The Washington Huskies have one of the nation’s top quarterbacks entering the 2026 season in Demond Williams Jr., and before spring practice, ESPN’s Bill Connelly ranked him as the nation’s No. 20 signal-caller in the spring’s pre-quarterback rankings.
In his first full season as a starter, he completed 69.5 percent of his passes for 3,065 yards and 25 touchdowns, throwing eight interceptions along the way while adding 611 yards and six scores, flashing high-end potential in a Jedd Fish offense that allowed him to frequently exploit his athleticism by taking him out of the pocket and giving him the opportunity to use both his arms and legs.
advertise
“Williams showed tremendous promise as a first-year starter in 2025 and has two tasks to accomplish more in 2026,” Connelly wrote.
“First, he has to earn his way back into the transfer portal after following ‘very bad advice’ and briefly entered the transfer portal. Second, he has to figure out how to improve his game against strong defenses. His overall numbers were excellent (UW averaged 45.1 points per game in nine wins), but last fall against the four best defenses he faced — Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Oregon — the Huskies offense averaged a horrific 9.3 points per game and went 0-4. Negative. It’s time to learn some new tricks.”
In his first press conference since flirting with the transfer portal, Williams said he also knows what he needs to do to make those improvements as he looks to be more consistent in his third season with Montlake.
advertise
“Trying to find ways to keep playing at a high level throughout the season,” Williams said in February when asked to reflect on his 2025 season. “There’s definitely going to be a lot of learning curve, going through some tough games, being able to come back next week and react and figure out how to make quick adjustments every week and continue to learn how to prepare.”
That ranking actually makes Williams the No. 1 top-10 quarterback on Connelly’s list, behind only USC’s Jaden Maiava, Oregon’s Dante Moore, Indiana’s Josh Hoover and Michigan’s Bryce Underwood.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: ESPN ranks Demond Williams Jr. among top 20 quarterbacks nationally in 2026
