Commentary: Why Will Rogers chose UW Huskies, and why he stayed after Kalen DeBoer left

Just what attracted Will Rogers to Washington?

“The numbers,” he said.

UW did, after all, lead the nation in passing yards last season after being tops in passing yards per game in 2022.

But, to clarify, it’s not those numbers that the Mississippi State transfer is referring to.

“I mean more so wins,” Rogers said with his southern drawl. “I think if you win, everything takes care of itself.”

Good luck finding a more entertaining brand of college football than what the Huskies provided over the past two seasons. This is a team that won 25 of its past 28 contests, made a run to the national championship last season and played 10 consecutive games in which the outcome was decided by 10 points or fewer.

But it wasn’t just the success and cuticle-crunching suspense that made UW so exciting. It was the when-in-doubt-air-it-out style led by Heisman Trophy runner-up quarterback Michael Penix Jr. We may never see a passing attack on Montlake so efficient again in our lifetimes, but we also might not see a significant drop-off with Rogers behind center.

In his two fully healthy seasons at Mississippi State, Rogers averaged 335 passing yards per game and threw 71 touchdowns against 17 interceptions. In those two seasons (2021 and 2022), however, the Bulldogs went 7-6 and 9-4. Not shameful by any means – especially considering they were competing in the SEC, which is probably the strongest conference in the country top to bottom. But the victories didn’t happen with a frequency on which one can build a legacy.

Enter Washington. Enter a team that stunned the nation over the past two seasons after going 4-8 in 2021. Enter a program that won three Pac-12 titles from 2016-23 and reached the College Football Playoff twice.

This was the allure for Rogers, who was limited to eight games last year due to a left-shoulder injury. And though he was initially committed to Kalen DeBoer and Ryan Grubb, the head coach/offensive coordinator combo that has since departed, the program’s recent history was enough to keep him in purple and gold.

“When everything went down and I had a chance to meet with coach [Jedd] Fisch, his experience in the NFL really attracted me, and also he’s done really, really well for quarterbacks,” said Rogers, adding that conversations with former Huskies running back Dillon Johnson, Rogers’ teammate at Mississippi State, influenced his decision to come to Washington. “At the end of the day, everybody wants to play football on the next level.”

Much of what made UW “next level,” though, was the QB. Yes, that QB had three standout receivers in Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Ja’Lynn Polk, but the man spinning the pigskin was what sold out stadiums.

There’s a good chance Penix gets drafted in the first round this month. If it happens, he would be just the second Husky QB (Jake Locker in 2011) to do so. But what’s it like for Rogers coming into that situation and trying to fill those size-20 cleats?

“I mean, it’s obviously going to be really tough to do what Mike did last year. He was pretty successful and really talented. … I’m not Michael Penix or anything like that. I’m not going be able to make some of the throws and the plays that he made,” Rogers said, adding that he hasn’t gotten a chance to talk to Penix yet. “I’m my own self, with that being said. It’s just a confidence with myself that a lot of quarterbacks have. Between the white lines, I like myself.”

There’s a lot to like. In 2021, Rogers was fourth in the country in passing yards per game. Didn’t hurt that he threw it 683 times – more per game than anybody else. But with a 73.9 completion percentage, why not keep slinging?

There are a gigaton of unknowns for the Huskies right now. It’s possible that Rogers hasn’t met more than half of his starting offensive linemen next season. And nobody has any idea how the transition to the Big Ten will be, especially with a completely new coaching staff in place.

But they do have a proven talent in Rogers.

On Tuesday evening, a media member asked Rogers what he thought about Seattle and the city’s culture. Rogers basically told him that the city had nothing to do with why he wanted to come to Washington.

It wasn’t a dismissal. He’s just all about winning.

Might be an impossible ask to replicate the past two seasons. With this QB, however, the Huskies are at least in the fight.