Davis' Return Will Bolster UW Running-Back Position

Like newly imported cars unloaded on the Seattle waterfront, the University of Washington football program has rolled out a late-model running back from the transfer portal each of the past three years in Wayne Taulapapa, Dillon Johnson and now Jonah Coleman.

These guys have come from Virginia, Mississippi State and Arizona, respectively, to carry the bulk of the rushing load for the Huskies. Their presence eventually has forced players such as Will Nixon, Aaron Dumas, Emeka Megwa, Caleb Berry and Jay'Veon Sunday -- ironically, all of them native Texans -- ultimately to go elsewhere in search of carries and yardage.

One guy who has stayed the course, by battling through all of the nonstop offensive changes while playing for four different coaches and moving closer to recovering from a season-ending injury, is Cam Davis, back for a sixth year of Husky football.

He hasn't flinched in the face of stiff competition, scoring 13 touchdowns while backing up Taulapapa in 2022 and then running ahead of Johnson last spring and fall before tearing up a knee in a scrimmage and heading for surgery.

Taulapapa, who rushed for 887 yards and scored 12 touchdowns in 2022, went on to earn All-Pac-12 honorable-mention honors while Johnson, enjoying an 1,195-yard and 16-touchdown showing last season, was selected second-team All-Pac-12.

The 6-foot, 212-pound Davis from Rancho Cucamonga, California, simply shows up and makes it a competition, going all the way back to the 2019 season when then-coach Chris Petersen gave him his Husky debut in the middle of an Oregon game and started him against Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl.

In this veteran back, new UW coach Jedd Fisch gets a locker-room leader who has helped keep players from leaving. While the new leader brought Coleman with him, he'll find that Davis should dovetail into his offensive plans quite nicely with career totals of 209 carries for 903 yards and 15 touchdowns, plus 38 receptions for 278 yards.

Coleman brings his own All-Pac-12 honorable-mention credentials with him to Montlake, but Davis has been a reliable guy throughout his stay in Montlake and will give the Huskies a needed change-up back.

With spring football beginning late Wednesday afternoon, we look at the running-back candidates, who should make for a competitive April, and, no, Richard Newton doesn't have any eligibility remaining:

Jonah Coleman -- PFF calls him one of the top 10 returning backs nationally. Last season, the 5-foot-11, 178-pound Coleman led Arizona in rushing with 128 carries for 871 yards, which included 179 on just 11 carries against Colorado and 143 on 22 against USC, and he caught 25 passes for 283 yards, scoring 6 times altogether. He had long runs of 59 against UTEP and 54 against Colorado. He played in 25 career games for the Wildcats, starting seven of them, including last season against the Huskies. He'll wear Rome Odunze's old No. 1 this season. He should be good.

Cam Davis -- At least before his injury, Davis was deceptively fast, running a 4.45 40-yard dash, continually making him the speediest back for the Huskies since Salvon Ahmed left in 2019. He broke a 42-yard run against Arizona State in the desert. He's also a fearless player, as the accompanying photo shows, with Davis somersaulting into the end zone against Colorado in 2022 to score. As always, he gives the UW a second proven back.

Tybo Rogers -- Rogers has all kinds of running-back talent, but he wasn't fully committed last season as a freshman, getting suspended in fall camp and missing the opening two games and then sitting out the Pac-12 championship game against Oregon for another misstep. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound back entered the transfer portal, but he come back. He finished his first year with the Huskies with 44 carries for 184 yards and 6 catches for 72 yards, including a 47-yard grab against California. He appears to be incorporating change, switching from No. 20 to 4 for the coming season.

Daniyel Ngata -- The 5-foot-9, 192-pound senior transferred in after three seasons at Arizona State a year ago and said he didn't expect anything to be given to him, and it wasn't. He ran the ball just 7 times for 23 yards and a touchdown against Tulsa, this after picking up 689 career yards and 6 touchdowns on 136 carries for the Sun Devils. He played in 10 of 15 UW games. The Huskies instead made him the lead kick returner for the latter half of the season.

Sam Adams II -- A big back at 6-foot-2 and 207 pounds, the once highly recruited Adams has shown he can play at this level, he just hasn't been able to make a lasting breakthrough. Appearing in 19 games, the junior has 23 carries for 63 yards and a score, and 7 catches for 51 yards and 2 touchdowns. Kalen DeBoer's staff was able to use him, but could get lost in the shuffle following yet another coaching change. He's the son and the grandson of former NFL players who also answer to Sam Adams.

Adam Mohammed -- A Fisch recruit and flip from Arizona, the 6-foot, 200-pound Mohammed is an early spring enrollee who brings impressive high school credentials with him to Montlake. He rushed 614 times for 5,180 yards and 94 touchdowns at Apollo High School in Glendale, Arizona. He could bypass some of the vets.

Ryder Bumgarner -- The 5-foot-9, 185-pound walk-on from Stanwood, Washington, redshirted during the 2023 season and will be hard-pressed to jump ahead of any of the scholarship guys.

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