With Kalen DeBoer set to head to Alabama, some key dominoes have fallen in love with the University of Washington football program, including the program's projected 2024 quarterback and its top recruit.
Will Rogers, who transferred to Mississippi State, joined a growing list of players attempting to leave the program after DeBoer left just weeks after joining the team.
Rogers is the SEC's career leader in completions with 1,301 in his four seasons with the Bulldogs and set a conference single-season record with 505 completions in 2021. His 12,315 passing yards are the second-most in conference history, and his 94 passing touchdowns ranked him fourth all-time among SEC quarterbacks.
He was expected to follow in Michael Penix Jr.'s footsteps as the team's starting quarterback in 2024, but has entered the transfer portal, according to Pete Nakos from On3 Sports and Max Olson from The Athletic.
Nakos also reported that linebacker Ethan Barr also entered the portal. Barr played the last four seasons at Vanderbilt and finished 2023 with 55 tackles. He committed to UW on Dec. 16, but appears to be headed for departure less than a month later.
Several other players also decided to leave UW following DeBoer's departure. Top UW recruit Zaydrius Rainey-Sale has decided to retire from the program as a four-star linebacker announced Friday that he was reopening his recruitment just four days after announcing he would be joining the UW program.
Rainey-Sale, a junior at Bethel High School in Spanaway, is the top-ranked player in the Class of 2025 in the state according to 247sports.com and is ranked as the No. 79 prospect in the country.
He announced his commitment to UW on Monday, the day UW lost the national title game to Michigan, but changed his mind when DeBoer's news broke.
“Given the uncertainty surrounding the UW football program, I have decided to decommit and resume my recruitment. Please respect my decision,” Rainey-Sale said on X.
Defensive back Mischael Powell and cornerback Jabbar Muhammad According to Chris Hummer of 247sports, both have also entered the transfer portal.
What you should know: DeBoer is leaving UW for Alabama
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Powell and Muhammad have been key members of the UW defense this season. They finished the year with 38 and 46 tackles, respectively, and both finished the year with a team-high three interceptions.
Powell joined the Huskies in 2019 from O'Dea High School. He didn't see any game action his freshman or sophomore year, but became an important part of the team's secondary in 2021. Last season, he moved to the Husky position and was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after returning an 89-yard pick-six against Arizona State.
Muhammad will be attending his third college program after transferring from Oklahoma State to the UW at the end of 2022. Muhammad finished second in the Pac-12 with 20 passes defensed and was named to the All-Pac-12 second team. Muhammad was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week and Bednarik Award Player of the Week after throwing two interceptions, one fumble recovery and four pass interceptions in UW's 22-20 late-season win over No. 10 Oregon State -breakups.
Some Washington players decided to speak out on social media with the linebacker about the DeBoer situation and the fallout from it Zion Tupuola wallet Proverb on X: “Sometimes we need to be reminded that everything is a business…”.
Left tackle Troy Fautanu, who declared for the NFL draft earlier this week, also commented on the social media site: “I'm sick for the boys, man.”
Linebacker Carson Bruener kept his reaction to the news simple, saying, “Wow…just wow.”