Will Rogers proved on road vs. Rutgers that the Washington Huskies can trust him

There’s been this odd trend with the Washington Huskies early on this season. For one reason or another, it feels like the Huskies haven’t fully turned the offense over to Will Rogers despite the incredible amount of valuable experience that he’s brought with him to Seattle. And for one reason or another, the Huskies have been turning to Demond Williams, a remarkably talented young quarterback, at sporadic times.

While it’s great to see Williams get valuable playing time, the decision to swap quarterbacks in the midst of a drive has on a couple of frustrating occasions proven to be an issue. The Huskies have seen drives stall and the offense have hiccups with this quarterback swap process.

It also has felt like the Huskies haven’t turned to Rogers’ strengths and allowed him to thrive in this offense on a consistent basis. But that wasn’t the case late in the game on the road against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights this past Friday.

Even though Washington lost a very winnable game, the Huskies actually found a rhythm late in the game on offense. And, from the outside looking in, it really looks like Rogers has done enough to prove he should be trusted with the entirety of this offense.

Will Rogers looked great vs. Rutgers and showed some fascinating potential in Washington Huskies’ offense

Rogers isn’t necessarily a natural fit with everything that Brennan Carroll and Jedd Fisch want to do offensively, but late in the game on the road against a solid Rutgers defense, Rogers did more than enough to showcase his accuracy and poise.

Throughout the game, Rogers completed 26 of his 36 pass attempts and managed to throw for 306 yards and two touchdowns. He did well to routinely connect with Denzel Boston when he needed a huge catch. And though Rogers started slow, it really seemed like the offense in total had no rhythm or discernable plan to entrust the game to the 5th-year transfer quarterback from the SEC.

Hopefully that changes moving forward. Rogers and Boston were thrilling to watch in the hurry up offense that Washington utilized late in the game and the seasoned quarterback actually did well to spread the ball around the field (especially in mid-range passes). 

Rogers’ play in this game should offer some hope for Husky fans who have been reluctant to trust him. Up to this point in the season, Rogers has really been solid for the Huskies and it seems like he deserves more credit than he’s received. 

Throughout the season up to this point, Rogers has completed 110 of his 147 pass attempts (good for a 74.8 completion percentage) for 1,354 yards (270.8 yards per game) and 10 touchdowns against zero interceptions. In adjusted yards gained per pass attempt, Rogers is averaging 9.2 yards. 

It’s difficult being the guy that follows someone as explosive as Michael Penix Jr., but Rogers has done well so far. 

He’s been solid. Now it would be nice for the Huskies to put the game in his hands more consistently moving forward. If Washington is going to have a chance at making it to a bowl this year, Rogers will need to continue to play at a high level. There’s no real reason to doubt that up to this point. Maybe that changes, maybe it won’t.

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