2023 Washington Football: Assessing Richard Newton’s Impact
What will Richard Newton’s final year with Washington football look like?
This season will be running back Richard Newton’s final year with the Washington football program and it holds some uncertainty as to what his role with the team will be like in 2023.
Newton has had a rollercoaster of a journey while with the Huskies. He was a three-star recruit in 2018 out of Palmdale, California who redshirted his first year and ultimately became the primary backup to Salvon Ahmed in 2019, rushing for 498 yards (4.3 average) and 10 TD.
It was a great debut to a promising career that fell off track due to two challenging seasons under Jimmy Lake. With the 2020 season already impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Newton saw limited action and only played in two of the four games, raising questions about his relationship with Lake.
2021 got off to a better start for Newton before he suffered a torn knee ligament in game 4 that sidelined him for the rest of the season.
Despite a clean slate in 2022, Newton found himself struggling to make a significant impact in the midst of a crowded running back room. He managed to see action in 10 games for Washington football but was held to only 213 yards and one touchdown.
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Newton will be the veteran of the group this season but the amount of action he will see is unknown. Transfers Dillon Johnson (Mississippi State) and Daniyel Ngata (Arizona State) will likely see more carries than Newton as well as returning redshirt junior Cameron Davis.
Even if doesn’t get a lot of carries, Newton is still highly valuable in the experience he offers.