As Vyhlidal Jockeys For Position, It’s Time To Eat

With four tight ends from Oregon on the roster, one might presume the University of Washington football program adheres to a strict set of cookie-cutter requirements to find these guys.

Until Sam Vyhlidal comes into view.

Unlike the others, the 6-foot-4, 222-pound freshman from Lake Oswego partially resembles a wide receiver as much as a tight end.

He moves with a certain amount of fluidity that lumps him with the group that includes Rashid Williams as much as the one led by Decker DeGraaf.

Of course, Vyhlidal is striving for a total tight-end identity in the end, which means he needs to get a lot heavier.

“It’s really being able to transition into more of a tight-end role and he attacks it every day,” UW tight-ends coach Jordan Paopao said.

This is one in a series of articles — going from 0 to 99 on the UW roster — examining what each scholarship player and leading walk-on did in spring practice and what to expect from them going into fall camp.

Vyhlidal is anywhere from 27 to 44 pounds lighter than all of his tight-end teammates as he better tries to resemble them.

“I wish I had that problem trying to gain weight all the time. but he’s done a really nice job,” Paopao said.

It took Vyhlidal four spring practices before he registered his first scrimmage reception, a 5-yarder from Kini McMillan.

He really put his athleticism and physicality on display in practice No. 6, when he caught a pass from Stanford transfer Elijah Brown, bounced off a tackler and turned the play in a 27-yard gain.

As for being “a tweener” when it comes to holding down a position, this is not the first time Vyhlidal has dealt with this situation.

At Lake Oswego High School in the Portland suburbs, he not only operated at tight end, he rushed the football and played linebacker.

That was enough to draw recruting interest from Alabama, Oregon, Texas A&M and Washington, and consider plenty of unofficial spring visits a year ago.

Wherever he he went, Vyhlidal no doubt was checking out the training table food options.

What he’s done: For his 8-3 Lake Oswego team, the 3-star recruit posted season rushing totals of 57 carries for 415 yards and 3 touchdowns, and finished with 10 catches for 139 yards and 2 scores. He also came up with 72 tackles. In a 44-39 victory over Tualatin, he was his versatile best by leading his team in rushing with nine carries for 77 yards and 3 touchdowns, scoring on runs of 4, 10 and 30 yards, and he caught a game-winning 40-yard TD pass.

Starter or not: Vyhlidal seems to have an abundance of talent, but still needs roughly 30 more pounds to become the No. 1 tight end some day, maybe in 2028, after DeGraaf graduates. Better keep going back for seconds.