The trio of Mason James, Trez Davis and Jordan Clay give the Huskies several options on offense
SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies had two true freshmen find the end zone in the team's 48-16 win against the Eastern Washington Eagles on Sept. 19.
Jordan Clay, playing in the "X" spot that was once occupied by now-NFL wide receiver Denzel Boston, snagged a back-shoulder fade. Davis ran in on a jet sweep.
Those same two receivers each had over 40 yards receiving the week before in a 16-14 win against the Utah State Aggies. In both weeks, fellow freshman Mason James was used in "gadget" type role.
The Huskies don't have the full wide receiving corps they anticipated going into this season. Sixth-year wide receiver and Kennesaw State transfer Christian Moss will be out two-to-three months with a lower-body injury he suffered in the team's Week 1 win against the Washington State Cougars.
This has allowed more reps and snaps for the trio of Washington freshmen. And the way they have been utilized to this point has led to the coaching staff not only having a deeper wide receiver room to rotate through, but more variety in what they can do on their offense.
"Unique to this year, for us as a staff, is that we are playing more wide receivers than we've ever played," Huskies coach Jedd Fisch said in a weekly news conference Monday. "We've, traditionally, been a team that's had three wideouts, played three wideouts, and then have a backup. This year, we feel like our depth has gotten to a point that there's not much separation between our wide receiver group. So it enables us to play six (wide receivers) and be able to keep guys fresh. ... We're able to get guys in and get guys out ... and I think that's the cool part about our system that's unique to this year.
" ... I think with this group, you're looking at a chance now with these six guys that, maybe one guy hits 90 (catches), maybe they don't. But we have a lot of guys that can hit 30 and 40 and 20 and 15 and 35. And if we can do that, it becomes harder and harder to defend."
Fisch mentioned the tight end duo of third-year Decker DeGraaf and second-year Baron Naone as additional contributors to the passing game that can help make the UW offense harder to defend.
Those trio of freshmen will have more opportunities to show off their abilities in Washington's Big Ten opener against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at 8 p.m. PT on Saturday at Husky Stadium in Seattle.
