“Sam’s got a chance to be a great player,” said offensive coordinator John Donovan after Saturday’s practice. “He made some great plays today, and hopefully he shows up tomorrow and does it again.” The former five-star quarterback showed off his impressive deep ball on multiple occasions today, hitting both Terrell Bynum and Sawyer Racanelli for touchdowns during 11 on 11 drills. He also hit Michigan transfer, Giles Jackson, for a 20 yard gain down the sidelines where Jackson made a spectacular contested catch.

While Huard made the most impressive throws of the day, one of the most interesting things of note came when the receivers were working on specific concepts with the quarterbacks. It seems that Donovan is starting to implement more intermediate and deep routes in the passing game, and we should see his full offense this fall now that he’s had a regular offseason to install it.

Standouts

“In two days after having not done much, he kinda popped,” Donovan said of running back Sam Adams II, who also broke off a few big runs during practice. “He’s got some twitch to him, and he was a real pleasant surprise.” Adams earned his reps on day two and definitely flashed. He’ll be a name to watch going forward, assuming he continues to get consistent carries.

Unsurprisingly, Trent McDuffie looked like the best player on the field. He picked off two passes, one from Dylan Morris, and another from Patrick O’Brien. McDuffie has been arguably the most consistent player on the team over the past few seasons, and looks like he could end up being Washington’s best overall player this fall, along with a first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

The defensive line as a whole looked like it was starting to get some more pressure on the quarterback, and in some different looks too. They showed quite a few looks with three down linemen, which signifies that defensive coordinator Bob Gregory might be transitioning to a base 3-4 on some downs in order to stop the run. With a lot of talented players along the front, if they can get pressure on this Husky offensive line, the rest of the Pac-12 is going to be in trouble this fall.

Dylan Morris spoke very highly of redshirt freshmen receivers Jalen McMillan and Rome Odunze. He said both guys are getting much more comfortable in the offense, and are picking things up very quickly as they get older. Morris said he built a lot of chemistry with both guys during the summer, throwing three times a week, watching film, and helping both players get to their 10,000 catch goal that every wide receiver had this summer.