Isaiah Ward's emergence, Will Rogers' performance and other thoughts from Washington camp

Day 6 thoughts, observations and musings.

SEATTLE — It’s difficult to believe, in this day and age, that any Power 5 starter might enter his third year of college football having never been interviewed by a reporter. But Isaiah Ward greeted us after Tuesday’s practice by indicating that this was, in fact, his first real-deal media appearance, even counting his time at Ontario (Calif.) Colony High (though Arizona’s in-house video channel did feature him and brother Anthony last year).

This, despite Ward’s 14 sacks and 22 tackles for loss as a senior at Colony in 2021. Still, he described his recruitment as “very mediocre, I guess,” recalling only “a couple colleges here and there, a couple visits.” His 247Sports profile reports offers from Utah, Oregon State, Arizona State and others, with visits to both Salt Lake City and Corvallis. But he was a three-star prospect and the No. 796 recruit overall in the 2022 class, which might be why he humbly submits: “I wasn’t really, like, that special. I like to stay hidden.”

If that truly is his preference, Ward probably shouldn’t have started 11 games as a redshirt freshman for Arizona last season, nor totaled 30 tackles with five TFLs and four sacks, nor followed coach Jedd Fisch and his staff to Washington, where Ward now projects as a potential key contributor for a program joining the Big Ten.

Should Ward ever need pointers on navigating the spotlight, of course, he need only turn to his All-Pro uncle, Bobby Wagner, the former Seahawks star linebacker. 

“He taught me everything I know,” Ward said, “from pass rushing, to stopping the run block, all that.”