Washington football: 3 transfers who'll have biggest impacts in 2024

Washington football had quite the year. Heck, the Huskies have had quite the past couple of years. Ever since the program moved on from Jimmy Lake, it's had nothing but success. That era was short-lived, but Kalen DeBoer made fans forget it even happened.

Two years of 10-plus-win seasons and a national title game appearance later and Washington fans were on top of the world heading into the 2024 campaign.

That was until Nick Saban retired suddenly and Alabama made DeBoer their top candidate and he accepted the job after two years with Washington. Thankfully, the Huskies acted quickly and poached Jedd Fisch from Arizona who turned that program around in a hurry. He's inheriting a team coming off a national title game this time around and shouldn't need any sort of turnaround practice.

Coming in with Fisch is a top-30 recruiting class and these are the three true freshmen who I could see starting at some point this season.

3. Paki Finau, 4-star OT

My first pick is a relatively easy one: Paki Finau. The four-star offensive tackle from Hesperia, Calif., is one of the top signees in Washington's 2024 recruiting class and he's actually already on campus as an early enrollee with five other freshmen.

Finau may not start from the beginning of the season, but I could see him earning an extra look this spring with a strong showing. If he can prove that he can hang and he adds some extra weight to that 6-foot-4, 265-pound frame, I think he'll be in line to earn one of the starting tackle spots.

Roger Rosengarten is moving on and he'll likely be replaced in the starting lineup by San Diego State transfer Drew Azzopardi, but don't sleep on Finau to nip at Kahlee Tafai's heels at the other tackle spot. There's a good chance that we see a position battle this spring that actually extends into the fall up front.

I would not be shocked to see Finau starting when the season ends.