Demond Williams Jr. is one of the most explosive players in college football, and the money and the portal both came calling. He turned them down to run it back at Washington -- the dynamo who decided to stay.
5′11″ · 191 lb · Chandler, AZ · Basha HS
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
How he plays
Extends plays with his feet until something opens up.
Interception rate: 82nd percentile.
The full scouting readThe numbers
passing yards · 2026 · through week 3
3 games into 2026 so far -- Best game: 373 pass yds, 4 TD, 1 INT, vs Eastern Washington
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Demond Williams Jr. is one of the most explosive players in college football, and the money and the portal both came calling. He turned them down to run it back at Washington -- the dynamo who decided to stay.
Aura™ · Him Watch
-13aura tax
88th pctl our passing-value metric (wEPA) QBs · 160 qualified, n=162
— the discourse is fair.Buzz vs Tape
Every angle we can check here reads about where you'd expect this season.
In 2025 he threw for 3,065 yards with 25 touchdowns against just eight interceptions and added 611 yards and six scores on the ground, starting all 13 games in Jedd Fisch's quarterback-friendly offense. The dual-threat juice is obvious; the part that separates him is that the accuracy is real too -- he completed 78 percent as a 2024 freshman. When LSU and the portal came knocking with serious money, he declared himself fully committed to Washington. The forward stakes are simple ascension: he's already one of the country's most dynamic players, and a full season as the entrenched, unquestioned starter is the kind of runway that turns a dynamo into a Heisman name. For Williams, 2026 is the leap from electric to elite.
His career
He was winning awards before he was old enough to be a story.
Williams is a rare quarterback who grades elite in both phases. On the ground our play-by-play is almost off the chart -- 98th-percentile EPA per carry, 98th-percentile explosive-run rate, a 90th-percentile rushing success rate. Through the air he's not just a runner who throws: a 94th-percentile passing success rate, a 92nd-percentile completion rate, and an 81st-percentile EPA per dropback, with the arm to hit explosive throws (95th percentile). The one honest wart is a 22nd-percentile sack rate -- he holds the ball and takes hits, the flip side of a playmaker who trusts his legs to extend everything. He's a true dual-threat in the modern mold: accurate from the pocket, terrifying out of it, and only just scratching his ceiling.
Written by our staff.
Career arc
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
FRESHMAN HONORS
Freshman recognition (2024)
1 mention(s)
Badges
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Jedd Fisch.
In Portal · 2026
In transfer portal
| Season | Team | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Washington | 77 | 109 | 70.6% | 890 | 8.2 | 5 | 1 | 152.5 | 64 | -- | -- |
| 2025 | Washington | 246 | 354 | 69.5% | 3,065 | 8.7 | 25 | 8 | 161.0 | 72 | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Washington | 82 | 105 | 78.1% | 944 | 9.0 | 8 | 1 | 176.9 | 62 | -- | -- |
| Career | 405 | 568 | 71.3% | 4,899 | 8.6 | 38 | 10 | 162.3 | 69 | -- | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Washington | 25 | 150 | 6.0 | 1 | -- |
| 2025 | Washington | 143 | 612 | 4.3 | 6 | -- |
| 2024 | Washington | 83 | 282 | 3.4 | 2 | -- |
| Career | 251 | 1,044 | 4.2 | 9 | -- |
Game by game
Point color shows the opponent's defensive strength that week (red = weaker defense, blue = stronger) — dashed line is this player's own season average.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 3 games
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 24-10vs Washington State | 24/35 | 268 | 1 | 0 | 7.7 | 66.7 | |
| Wk 2 | W 16-14vs Utah State | 26/41 | 249 | 0 | 0 | 6.1 | 34.7 | |
| Wk 3 | W 48-16vs Eastern Washington | 27/33 | 373 | 4 | 1 | 11.3 | 66.4 | Season-high 373 yds |
| Total | 77/109 | 890 | 5 | 1 | 8.4 | 55.9 |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2026
W 48–16
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
Since week 2: +373 passing yards, +4 passing TD, +1 interception.
Season context · Team result + system
3 seasons under Jedd Fisch — 18-11 over that span.
Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort
Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles
Elite: interception rate (82nd percentile). Strength: fumbles lost (90th percentile).
Real play-by-play efficiency
Season trend
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).
Pass Profile · True throw depth (charted plays)
Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from
Adjusted ANY/A
8.2551 of 126 QBsSack rate
2.7%32 of 126 QBsRarely sacked (32 of 126 QBs) and still 51 of 126 in Adjusted ANY/A.
Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.
Behind LOS · Negative air yds
Short · 0–9 air yds
Middle · 10–19 air yds
Deep · 20+ air yds
Overall 70.0% completion on 110 attempts · 27% completion on 11 deep attempts (20+ air yds).
Zeitgeist Passer Rating
2026 · our own passing-efficiency number, shown next to the 1979 formula it does not replace.
Thin sample: 106 dropbacks64Zeitgeist Passer Ratingnot ranked until 125 dropbacks
--NCAA passer ratingno box-score line yet
Positive-play rate weight 24%
49.5%79th pct of FBS QBsshare of dropbacks that gained expected points · -3.3% schedule adj.Yards per attempt weight 56%
7.8479th pct of FBS QBssacks excluded · -0.5 schedule adj.Sack rate weight 21% (penalty)
2.0%95th pct of FBS QBsthe input passer rating cannot see · +0.1% schedule adj.Opponent-adjusted; garbage time excluded (5 of 111 dropbacks dropped). 50 = FBS average; the number is pulled toward 50 when the sample is thin. Scaled against the 2025 FBS population until enough 2026 QBs qualify. How ZPR is built.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 3 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 297 | 1.7 | 8.4 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 297 | 1.7 | 8.4 | 0.3 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Jedd Fisch
Pass share
56.3%
112 pass / 87 run
Plays / game
66.3
3 games
Scheme: Pass-leaning.
Player standing · 2026
Our Heisman model has him inside the top 25; he is not on a published award watch list yet.
Play style
Williams is a rare quarterback who grades elite in both phases. On the ground our play-by-play is almost off the chart -- 98th-percentile EPA per carry, 98th-percentile explosive-run rate, a 90th-percentile rushing success rate. Through the air he's not just a runner who throws: a 94th-percentile passing success rate, a 92nd-percentile completion rate, and an 81st-percentile EPA per dropback, with the arm to hit explosive throws (95th percentile). The one honest wart is a 22nd-percentile sack rate -- he holds the ball and takes hits, the flip side of a playmaker who trusts his legs to extend everything. He's a true dual-threat in the modern mold: accurate from the pocket, terrifying out of it, and only just scratching his ceiling.
Our classifier reads him the same way: extends plays with his feet until something opens up.
Returning starter at quarterback for a 9-4 Washington team that went -9 in the portal.
Player DNA
Makes plays with feet when the pocket collapses. Efficiency still on the rise.
His 2026 production profile sits closest to Greg Ward Jr.’s 2014 season.
Matches Greg on
Differs from Greg on
Through 3 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Taulia Tagovailoa’s path through Maryland.
Matches Taulia on
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Devon Dampier's junior season at Utah (2025).
Differs from Devon on
Player DNA
Heisman Trajectory · 2026
Peaked at #19 this season.
AT WASHINGTON 2025: Earned honorable mention All-Big Ten (coaches) ... also earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Academic team ... started all 13 games at quarterback ... finished the season 246-for-354 for 3,065 yards, 25 touchdown passes and eight interceptions ... also second on the team in…