. Meanwhile, Santa Ana, CA’s Nate Frazier (1.38) is listed as a 4-star ATH at 247 but being recruited at running back by UW. He’s expected to take an unofficial visit at some point during spring practices. Either one getting up to Seattle again would boost their standing in the formula.

Washington’s running back group is already bursting at the seams and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see more attrition after spring practices given that the Huskies are still over on scholarships right this second. If both Frazier and Brown said they wanted to commit, UW would find a way to make the math work but it seems much more likely they only take 1 more this cycle given all they’ve added at this spot in the portal.

Wide Receiver

Uncommitted Offers Extended: 20

Expected Class Size: 3-4

Current Commits: NV 3-star Landon Bell

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: CA 3-star Kory Hall (3.29), CA 3-star Dillon Gresham (2.75), CA 4-star Kwazi Gilmer (2.61)

Technically the Huskies will only have one WR run out of eligibility this fall in Giles Jackson. However the expectation is that both Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan will declare early for the draft after considering doing so this past December. That means we can expect a minimum of 3 open spots. One is already spoken for with NV 3-star Landon Bell who committed last fall. I’d expect UW to consider saving a potential 4th WR for the transfer portal which means there are probably 2 more spots. That means UW can afford to be a little picky.

The top finisher on this list is Kory Hall who currently has only 3 FBS offers and his only power conference ones are from UW and WSU. Unsurprisingly, he seems enamored with Washington and is planning another trip up to Seattle but we’ll see if the coaching staff would take a commitment this early.

The other names up above also visited Washington in January as did MO 4-star Jeremiah McLellan (1.46) and CA 4-star Aaron Butler (1.25). The intriguing one is Butler who has raved about the Husky coaching staff and included the Huskies in his top-5 after decommitting from USC. The reason why he isn’t higher up is that there are a pair of CBs in for him to end up at Georgia. Butler has already scheduled official visits to UW and Georgia but also said last week he wants to commit in April or May despite the schedule visit to UW being set for June. If Butler does in fact wait to commit and takes that official to UW then the Huskies will have a great shot.

The highest rated in-state receiver is Malachi Durant out of Graham Kapowsin (1.8) who is 9th on this list because of a CB in for him to Oregon placed back in October. It sounds like Washington is expected to get one of Durant’s official visits but Durant listed Junior Adams as “probably the best relationship I have with a coach”. If he does decide to defect there are still plenty of great options available for Washington.

Tight End

Uncommitted Offers Extended: 5

Expected Class Size: 1-3

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: CA 3-star Decker DeGraaf (2.92), AZ 3-star Dillon Hipp (1.81), CA 4-star Ryner Swanson (1.71)

The Huskies struck out at tight end in the class of 2023 and now will be losing a pair of seniors with Devin Culp and Jack Westover set to graduate. Washington went to the portal to add Josh Cuevas but they’ll be left with just 3 scholarships players for 2024 as it currently stands. I’d expect that UW is looking to add at least 2 to the room and would only go with 1 if they were planning to portal or if Sheridan again just doesn’t get the job done closing.

If you go on to 247’s offers site you’ll see that 3 of the 4 highest rated tight ends that UW has offered are already committed elsewhere including one from Oregon and one from Bellevue, Washington. Not a great start. I’m sure the Huskies will continue to try to flip local Hogan Hansen away from Michigan but I’m not assuming flips in this article.

That leaves the clear front-runner at the moment as Decker DeGrafaf who is listed at 6’5, 230 lbs out of Glendora, California. He has said he’s planning to make a return visit up to Washington but is also clearly enamored with Utah who has taken over the mantle of top TE producer in the Pac-12 from Stanford and UW. He also has plans to visit Oklahoma and UCLA.

The most recent offer has gone out to 6’4 Ryner Swanson out of Laguna Beach but he has also picked up offers from Texas, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M in the last few weeks. He also didn’t mention UW as a school he’s planning on visiting this spring.

Offensive Line

Uncommitted Offers Extended: 11

Expected Class Size: 2-3

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: OR 3-star Devin Brooks (3.14), CA 4-star Paki Finau (2.64), HI 4-star Preston Taumua (2.51)

Washington took a massive class along the OL last year bringing in 5 prep recruits. Somehow though they only have one senior on the roster next year with Matteo Mele. It wouldn’t be a shock though to see tackles Troy Fautanu and/or Roger Rosengarten declare early for the draft so it’s still probably safe to assume the Huskies look to add at least 2 here.

The most likely name on the board is 6’4, 290 lb interior lineman Devin Brooks who has already cut down to a final 3 of USC, Oregon, and Washington. That’s obviously not an easy list to beat but it helps that Brooks has scheduled his official visit to UW and has a planned commitment date which if he sticks to it would give the Husky coaching staff the last impression.

The other prime candidate is 6’4, 265 lb Paki Finau who visited in January and may also get back on campus this spring. He has set an official visit to Arizona and is working on one to UW so Washington appears to be in a good spot right now. We’ll see on the other name listed above, Preston Taumua.

Once again it appears Washington is struggling with the in-state options on the offensive line. High 4-star Isendre “Papa” Ahfua out of O’Dea has shown no indication he has any interest in UW whatsoever and appears likely to head to the Southeast. It’s always tough to call Vancouver area players as in-state since they’re closer to Oregon than to UW. But the other technically WA 4-star, Fox Crader, committed to Oregon several months ago and appears set despite the recent position coach change in Eugene.

Top-Ten Likelihood Scores on Offense (as of right now)

1. RB Jason Brown (3.41)*
2. WR Kory Hall (3.29)
3. OL Devin Brooks (3.14)
4. TE Decker DeGraaf (2.91)
5. WR Dillon Gresham (2.75)
6. OL Paki Finau (2.64)
7. WR Kwazi Gilmer (2.61)
8. RB Unterrio Latin-Henley (2.55)*
9. OL Preston Taumua (2.51)
10. OL Connor Bachhuber (2.37)

*read the RB section above for the context on the asterisks

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We’ll return tomorrow to focus on the defensive side of the ball.