Phil Steele puts two Washington Huskies on Preseason All-Big Ten teams

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

As the Washington Huskies prepare for the 2026 season, Jedd Fisch’s roster has some promising talent set to step into major roles this fall. However, college football analyst Phil Steele listed just two players on his Preseason All-Big Ten teams.

Left guard John Mills and punter Hunter Green were the two Huskies that Steele deemed worthy of preseason honors, and with Fisch aiming to improve on a 9-4 campaign from 2025, both will play critical roles. After earning Freshman All-American honors last season, Mills is widely expected to take a big leap forward and assert himself as one of the nation’s best offensive linemen, even as a true sophomore.

Mills earned an 80.2 pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus, the highest grade the analytics site gave out to any true freshman in the area last season, while he allowed just 8 pressures on the year.

“Absurd tape for a true freshman,” former Penn State offensive lineman Landon Tengwall said of Mills on the Locked On Huskies podcast. “There’s no way someone should be playing like this, I think this is a name that the entire college football world is going to know during this season…this is one of the best linemen in football, not just guard, not just tackle, this is one of the best around.”

As for Green, who transferred from San Diego State to his father’s alma mater for his final year of eligibility, he was one of the nation’s best punters in 2025 and is expected to lead a massive overhaul of special teams coordinator Chris Petrilli’s unit.

His 30 punts inside the 20-yard line ranked No. 4 nationally in 2025, while his 46.97 yards per punt ranked No. 6, and with that success, he’s set his sights on the Ray Guy Award.

“If I’m pinning teams back, if I’m smoking balls, hitting bombs, I’m putting the other team in a bad position, which puts our team in a good position – an even better position,” Green said during spring practice. “So if I am in the running, essentially, then we should be one of the more dominant special teams units in the country. And so that’s something that I think all comes together as a collective and people, when they’re playing Washington, know they’re not going to get anything on punt return.”

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Phil Steele puts two Washington Huskies on Preseason All-Big Ten teams

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos