Washington Huskies Announce Football Team Captains

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EDIT: Drew Azzopardi played his first two seasons with San Diego State before transferring to Washington ahead of the 2024-25 season.

The Washington Huskies football team is less than two weeks away from its series opener in the Apple Cup against the Washington State Cougars at 1 p.m. PT on Sept. 6 at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

As the season-opener draws nearer, Huskies training camp is also winding down. And the team recently announced the players given the honor of being captains of the squad for the upcoming season.

Washington will have seven captains this season: four on offense and three on defense. Those seven captains all have varying levels of experience with the team and in college ball.

Here's a breakdown of the seven players named captains:

Landen Hatchett, center, 4th year

Hatchett will be entering his fourth year with the program this season and is one of several holdovers from the College Football Playoff championship runner-up squad from the 2023-24 season.

The Ferndale, Wash., native was an immediate impact player on the Huskies offensive line and played in nine games as a true freshman in 2023. He missed almost the entirety of the offseason due to a hand injury he suffered against Illinois on Oct. 25.

Jacob Manu, linebacker, 5th year

Manu will be entering his second season with Washington after transferring to Montlake last season.

The fifth-year linebacker played three years with Arizona before transferring and was named first-team All-Pac-12 in 2023.

Unfortunately, Manu's first season on Montlake was mired by injury. He played in just five games, but ended the season on the roster for the team's 38-10 Los Angeles Bowl win against the Boise State Broncos.

Drew Azzopardi, right tackle, 5th year

Azzopardi, alongside Hatchett, will be another veteran offensive linemen returning from last year's roster.

The 6-foot-7 tackle played and started in 11-of-13 games at right tackle last season.

Demond Williams Jr., quarterback, 3rd year

Williams will be entering his second full season as UW's starting signal-caller after he led the Big Ten in total yardage last year.

In 2025, Williams completed 69.5% of his passes for 3,065 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He ran 143 times for 611 yards and six touchdowns.

Elinneus Davis, defensive tackle, 4th year

Elinneus Davis played in all 13 games for the Huskies last season and started 10 of them. The fourth-year lineman, another hold over from the '23 national championship team, had 29 total tackles (18 solo), including a half-tackle for loss and two passes defended.

John Mills, offensive guard, 2nd year

Mills is coming off a stellar true freshman season last year. He played and started in 11 games, nine at left guard and two at right tackle. He was a near-unanimous True Freshman All-American selection.

Mills will be returning to his role as the starter at left guard this upcoming season.

Alex McLaughlin, safety, 4th year

McLaughlin will enter his second year on Montlake after playing his first years at Northern Arizona in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

The fourth-year safety played in all 13 games last year and totaled 94 tackles (62 solo), including three tackles for loss, a fumble recovery, eight passes defended and two interceptions returned for touchdowns.

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