Washington has another preseason honor to point to as summer camp gets rolling, with junior quarterback Demond Williams Jr. landing on the Maxwell Award watchlist.
The Maxwell Award goes to the best all-around college player in the country and has been around since 1937. Williams is one of 27 juniors on the list and one of 17 Big Ten players included, the most of any conference.
For Washington, the recognition adds to the buzz around a team that enters the 2026-27 season with plenty of attention on Jedd Fisch. The Huskies are in the third year of Fisch’s tenure, and the program is carrying the kind of expectations that come with his track record. Washington went 6-7 in Fisch’s first season and improved to 9-4 last year after he was brought in following the departure of Kalen DeBoer to Alabama and the roster drain that hit the Huskies after their championship runner-up run.
Fisch was also named to the preseason watchlist for the Dodd Trophy, another sign of the spotlight on him and the program.
Williams is a big reason the Huskies are drawing so much interest. He’s coming off his first full season as the starter and put together a strong stat line: 69.5% completions, 3,065 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also ran for 611 yards and six scores on 143 carries.
His 3,676 total yards led the Big Ten, and he picked up Big Ten all-honorable mention recognition for it.
The good news for Williams is that he should have plenty of familiar pieces around him. Washington returns all of its offensive line starters except for five-star Class of 2026 recruit Kodi Greene, who is projected to play left tackle. The quarterback will also have two key targets back in the fold, with starting slot receiver Dezmen Roebuck and starting tight end Decker DeGraaf both returning after being among his top options in the spring.
In Other News...
Indiana Sits In A Nebraska Stretch That Could Define The Big Ten Race
Nebraskas 2026 football calendar is the kind that can shape a season before fall really settles in, and for Washington fans the middle of that stretch deserves a close look. The Cornhuskers are projected to open with Ohio, Bowling Green and North Dakota before moving into a run that also includes Michigan State, Maryland, Indiana, Oregon, Washington, Ohio State, Illinois and Iowa, a lineup that asks a lot from a team trying to stay in the Big Ten conversation. Under Matt Rhule, Nebraska has shown enough progress to make people wonder whether the program is finally ready to compete with the leagues upper tier.
The concern is familiar, though, because Nebraska has too often paired promising nonconference starts with an early stumble once Big Ten play begins. Indiana lands in the middle of that pressure point, the sort of game that can either steady the Huskers before the schedule gets heavier or leave them scrambling to keep pace in a crowded race. From Washingtons side, the trip to Seattle sits inside a stretch that could say plenty about where Nebraska really stands, and whether Rhules team is ready to turn its early momentum into something more durable. [Read more 🡒]
Jedd Fisch Just Set The Tone For Washingtons Biggest Camp Battles
Jedd Fisch met with the media ahead of Washingtons third fall camp under his leadership and used the moment to frame what the next few weeks will look like. He touched on the Huskies injury situation, laid out how practice will be structured and offered a look at how the offensive and defensive groups will be organized as camp gets rolling.
There are already a few familiar camp wrinkles to monitor, especially with several players expected to spend the start of camp rehabbing. Fisch also pointed to the work of his coaching staff and said hes encouraged by where the program is heading, but the most interesting part of these early days is how the depth chart starts to take shape when the Huskies begin sorting out the first-team reps. [Read more 🡒]