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.<\/p>\n
Until Sam Vyhlidal comes into view.<\/p>\n
Unlike the others, the 6-foot-4, 222-pound freshman from Lake Oswego partially resembles a wide receiver as much as a tight end.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Of course, Vyhlidal is striving for a total tight-end identity in the end, which means he needs to get a lot heavier. <\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n Vyhlidal is anywhere from 27 to 44 pounds lighter than all of his tight-end teammates as he better tries to resemble them. <\/p>\n “I wish I had that problem trying to gain weight all the time. but he’s done a really nice job,” Paopao said. <\/p>\n It took Vyhlidal four spring practices before he registered his first scrimmage reception, a 5-yarder from Kini McMillan.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n At Lake Oswego High School in the Portland suburbs, he not only operated at tight end, he rushed the football and played linebacker. <\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n Wherever he he went, Vyhlidal no doubt was checking out the training table food options.<\/p>\n What he’s done<\/strong>: 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. <\/p>\n Starter or not<\/strong>: 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. <\/p>\n![\"Football\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" "\\"Football\\""){kind=icon}
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