Saturday evening’s matchup with Oregon was a wakeup call that showed the gap that Washington must close to get back into the national championship conversation. The Huskies were beat up physically on both sides of the line of scrimmage all evening giving up 10 sacks and 16 tackles for loss all while failing to accumulate one for themselves.

True freshmen Demond Williams showed flashes of brilliance over the course of the contest in his first start of his career. He was harassed all evening with defenders getting into the backfield virtually unblocked. Despite the issues up front Williams found ways to attack the Ducks through the air and with his legs.

All he needs is time.

Time to develop rapport with players like Jonah Coleman and Denzel Boston as well as the younger backs and receivers and transfers who will be here in spring. None of this will translate to big wins without time in the pocket.

Washington projects to bring back most of the names on the line we saw in 2024 with the exceptions D’Angelo Titialii and Gaard Memmelaar departing due to graduation. The rest are back, but after the performances against the top D-lines in the conference no job is safe.

This patchwork O-line will be better just by the sheer fact that they will be here to develop throughout the off-season. Landen Hatchett should end up at guard or center in 2025 now that he will have an off-season where he can develop instead of rehab a knee injury.

Freshmen Soane Faasolo and Kahlee Tafai were forced onto the field due to lack of depth and injury ahead of them. Development for these two will be huge in solidifying the line going into 2025. Another young name is Paki Finau who has all the tools to be an anchor on future lines who has developed over his redshirt year and could contribute as early as next year.

The question marks are at the two starting tackle positions in Maximus McCree and Drew Azzopari. At times they looked the part, but inconsistencies and injury left a lot to be desired from the two most important positions on the line. They will have an offseason to develop, but no job is safe.

The line could be totally overhauled with players brought in to compete for jobs in the portal and there is some big bodies coming in the high school class, but competition and an influx of talent will make Demond Williams’ 2025 more comfortable than his first start as a Husky.