How 4-star OL Gecova Doyal's commitment affects Washington football

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Washington has crossed the finish line in Gecova Doyal's recruitment.

The Huskies beat out the UCLA Bruins and Oregon Ducks for the four-star Puyallup offensive lineman, winning a hard-fought recruitment to keep the No. 4 player in Washington home. It's another major win for Jedd Fisch and senior director of player personnel Matt Doherty, who have beaten out a who's who of blue-chip programs in the 2027 class to secure commitments from the likes of four-star wide receivers Tre Moore and Dontay Tyson, four-star defensive linemen Tevita Nonu and Jon Ioane, and four-star safeties Jaden Walk-Green and Isala Aisa Wily-Ava.

But Doyal's commitment is a massive one for the Huskies, and not just because he stands 6-foot-3 and 285 pounds. For as good as Washington's 2027 class looks on paper, a blue-chip offensive line recruit was the one thing that was missing. The Huskies are high on center Reis Russell's potential, but recruiting services have been slow to match that enthusiasm: even though ESPN gave the Valor Christian High School product a fourth star, Russell remains the No. 1083 overall player in the 247Sports Composite rankings.

With right tackle Drew Azzopardi and right guard Geirean Hatchett set to graduate after the season, Washington will potentially need to replace two starters on the line in 2027, depending on whether Hatchett wins the starting job from redshirt freshman Champ Taulealea. Center Landen Hatchett has a fifth season of eligibility due to the NCAA 5-in-5 rule, but could choose to move on nevertheless. That could cause a fair amount of shuffling on the offensive line.

Most crucially for Doyal would be John Mills' potential move to right tackle to replace Azzopardi. While Doyal plays tackle in high school, he's projected to be an interior player in college, but Taulealea will have an inside track for the right guard job even if he doesn't win it from the older Hatchett brother this fall. Mills moving to the outside and vacating the left guard spot could open immediate playing time for Doyal, whose primary competition would be redshirt freshman Jack Shaffer.

Perhaps that was the sell for the Huskies, whose staff has a history of turning freshmen starters into star players on the offensive line. Jonah Savaiinaea started as a freshman for Fisch at Arizona and was eventually a second-round pick by the Miami Dolphins. Mills was a Freshman All-American last season while playing at left guard and left tackle, and five-star 2026 recruit Kodi Greene is expected to start at left tackle for the Huskies this season.

Doyal's commitment also gives Washington pledges from three of the top four players in the state and five of the top seven. Sumner wide receiver Braylon Pope, Nonu, tight end Zach Albright, and cornerback Maurice Williams are already in the fold, while the Huskies lost out on third-ranked player Rashaun Lavata'i, an offensive tackle who committed to Washington State. Quarterback Sione Kaho, the fifth-ranked player in the state, committed to Stanford after Washington added a pledge from four-star quarterback Blake Roskopf from Arizona.

Washington now has 22 commitments in the 2027 class, 10 of whom are composite blue-chip recruits now that Doyal is headed to Montlake. He is the ninth-highest rated player pledged to the Huskies, behind Walk-Green and ahead of Wily-Ava.

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: How 4-star OL Gecova Doyal's commitment affects Washington football

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