The race for Jalanie George is getting tighter, and Wisconsin is now trying to wedge itself into a recruiting battle the Washington Huskies had seemed to be leading for weeks.
George, a blue-chip edge rusher from Desert Edge High School, remains one of Washington’s top targets in the Class of 2028. The Huskies have also made a major push for another elite prospect in that group, Top 15 national offensive tackle Antijuan Wilkes Jr., as Jedd Fisch’s staff keeps building early momentum with future classes.
For Washington, the recruiting track record under Fisch has already started to show up on the field. The 2026 class has produced a number of true freshmen who have contributed through the first two weeks of the regular season, and the 2027 class is currently ranked 24th by 247Sports.
George’s recruitment, though, has drawn fresh attention from a Big Ten program that is still trying to make a late move. According to Rivals.com reporter Brandon Huffman, Wisconsin reportedly "gave it their best shot" during George’s official visit while the Badgers were beating Western Illinois 36-9 on Sept. 12.
Wisconsin was not included in George’s Top Six, but the five-star recruit still came away calling the visit "really great" and had praise for the coaching staff.
The Badgers also have something working in their favor: familiarity. Junior linebacker Jon Jon Kamara is already on Wisconsin’s roster, while Class of 2027 commitments Nathan Jones, a linebacker, and Yahzeen Zion, a defensive lineman, are also tied to the program.
Washington has its own connections in the 2027 class, with four-star quarterback Blake Roskopf and three-star wide receiver Zerek Sidney committed to the Huskies.
George’s Top Six is made up of Washington, Florida, Auburn, Miami, Ohio State and Oklahoma.
In Other News...
Washington Gets One Last Chance To Sharpen Up Before Big Ten Play
Before Washington dives into Big Ten play, it gets one more tune-up at Husky Stadium on Saturday afternoon against Eastern Washington. Kickoff is set for 4:15 p.m. PT, with the game on the Big Ten Network and radio coverage spread across multiple stations and platforms, giving the Huskies one last chance to clean up the details in front of their home crowd.
The timing matters, because Washington enters the weekend in the national conversation and still has a little room to sharpen things before the schedule tightens. It has handled Eastern Washington in all three previous meetings, but this one is less about history than about carrying momentum into conference play without leaving any loose ends behind. [Read more 🡒]
Washington Keeps Getting Chances But One Offensive Problem Still Lingers
Washington keeps finding ways to put itself in position to swing momentum, and the defensive side has done its part by creating extra chances. Jedd Fisch pointed to an offense that still has room to grow, with the line and run game lagging behind the rest of the operation, while also noting that those issues are fixable even if the turnaround will not happen overnight.
The bigger concern is what Washington has done with all those opportunities. The Huskies have been strong enough defensively to create turnovers, but the offense has not consistently turned those takeaways into the kind of points that separate good teams from dangerous ones. Demond Williams continues to give the program a meaningful rushing element, joining an elite group of UW quarterbacks to top 1,000 career rushing yards, but the next step is turning those flashes into something more reliable when the game opens up in front of them. [Read more 🡒]
Washington Just Added A Veteran Guard With A Chance To Matter Fast
Washington added another experienced piece to its backcourt with the signing of transfer guard Tayshawn Comer for the 2026-27 season, a move Danny Sprinkle announced as the Huskies continue shaping their future roster. Comer arrives with stops at Nevada, Eastern Kentucky and Evansville, bringing the kind of mileage and maturity that can matter for a program trying to keep its guard play steady and its locker room grounded.
Sprinkle pointed to Comers defense, leadership and ability to create offense as the traits that make him a useful fit in Montlake, especially for a team that values guards who can handle more than one job. The next question is how quickly that experience translates once he gets into Washingtons system, because the Huskies are clearly betting that his presence will be felt sooner rather than later. [Read more 🡒]