During a bye week, all University of Washington football players get a few more days off from the grind, injured players recover and don’t hit anyone, and freshmen limited to scout team duty suddenly get a chance to get into the draft again.

With that in mind, freshman offensive guard Paki Finau appeared to benefit from this break more than other young players moving up the depth chart. At least the 6-foot-1, 300-pound new recruit (who is 30 pounds heavier since arriving in January) drew outside applause from offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll.

“Paki Finau had a great week of training,” Carroll said. “Looks like it’s getting closer.”

Finau is one of 19 true freshman players to join the Huskies in this, the first year of Jedd Fisch’s coaching staff. He appeared at the end of three UW games, giving him another look to use before crossing the redshirt threshold.

The most important thing for him was changing his body shape to compete with the Big Ten’s best. And once he puts on the additional padding, he has to learn from the strength and conditioning team how to move nimbly and athletically as such a big person.

“He was really light when he came in the spring as a freshman,” said sophomore Landen Hatchett, a Husky guard and center. “He did a really good job of getting his body right. He was a natural.”

Finau is one of 19 UW freshman scholarship players joining the program this year and one of 10 to receive playing time so far. which is typical; About half of the players are playing right away, with a handful getting meaningful minutes.

From that group, five players appeared in every game in linebacker Khmori House, quarterback Demond Williams Jr., running back Adam Mohammed, tight end Decker DeGraaf and safety Peyton Waters.

HOW HUSKY FRESHMEN DID IT
David Boyajyanoverextension	No games were played due to redshirt
Rahshawn Clark, S.	Played in 1 game as a redshirt
Charlie Crowell, TE	Injured, missing for season, medical redshirt
Decker DeGraaf, TE	Played all 7 matches, 1 start
Pakistan FinauOG	I played in 3 games, I still have a redshirt
Audric HarrisW.R.	Played in 4 games with maximum redshirt
House of KhmoriLB	Played in all 7 matches, 2 starts
Justin Hylkemaoverextension	No games were played due to redshirt
Elias JohnsonC.B.	No games were played due to redshirt
Omar KhanCE	No games were played due to redshirt
Paul Mencke Jr. S.	No games were played due to redshirt
Adam MuhammadR.B.	Played as a substitute in all 7 matches
Jason Robinson Jr.S.	No games were played due to redshirt
Jordan WashingtonR.B.	No games were played due to redshirt
Peyton WatersS.	Played in 7 games as a special teams player
Michael Levelle WatkinsOG	No games were played due to redshirt
Demond Williams Jr.QB	Played as a substitute in all 7 matches
Justice WilliamsW.R.	He did not play a game as a redshirt player, he was injured
Rahim WrightII, S.	Played in 1 game as a redshirt

House is the only one to receive a starting job in the Apple Cup, handling game-opening duties against Washington State and Michigan.

Other players who made breakthroughs in the first year included Williams, who completed 26 of 33 passes with extreme accuracy for 242 yards and 2 touchdowns; Muhammad rushed 19 times for 131 yards; and DeGraaf has 8 catches for 138 yards and 2 scores; one of which comes in DeGraaf’s first UW game.

Realistically, the plan is to give as many freshmen a taste of Husky football as possible at this beginning stage of their college careers, and then get everyone into more serious competition next spring football.

That is, after the Huskies have a bye week in mid-November and deal with more draft picks.

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