Two years ago, the University of Washington football team was forced to use players, veterans even, who hadn't really started before or certainly not much at all. Names like Enokk Vimahi, Gaard Memmelaar, Max McCree and Jacob Bandes come to mind. Last season, the Huskies turned to a host of newcomers and made them get their feet wet right away as first-teamers in true freshmen John Mills, Dezmen Roebuck, Raiden Vines-Bright, Dylan Robinson and others. While more freshmen have forced their way into the lineup for the coming 2026 football campaign, Jedd Fisch's roster now basically provides him and his coaching staff with an experienced crew to work with -- 31 different players have been starters in Montlake or somewhere else across the college landscape.That's 15 on offense, 16 on defense. Collectively, they've taken the field for 391 starting assignments, with 223 coming on defense. Playing for the UW alone, these players bring 187 starts to the season at hand. No deer-in-the-headlight Huskies this season. — Washington Football (@UW_Football) July 24, 2026The players with the most starts are all one-time transfers topped by senior safety Alex McLaughlin with 36, with 23 coming from Northern Arizona, and senior linebacker Jacob Manu with 32, 27 of which happened at Arizona.Add senior offensive tackle Drew Azzopardi with 30 starts, with 24 coming at the UW after arriving from San Diego State, and junior linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah with 24, 21 of them coming at Washington State.While Fisch's Arizona connection to this team is quickly winding down, the Huskies still have three Tucson transplants adding starts to their totals in senior edge rusher Isaiah Ward, who has 19 career starts, including 11 with the Wildcats; junior cornerback Manny Karnley, who joined the UW with 10 starts at Virginia and 6 at Arizona, and Manu. Of their time Power 4 accrued starts elsewhere, UW players bring a collective 50 from current Big 12 teams, with senior linebacker Xe'ree Alexander's logging 6 starts at UCF; 5 from the SEC, all by sophomore defensive tackle Kai McClendon; and Karnley's 10 in the ACC.HUSKIES AS PRIOR STARTERSSTARTSOFFENSE(168)TE -- Decker DeGraafUW 16TE -- Kade EldridgeUW 1, USC 1OT -- Drew Azzopardi UW 24, San Diego State 6OT -- Kolt Dieterich Sam Houston State 19OT -- Soane FaasoloUW 4OG -- John MillsUW 11OG -- Geirean Hatchett UW 17, Oklahoma 1C -- Landen HatchettUW 15WR -- Dezmen RoebuckUW 10WR -- Rashid Williams UW 3WR -- Christian Moss Kennesaw State 18QB -- Demond Williams Jr. UW 15QB -- Elijah Brown Stanford 3RB -- Jayden Limar Oregon 3RB -- Trey Cooley Louisville 1DEFENSE(223)ER -- Jacob Lane UW 13ER -- Isaiah Ward UW 8, Arizona 11ER -- Logan GeorgeIdaho State 12DT -- Elinneus Davis UW 10DT -- Darin Conley Ball State 12DT -- DeSean Watts Sacramento State 11DT -- Kai McClendonMississippi State 5LB -- Jacob ManuUW 5, Arizona 27LB -- Xe'ree AlexanderUW 5, UCF 7, Idaho 6LB -- Buddah Al-Uqdah UW 3, Washington State 21LB -- Zaydrius Rainey-SaleUW 2CB -- Manny KarnleyVirginia 10, Arizona 6CB -- Dylan Robinson UW 5S -- Alex McLaughlin UW 13, Northern Arizona 23S -- Rylon Dillard-Allen UW 3NB -- Rahshawn Clark UW 5The Huskies also have mined the Big Sky Conference for players with 52 starts at the FCS level in senior edge rusher Logan George's 12 at Idaho State, Alexander's 6 at Idaho, sophomore defensive tackle DeSean Watts' 11 at Sacramento State and McLaughlin's time served at Northern Arizona. As he stated at Big Ten Media Days, Fisch is reluctant to use the transfer portal much at all going forward, preferring to recruit and develop his own players. Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow