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Washington football: Could Odunze earn a starting spot?

By Roman Tomashoff

Oct 19, 2019; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington Huskies head coach Chris Peterson walks the sidelines against the Oregon Ducks during the second half at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 19, 2019; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington Huskies head coach Chris Peterson walks the sidelines against the Oregon Ducks during the second half at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports /
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Could Washington football’s exciting, uber-athletic true freshman earn a starting role as a true freshman?

Washington football pulled in arguably their best recruiting class ever in terms of talent at the wide receiver position in the 2020 recruiting cycle. Top 50 overall player Jalen McMillan, three-star Sawyer Racanelli, and four-star Rome Odunze. While all three will be impact players during their time with the Huskies, it looks like Odunze might have the first opportunity to get on the field.

With media availability very limited, we have to go off of what we’re seeing on social media, and for the last week and a half or so it looks like Odunze has been getting snaps with the first-team offense. On Thursday, Washington released a video of Elijah Molden picking off a Kevin Thomson pass in the end zone that was intended for Odunze. And if those two are going head to head in practice, it’s more than likely that he’s running with the starters.

So what put Odunze on the fast track to running with the ones? He’s physically ready to perform at the college level. He came into school at 6’3, 205 pounds, with some eye-popping numbers for a player of his size. He ran a 4.55 40-yard dash, a four-second shuttle time, along with nearly a 34-inch vertical jump.

McMillan isn’t far behind with most of his numbers, but at 185 pounds, it might take him a little bit longer to find a healthy playing weight at the faster, harder-hitting college level.

With a free year of eligibility, getting both Odunze and McMillan as many snaps as possible is a great idea for wide receivers coach Junior Adams. These players are going to be a staple of the Husky offense over the next 3-5 years, and getting them on the field early to make sure they’re ready when five-star quarterback Sam Huard takes over at the helm is very important to the future of the offense.

Odunze is going to be a huge piece of that offense, as a downfield threat who can run a complete route tree, and be one of the best receivers in the country.

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