Washington Huskies Quarterback Up For Another Award

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The Washington Huskies football team's expectations are growing larger the closest gets to its season opener.

When the Huskies open the 2026 season against the Washington State Cougars at 1 p.m. PT on Sept. 6 at Husky Stadium in Seattle, they'll be ranked 17th in the nation per rankings from the Associated Press. Some analysts also predict the game against Washington State to be the first step to a College Football Playoff berth for Washington.

If the Huskies do make the playoffs, third-year quarterback Demond Williams Jr. will be leading the way.

Williams will be playing his second full year as a starting quarterback and there's a healthy amount of expectations for him entering this season.

The third-year signal-caller has a lot of healthy expectations for him, which has put him front-and-center as a potential candidate for several awards this offseason.

Entering Tuesday, Williams was named to the preseason watchlist for three separate awards: the Maxwell Award, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and the Davey O'Brien Award.

The Maxwell Award is annually given out to the best player in college football, the Davey O'Brien Award is won by the best quarterback in the nation and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award goes to the top upperclassmen or senior signal-caller in the country.

On Tuesday, Williams was named to the preseason watchlist for a fourth award: the Manning Award.

The winner of the Manning Award, named after esteemed college quarterbacks Archie Manning (Ole Miss), Peyton Manning (Tennessee) and Eli Manning (Ole Miss), is judged by the Sugar Bowl Committee and is the only quarterback-specific award that takes postseason performances into consideration.

The Manning Award was established in 2004, with the most recent winner being last season's Heisman Trophy winner and national champion with the Indiana Hoosiers, Fernando Mendoza.

Williams was one of 40 quarterbacks to make the preseason watchlist. If Williams were to win the award, it could also be a good sign of future prospects for him. All but two quarterbacks, Stetson Bennett (Georgia) and Colt McCoy (Texas) went on to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Last year, Williams led the Big Ten in total yardage. In 13 games, the third-year quarterback completed 69.5% of his passes for 3,065 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He added another 611 yards and six touchdowns on the ground on 143 carries.

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