Washington lands three-star OL from Colorado in latest recruiting win
Washington has closed on another 2027 recruit.
Three-star center Reis Russell of Valor Christian (Colo.), the same high school that produced former Huskies offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten, became the latest recruit to join Jedd Fisch and senior director of player personnel Matt Doherty's 2027 class with his commitment on Monday. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound Russell is the No. 964 player in the country and No. 6 player in Colorado by the 247Sports Composite rankings.
That makes Russell the third-lowest rated recruit in Washington's stellar 2027 class, which remains in the top ten nationally heading into the summer. However, the Huskies won a hotly contested battle for his services, beating out Oregon, Georgia, Florida, Miami, and SMU from his top six announced in February.
Georgia, in particular, had pushed hard in recent weeks, hosting Russell for an official visit in mid-April. But Washington's long-standing relationship won out in the end, as Russell has been on campus for an unofficial visit during Junior Day in 2025, was a frequent guest at home games last season, and attended March's junior day before setting an official visit to Montlake for June 19.
Russell is also the son of NFL personnel executive Matt Russell, who won the Butkus Award as college football's top linebacker in 1996 and was a fourth-round NFL draft pick in 1997 before moving on to a career in personnel in 2001. The elder Russell was a scout for the Philadelphia Eagles in the mid-2000s while now-general manager Howie Roseman was the vice president of football administration, and now serves as a senior personnel director and advisor to Roseman. Fisch and Roseman were college roommates at Florida, a connection that has persisted to this day and may have aided in getting the younger Russell to Seattle.
Russell will join a center room in 2027 with starting reps up for grabs, as Landen Hatchett is set to graduate following the 2026 season. (The NCAA's proposal for 5-for-5 eligibility, which Fisch has long advocated for and mentioned in his post-spring game comments last week, could throw a wrench in that.) Backup center Geirean Hatchett is a seventh-year player who will graduate after the season. But Washington has seen a lot of redshirt freshman Jake Flores at center this spring, with the Hatchett brothers out due to injury, and redshirt freshman Lowen Colman-Brusa could also get into the mix despite Washington's coaches mostly training him at guard thus far. Sam Houston transfer Kolt Dieterich has also snapped during some rehab periods while prepping to return for contact in the fall and could wind up being a dark horse option in 2027.
Russell will also join John Mills on Washington's offensive line, making the Huskies the (likely) only team in the country with two blonde mullets on their front lines.
Washington now has 12 commitments in the 2027 class, with Russell the first offensive lineman to make his pledge. The Huskies have focused much of their early effort on linebackers and wide receivers thus far, but already have their quarterback - four-star Blake Roskopf - in place, which gives them the flexibility to continue to pursue other top targets aggressively.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: UW football lands three-star OL from Colorado in latest recruiting win
