In all likelihood, Decker DeGraaf probably didn’t expect to be one of two healthy tight ends on Washington’s roster by the halfway point of the regular season. However, as the injury bug ravaged coach Jordan Paopao’s position, he took solace in the fact that he could rely on the true freshman tight end, who had an impressive first year on Montlake.
DeGraaf, a former three-star recruit from Glendora High School in California, played in all 12 games and started four, putting together 14 catches for 199 yards and 3 touchdowns. Those numbers were strong enough to earn him a spot on College Football Network’s Freshman All-America team and as the outlet’s Freshman Tight End of the Year.
It’s hard to envision a better start to a college career than DeGraaf’s, as the 6-foot-3, 240-pound tight end scored a touchdown on his first career snap, taking a 33-yard wheel route up the sideline in Washington’s season opener against Weber State.
“It was just awesome,” DeGraaf said of the play in November. “It was in the game plan so we knew it was probably going to come up and the coach gave me the shot and he trusted me with it. It was an awesome play, an awesome moment.”
As a sophomore, the promising DeGraaf should be expected to handle a much larger workload following the graduation of senior Keleki Latu. Even though senior Quentin Moore is set to return and Paopao may look to the transfer portal to add extra reinforcements to the position, DeGraaf looks like he’ll be a reliable piece for the Huskies for the foreseeable future.
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