Mid-May 2024 Offense Recruiting Board Update

It has been a little over 2 months since I put out the initial version of my recruiting board for the class of 2024. The basis for those pieces was a formula I put together (like I am known to do) that tries to assess which prospects are more likely than others to commit to the Huskies. If you want to look back at those first forays you can find the offense here and the defense here.

Since that time there has only been one new addition to the class when 4-star offensive lineman Paki Finau verbally committed. At the time, Finau was #3 on my list. It’s not a perfect system but it’s a good way to take into account the player’s rating, how close they are to Seattle, whether Washington has made or missed a cut to their top schools, how often they’ve visited the campus, and if the recruiting experts have put in a crystal ball predicting their final location.

It’s far from a perfect system but it’s a reasonable way to look at things for those of us without a group recruiting chat with the coaching staff. Players who have a higher total would generally be more likely to commit than those with a lower total if the coaches were to really press for their signature. One thing though I don’t take into account is what this score would look like for another school going through the same exercise. So maybe that 4-star out of Los Angeles has been up to campus and has UW in their top-5 but they’ve been to USC 4 times and the hometown school is viewed as the favorite. But a high score here at the very least demonstrates clear reciprocal interest. Here’s a rough guide:

— 4.0+ Recruit has been on campus frequently in 2023 and Washington likely in their top couple choices if not the favorite

— 3.0-4.0 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: WA 3-star E.J Caminong

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: CA 3-star Dermaricus Davis (2.10), CA 3-star Maealiuaki Smith (1.76), CA 4-star Elijah Brown (1.28)

At one point 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 presumably 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.

Right now I think the most likely scenario is that Washington only signs Caminong in this class. But he has continued to report new offers and doesn’t appear 100% locked in which means Washington is still evaluating backup plans especially after the Kienholz recruitment last year. They recently offered Dermaricus Davis who is unrated in the composite but has offers from Arizona and Utah plus an official visit set in a few weeks to Oregon State. It’s worth monitoring but I’m expecting that to be more of a plan B if things go south with Caminong.

Running Back

Uncommitted Offers Extended: 8

Expected Class Size: 1-2

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: WA 5-star Jason Brown (2.42), CA 3-star Anthony McMillan (1.98), CA 3-star Cincere Rhaney (1.94)

Since the last update we saw Aaron Dumas enter the transfer portal but even with that it’s still a very busy depth chart for UW. Only Richard Newton is scheduled to graduate following 2023 and I could see almost any ordering between spots 3-7 on the depth chart. The Huskies won’t be relying on any of the freshmen in this class come 2024 because Cam Davis, Dillon Johnson, and Daniyel Ngata will all be seniors but they’ll likely need to have ready talent come 2025.

There hasn’t been a lot of traction so far with the running backs in this class. The local stud is Jason Brown who so far has only scheduled an official visit with Michigan State. It just doesn’t feel though like the new coaching staff is as high on him as the recruiting analysts. If things don’t pick up with Brown then it’s not clear who the next priority will be. There was buzz about Nate Frazier but he did the SEC circuit this spring and it wouldn’t be shocking at this point to see him plucked from California by Tennessee, Alabama, or Georgia.

With no running backs scheduled to take an official visit in June it adds extra uncertainty around the staff’s priorities. The newest offer out has been to San Diego’s Anthony McMillan who only has P5 offers from Arizona and Colorado. From a competition standpoint he seems like the easiest get but we’ll see when/if he makes it up to campus.

Wide Receiver

Uncommitted Offers Extended: 19

Expected Class Size: 3-4

Current Commits: NV 3-star Landon Bell

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: CA 4-star Kwazi Gilmer (4.76), CA 3-star Justice Williams (2.87), CA 4-star Emmitt Mosley (2.61)

Technically the Huskies will only have one WR run out of eligibility this fall, Giles Jackson. However the expectation is that both Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan will declare early for the draft after having considered doing so this past December. They did also lose Taj Davis to the portal this spring so we could see 4 new receivers. One spot 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 but there are at least 2 more spots for prep recruits.

At the moment it looks like Washington will try to fill out the rest of their WR class from the state of California. The top-10 formula scores among uncommitted receivers all hail from that state. Atop the list is Kwazi Gilmer who seems like the best chance at an instant impact guy. He has included the Huskies in his top-6, has taken a pair of unofficial visits in 2023 so far, and has an official scheduled for June 16th. His other visits are booked with Cal, Michigan State, Stanford, and UCLA so legitimate competition but the Huskies aren’t battling Ohio State, USC, and Oregon. Jamarcus Shephard has a good chance to close this one.

The other two receivers with official visits scheduled for June are Justice Williams and Emmitt Mosley. The 6’4 Williams isn’t rated in the composite yet but has good bloodlines with a dad who played tight end in the NFL and has a solid 87 rating from 247 Sports. Oregon has come in this week with a late offer but otherwise UW has the most cachet for receivers among the rest of the group of offers (Michigan State, Utah, Syracuse) and they’re his only scheduled visit. If the Huskies press for a commitment they’ll likely get one. His body type is pretty identical to Denzel Boston who made major strides this spring for Washington.

Mosley is a newer name as UW only had an offer to him reported as of last week but instantly booked an official visit from him along with Stanford and UCLA. Both parents went to Notre Dame (where his mom was a national player of the year in soccer and his dad played football) but they don’t appear to be involved heavily which is good news for Washington. Greg Biggins noted that UW “has probably had the most buzz with Mosley” and he’d be a major addition for the Dawgs.

Washington also made the top-5 for each of Logan Saldate, Marshel Sanders, and Aaron Butler but UW doesn’t seem all that realistic for any of them right this second. There was at one point buzz with the high 4-star Butler but he has canceled his official visit to UW and after Georgia had the momentum there are now crystal ball picks for him to both Oregon and Colorado. Meanwhile, Saldate and Sanders are likely fallback options if things fall through with the group coming on official visits as they may be higher on Washington than the other way around.

Tight End

Uncommitted Offers Extended: 6

Expected Class Size: 1-2

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: CA 3-star Decker DeGraaf (4.84), AZ 3-star Dillon Hipp (1.84), UT 4-star Roger Saleapaga (1.70)

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 between the class of 2024 and the portal in December.

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 (to USC) and one from Bellevue (to Michigan). 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 made a pair of unofficial visits to Washington and also has his only scheduled official visit at the moment to Seattle. The Dawgs appear to be the clear frontrunner and it would a bit of a shock to not get a commitment out of him when he gets on campus again the weekend of June 23rd.

Looking from the outside there doesn’t appear to be much momentum for the Huskies with any of their other targets. A relatively new offer went out to Las Vegas 4-star Elija Lofton but otherwise it seems the most likely scenario is reeling in DeGraaf and then finding a transfer to join him after the season is over unless there’s a flip involved or a new offer out.

Offensive Line

Uncommitted Offers Extended: 11

Expected Class Size: 4-5

Current Commits: CA 4-star Paki Finau

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: OR 3-star Devin Brooks (5.14), CA 3-star Ikinasio Tupou (2.91), WA 3-star Marquise Thorpe-Taylor (2.82)

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 and a pair of former 4-stars left the program this spring in Owen Prentice (retirement) and Myles Murao (transfer). Last week the Dawgs got a commitment from Paki Finau to start off the class who was one of their prime targets

The most likely name remaining 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.

Washington also is projected to get a visit from the 6’6, 287 lb Tupou out of Palo Alto. The Huskies are currently Tupou’s only scheduled official visit and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him shut it down after the weekend of June 23rd as well. Local 3-star Marquise Thorpe-Taylor has seen his recruitment take off a bit in recent months coming out of Tacoma and just took a visit to UCLA. He also has offers now from Oregon and USC among others so he’s far from a guarantee but also would make sense as an addition to the class.

Beyond that group of 4 (Finau plus the 3 others) the next likeliest option might be Preston Taumua out of Hawai’i but there’s no other linemen scheduled for an official visit right now. We may see UW try to close out the best they can with that group and move on to other options going into the fall if necessary.

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

1. OL Devin Brooks (5.14)
2. TE Decker DeGraaf (4.84)
3. WR Kwazi Gilmer (4.76)
4. OL Ikinasio Tupou (2.91)
5. WR Justice Williams (2.87)
6. OL Marquise Thorpe-Taylor (2.82)
7. WR Emmitt Mosley (2.61)
8. OL Preston Taumua (2.51)
9. RB Jason Brown (2.43)
10. WR Jaythn Long (2.16)

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We’ll return later this week to focus on the defensive side of the ball.