Kalen DeBoer raves about talent of Washington wide receivers Jalen McMillan, Rome Odunze

A great quarterback is useless without capable wide receivers. Washington‘s receivers are more than capable. They’re competent.

The Huskies averaged 515.8 yards per game in total offense last season, the second-most in the nation. QB Michael Penix Jr. spearheaded that offensive onslaught. However, Washington receivers Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan were no slouches.

Playing in 12 of Washington’s 13 contests, Odunze recorded 1,145 receiving yards, the most in the Pac-12. The 6-foot-3 wide receiver also boasted seven touchdowns and 75 receptions. Odunze was named to the 2022 All-Pac-12 First Team.

Not to be outdone, McMillan finished the year with 1,098 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, the most of any Huskies receiver. Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer knows how valuable his wideouts are.

“Every position is important. We try to distribute the ball to all our skill players. Every guy needs to be a home run threat, and that helps us really have a good balance amongst our offense. But those receivers, in particular, there is an explosiveness to it. We want to throw the ball down the field, but we also need to just be highly efficient and have a high-efficiency level to where we get the ball in these great athletes’ hands and let him go to work,” DeBoer said at Pac-12 Football Media Day.

Not only are DeBoer’s receivers important, they’re even better than last year.

“A guy like Rome Odunze. He’s put on even more weight. He’s even faster,” DeBoer said. “Jalen McMillan, I think, is running 23 plus miles an hour as you can track with the GPS and stronger than I’ve ever seen him.”

Odunze and McMillan are just two threats in a unit of weapons. Washington will also return Ja’Lynn Polk, who recorded 694 receiving yards and 16.9 yards per catch, the highest mark on the team. Additionally, the Huskies folded in Michigan State wide receiver Germie Bernard in the offseason.

Despite their glaring talents, DeBoer believes it’s the group’s mindset that sets them apart.

“They are becoming a hard-nosed group, not just this group of skill guys that just run around and catch a couple of balls and make big plays and make it look pretty. They go out there, and they do the hard work. They’re blocking for each other. They’re physical to the point of attack.

“I’m really proud of the way they represent our whole team. Because I think anytime you have a hard-nosed receiving corps,” DeBoer said, “I think that really spreads throughout the mindset of the rest of the offense.”

Washington’s 2023 receiving corps will make their first cohesive march on when the team takes on Boise State in its season opener on Sept. 2.