Former Washington football three-star recruit makes positional switch

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Washington has added depth at running back from inside their own building just ahead of spring practice.

Redshirt freshman D'Aryhian Clemons, a three-star recruit in the class of 2025, has moved from cornerback to running back, according to the Huskies' updated roster on Monday.

Clemons played in two games as a true freshman, seeing action against UC Davis and in the LA Bowl against Boise State. He starred at cornerback and running back for in-state Spanaway Lake, where he also returned kicks and punts, during his prep career before arriving on Montlake as one of four defensive back recruits in the class.

Two of those players, safety Rylon Dillard-Allen and cornerback Dylan Robinson, played starting roles at times as true freshmen and are expected to be cemented as starters this season. The other, cornerback Ramonz Adams Jr., was mentioned by defensive backs coach John Richardson on Monday as an option in the nickel with returning starter Rahshawn Clark out for the spring with an injury.

"We're kind of going back and forth with D'Aryhian," head coach Jedd Fisch told the media on Monday. "He played running back in high school, so most of his film coming out was as a running back. We had him here as a [defensive back, but] with Jayden Limar and [Trey] Cooley being out for spring, we wanted to make sure that we were going to have good competition at running back. He's very talented as a runner. We felt like we were in a good place, to a degree, at DB in terms of personnel and depth. We wanted [Clemons] to be rewarded for how hard he's been working and give him an opportunity to compete at that running back spot. I think as the spring goes, we'll have to see numbers-wise where we're at."

The Huskies brought in Limar from Oregon and Cooley from Troy this offseason after losing their two leading rushers – Jonah Coleman to the NFL and Adam Mohammed to California. But both players will miss the spring with injuries, which leaves a huge void in the backfield next to quarterback Demond Williams Jr. as spring practice opens Tuesday.

Washington has eight options to sort through with Clemons now on the offensive side of the ball. Redshirt sophomore Jordan Washington is the most experienced in Husky Stadium, but the staff loves the potential of redshirt freshman Quaid Carr, who played sparingly before suffering an ankle injury against Purdue last season. Freshman Brian Bonner Jr. arrives highly touted and is expected to be in the mix. Redshirt freshman Julian McMahan and true freshman Ansu Sanoe are bigger backs – listed at 234 and 241 pounds, respectively – who could carve out opportunities as short-yardage players. The Huskies also return walk-ons Ryken Moon and Beck Walker to round out the room.

It may seem tough to sell such a crowded positional group as a better opportunity for Clemons, but the Huskies did sign five more defensive backs in the 2026 class – their best in school history – and added cornerback Emmanuel Karnley from Virginia in the transfer portal. Running back is also a more rotational position than corner, which could help Clemons see the field a bit more often going forward.

Fisch's comments didn't seem to rule out the possibility of Clemons moving back to defense, however. Safety Vincent Holmes moved to wide receiver briefly two springs ago, but wound up moving back to safety and played in a rotational role on the back end in 2024 and 2025. If injuries hit the DB group hard, the Huskies have the flexibility to move Clemons back there, knowing that he can also add value to them as a runner.

Clemons may also factor into the returner battle, as Washington loses their top two kick returners and top punt returner from last season.

The Huskies kick off spring practice on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. PT.

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Former three-star Washington Huskies DB makes positional switch

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