UW Roster Review: Beierly Needs To Make Mad Dash Up Depth Chart

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

As a University of Washington quarterback, Ashton "Dash" Beierly's career consists of the final snap of the LA Bowl, where he was rushed onto the field to hand the ball to running back Quaid Carr for a 3-yard gain.

With all zeroes on the clock, it then was time for everyone to pull off their helmets at SoFi Stadium, shake hands and celebrate a 38-10 victory over Boise State.

As Beierly is finding out, the windows of opportunity for making it in Power 4 football can be ever so small and confining.

A year ago, the 6-foot, 213-pound signal-caller from Temecula, California, was a freshman who finished up spring ball as the No. 3 player in the rotation.

This time, he was the No. 5 Husky quarterback when everything ended, taking snaps behind junior starter Demond Williams Jr., sophomore back-up Elijah Brown, fellow redshirt freshman Kini McMillan and freshman Derek Zammit.

He went in the wrong direction.

Realistically, Williams is the immovable QB-1 with everyone else vying with Brown, a Stanford transfer, to become his back-up, including Beierly.

"Kini's got to compete for that job," UW coach Jedd Fisch said. "Dash and Derek have to find a way to keep competing and get themselves in position to get more reps, as well."

This is one in a series of articles — going from 0 to 99 on the Husky roster — examining what each scholarship player and leading walk-on did in spring practice and what to expect from them going into fall camp.

Over the 15 spring practices, Beierly played during the team competition in just six of them. Unofficially, he was 6-for-15 passing.

In the Spring Game, he drew two second-half series and threw three incomplete passes and ran the ball twice for 10 and 4 yards.

The good news for him is it's early yet and he has plenty of time to figure things out.

"I remember what I was like as a redshirt freshman," quarterbacks coach JP Losman said, referring to his time at Tulane. "It was nowhere what I was like as a redshirt junior, I'll tell you that right now. Like a different person."

The bad news is the NCAA has proposed changing eligibility rules enabling players to have five years of eligibility over a five-year time frame, which would enable Williams to have three more seasons at the UW rather than two.

Beierly could be sorely challenged to get back on the field again on game day any time soon.

What he's done: Beierly is more of a savvy player than one with a great deal of arm strength. As a high school senior, he was the starting quarterback for the Mater Dei powerhouse in Southern California and helped guide the Monarchs to a 13-0 record that included CIF Southern Section and State Open Division championships. He's led great players down the field.

Starter or not: Beierly needs to become a lot more proficient or else he'll stay mired deep on the UW depth chart. It's competitive out there.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/washington as UW Roster Review: Beierly Needs To Make Mad Dash Up Depth Chart.

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