“Winning Spring” has often been about making it through healthy. Additionally, developing a defense that can get off the field on 3rd down would feel like a win this year for the Washington Huskies.
Conversely, UW has a two in Jonah Coleman and Adam Mohammad who keep the chains moving offensively.
Then there’s Washington’s Jordan Washington from Long Beach Jordan, south of Los Angeles. He has turned expectant eyes with flashes of his speed in Week 1. Day 1 in Week 2, there was a similar flash, except that this time it went through a hole provided by tackle Drew Azzopardi, Washington was gone in a flash on a 60-yard+ TD run.
Listed at 5-11 and 185-pounds, he showed off his game-changing speed he was known for in high school.
“He’s the old ‘football player who runs track or a track runner who plays football’,” marveled RealDawg’s Trevor Mueller. “In the open field he’s John Ross-fast, in tight spaces he’s Jaydon Mickens-shifty.”
Or as Husky head coach Jedd Fisch said after practice, “he’s pretty elite.”
“He seems to know when to stick his foot in the ground to make guys whiff, or when to shift gears and make miss,” Mueller noted. “He knows how and when to use his speed when players appear to have an angle on him, he still has an extra gear to beat defenders to the pylon.”
At LBJHS he finished second in the state in the 100 meters with what wasn’t close to his best run at 10.44 seconds. His personal best was a 10.24 which he ran twice in 2023.
However, he also had track size when he arrived on Montlake last year, at 157 pounds.
Even as a 4-star running back in high school he seemed a bit under the radar given his productivity as he dealt with injuries his senior season.
He briefly enrolled at Arizona before following Fisch and running backs coach Scottie Graham to Seattle.
So, whole the Washington Husky defense has clearly made strides this spring, perhaps bigger than the offense, sometimes the offense seems to win the day—on one play.
Tuesday, the speed back helped make the case for the offense.
Last season he touched the ball 3 times in two games for 7 yards, making him eligible to become a red shirt freshman—but also not showing what he was capable of.
Finally fully healthy and up to a good football playing weight of 185, the speedster is making the best of his opportunities. The extra reps are the luxury of having one of the nation’s top returning running backs in Jonah Coleman sitting out to protect him.
“In high school he was a threat to score from either 1 yard line or any of the other 97 yards in between,” said RealDawg’s Trevor Mueller. “He had 18 total TDs his senior year—11 being on the ground. He averaged 12 yards a carry his junior and senior years.”
On the 60-yard score Tuesday, despite adding over 30 pounds, he was able to accelerate away from defenders and race untouched to the end zone—where he held up his index and middle finger as in “peace out” like Kansas City Chiefs speedster Tyreek Hill.
Here’s more on his “melt your face” speed broken down by Bruce Matson:
