There haven't been a lot of positives to discuss around the Washington Huskies' offense through the first half of the 2026 season, but sophomore wide receiver Chris Lawson has emerged as an important playmaker.
After taking over for Kennesaw State transfer Christian Moss early in the season-opening Apple Cup, the former four-star recruit has quickly turned into a go-to target in Jedd Fisch's offense, with 26 catches for 380 yards and 2 touchdowns. Against the Iowa Hawkeyes, he posted a game-high 86 yards, tied with his classmate Dezmen Roebuck for a game-high 8 catches (also a career best for Lawson), and added his second score of the season.
As the Huskies look for a spark on offense ahead of a matchup with Purdue on Friday, Fisch has been very
complimentary of the second-year receiver.
"Chris is a very explosive player," Fisch said during the Husky Football Coaches Show on Monday. "He's fast; he catches the ball outside the framework of his body really well. If you think back to the third-down conversion against (USC) backed up when we threw the bench route to him, and then of course the fourth-down catch after that...the broken play that we made that was an amazing play by Demond (Williams Jr.) and Chris."
When the Huskies originally earned a commitment from Lawson in the 2025 class, there was some debate over what position he was going to play. After a strong spring practice in 2025, he was limited by injuries throughout the fall and spring of 2026, and now the fruits of Washington's labor are paying off with the talented pass catcher.
"He caught a slant versus two-man against Iowa, that's not supposed to happen. You're not supposed to get inside of a corner on two-man, and he battled his way through and caught it with his hands, which was really cool to see...we weren't sure initially what we were going to have him play when we brought him in here. Receiver was his No. 1 preference, so we kept him at receiver and he did really well, then there was a point in the season where we needed him to learn some DB."
"He made a couple interceptions (in practice), and I said, 'Ok, he'll be back on offense, he's catching the ball too well for a DB.' He's really matured, because going into the season there was multiple guys competing for multiple spots...Chris is being moved around and learned some Z, played slot, Chris kind of became the guy that we're able to throw anywhere, and as he was doing that he kept getting better and better and better and better, and he became someone who was probably the most familiar with the whole offense because he was playing all three spots."
Lawson ranks second on the team behind Roebuck in both catches and yards, and with backup Elijah Brown expected to start against Purdue, the second-year pass catcher should be viewed as a major threat against a Boilermaker defense that ranks No. 17 in the Big Ten in passing yards allowed, surrendering an average of 243.2 yards per game.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Chris Lawson emerging as a crucial playmaker for Washington football
