Washington Huskies starting to see what Raiden Vines-Bright has to offer

Washington wide receiver Raiden Vines-Bright rushes for a first down against Ohio State last month. (Kevin Clark / The Seattle Times)

By Andy Yamashita Seattle Times staff reporter

Raiden Vines-Bright had no expectations when he arrived at Washington in January. 

It had been a difficult few months for the 6-foot-1, 200-pound freshman wide receiver. After transferring to IMG Academy for his final season of high school football, Vines-Bright broke his collarbone and missed a majority of the campaign. 

Vines-Bright watched as UW landed commitments from four other wide receivers after he pledged to join the Huskies in April, 2024. Of the three freshmen wideouts who enrolled in January, Vines-Bright had the lowest recruiting ranking. 

“Coming in here, I battled some injuries so that was part of it,” he said last week. “I just tried to stay down, just keep a straightforward mentality, work as hard as I can and work for the opportunities I’ve been given.”

Vines-Bright emerged from fall camp as Washington’s starting slot receiver. While fellow freshman receiver Dezmen Roebuck tallied his first 100-yard receiving game, Vines-Bright quietly recorded three catches for 50 yards during UW’s 38-19 win against Rutgers on Saturday. It was his second consecutive game with at least three catches, a sign that he’s beginning to establish himself and grow in coach Jedd Fisch’s offense. 

Washington is back on the road at Michigan this week, with kickoff at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., scheduled for a 9 a.m. PT Saturday.

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“Raiden had a big night,” the UW coach said during his postgame news conference.

Vines-Bright’s path to a starting job was full of twists and turns. He became one of the top football recruits in the Southwest while playing at Corona del Sol High in Tempe, Ariz., and received one of his first scholarship offers from Arizona on Dec. 12, 2022, courtesy of Fisch and current UW wide receivers coach Kevin Cummings. 

He departed the Grand Canyon state to attend IMG Academy in 2024, and hauled in seven catches for 102 yards during his first game in Florida before breaking his collarbone and missing nine games. Vines-Bright returned for one final game in November, catching seven passes for 143 yards according to MaxPreps. 

Vines-Bright, a three-star prospect according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings, enrolled at Washington in time for winter workouts along with fellow freshmen wide receivers Chris Lawson and Marcus Harris, both composite four-star prospects. And Vines-Bright missed even more time after a hamstring injury limited his participation for parts of spring practice. 

But Vines-Bright was healthy enough to return in time for the spring game. And in the limited opportunity presented, he shined. Vines-Bright caught one of only two touchdowns during the event, an acrobatic effort to reel in a pass from freshman quarterback Treston “Kini” McMillan and added a 35-yard catch along the sideline. 

It was enough to give Vines-Bright a competitive edge over his fellow freshmen entering fall camp, where he spent the first week playing with the first-team offense while junior Denzel Boston recovered from offseason cleanup surgery. 

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After Boston’s return, Vines-Bright moved to the slot where a position battle had raged for the entirety of fall camp between junior Kevin Green Jr., sophomore Audric Harris and senior Omari Evans. Vines-Bright quickly leapt above Green and Harris, and took advantage of the soft-tissue injury that delayed Evans’ UW debut to claim the starting role despite his late entry into the competition. 

“When you do the right thing in this program, put your head down and work early on, Coach Fisch gives you a chance to make impacts at the next level early,” said sophomore tight end Decker DeGraaf, who successfully carved out a contributing role as a true freshman at UW in 2024. “(Vines-Bright and Roebuck) have done a really good job with that.”

Winning a starting role with the Huskies (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) was just the beginning. Vines-Bright was relatively unproductive during his first four games, making five catches for 67 yards. He didn’t register his first reception — or even his first target — until UW’s second game of the season against UC Davis, according to Pro Football Focus. 

Outside of a 45-yard catch on a corner route against the Aggies, an FCS opponent, Vines-Bright’s longest reception during the Huskies’ first four games went for 7 yards. 

But the freshman has gained momentum during the past two weeks. He played a career-high 63 snaps and had three catches for 29 yards during UW’s 24-20 comeback win against Maryland, including perhaps his most important reception of the season. 

Washington was trailing 20-0 with less than 9 minutes remaining in the third quarter when it faced third-and-nine from its own 49-yard line. Vines-Bright started his route by going up the left seam before cutting toward the left sideline between two zone defenders. Sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr. unleashed a quick throw from the right hash, and Vines-Bright made the catch for a 13-yard gain and the first down. 

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It was UW’s longest passing play since a 14-yard Jonah Coleman screen pass during the first quarter. Vines-Bright added an 8-yard catch two plays later, helping set up senior kicker Grady Gross’ 36-yard field goal, the beginning of UW’s improbable second-half comeback. Fisch said Vines-Bright and DeGraaf’s contributions in the short passing game helped open up deep shots for Boston and Roebuck in the fourth quarter. 

“I was really proud of Raiden,” Fisch said last week. “Had a huge third-down catch that kept the drive alive. That was huge. A huge part of the game.”

Vines-Bright had another impactful game against Rutgers on Friday. His most important catch against the Scarlet Knights was a 30-yard gain over the middle with 28 seconds remaining in the first half to help UW get in range for another 36-yard field goal by Gross to help UW enter halftime trailing just 13-10. 

He received a 73.5 run-blocking grade from PFF, second-highest on the team against Rutgers behind only Evans, who played 11 fewer run-blocking snaps. 

Vines-Bright still hasn’t scored his first career touchdown, and has only 18 more yards receiving than Evans despite the Penn State transfer playing 158 fewer snaps. Lawson also played some snaps against Rutgers after his strong performances in spring practice were derailed by an injury that limited him for much of fall camp. 

But Fisch has been adamant about sticking with his young receivers, and Vines-Bright’s past two games have proved he can be a regular contributor in winning situations this season. And the Huskies will need him against the Wolverines (4-2, 2-1) Saturday.

“I definitely wasn’t expecting it,” he said. “But I’m blessed to be in this position, for sure.”

Notes

• Williams was selected as the Big Ten offensive player of the week Monday after his historic performance against Rutgers. The 5-11, 190-pound signal caller tallied 402 yards passing and 136 yards rushing, both career-high marks, while setting UW’s single-game program record for total offense. It’s his second time winning weekly honors from the conference, previously winning the award following Washington’s win against Washington State in the 117th Apple Cup Sept. 20. 
• Williams’ performance against Rutgers also earned him a spot in the Davey O’Brien Award’s Week 7 Great 8 list, along with Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, South Florida’s Byrum Brown, Marshall’s Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, Navy’s Blake Horvath, Troy’s Tucker Kilcrease, Colorado’s Kaidon Salter and Kennesaw State’s Dexter Williams II. 
• Finally, Williams was selected as a Manning Award Star of the Week. Horvath, Williams, Kilcrease and Brown were also among the honorees, along with UNLV’s Anthony Colandrea, Alabama’s Ty Simpson and Tulane’s Jake Retzlaff. 
• Fisch said there’s a chance sixth-year left tackle Carver Willis, freshman left guard John Mills and fifth-year edge rusher Zach Durfee may be available against Michigan on Saturday. Willis (knee) and Durfee (elbow) were injured during the first half against No. 1 Ohio State Sept. 27. Mills suffered an apparent lower leg injury against Maryland Oct. 4. 
• Senior linebacker Jacob Manu, who can play two more games in 2025 while maintaining his redshirt, is also potentially available to play against Michigan. Fisch lamented Manu’s situation, calling it “crazy that we have to make this decision” while the Huskies continue waiting for the outcome of several lawsuits challenging the NCAA’s eligibility rules, including one filed by Manu Oct. 9. 
• Kickoff time for Washington’s game against Illinois Oct. 25 at Husky Stadium remains undetermined after the Big Ten utilized its six-day hold option to delay choosing a time slot until Oct. 19. The Huskies and Fighting Illini will either play at 12:30 p.m., 4 p.m. or 4:30 p.m.

Andy Yamashita: ayamashita@seattletimes .com. Andy Yamashita is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, primarily covering Washington Huskies football.