Tyler Robles may prove to be one of the key deciding factors on whether the Washington Huskies end up being a 10-win team in 2026.
The former USC and Texas State kicker proved to be one of the most efficient kickers in college football last season with only two missed attempts—a 54-yarder just before halftime against Arizona State and a 42-yard kick at the end of regulation against Troy—in 23 total field goal attempts.
His 91.3 percent conversion rate put Robles at No. 8 in the country, whereas Grady Gross's 10-of-13 made field goals placed the now-former UW specialist tied for No. 68 in college football at 76.9 percent.
Although Gross, a former walk-on who played a central role in the Huskies' march toward a College Football Playoff National Championship
game appearance in 2023, didn't necessarily directly lose any games for Jedd Fisch, his impact in certain moments needed an upgrade going into 2026.
Late in the first quarter at Michigan, a fourth-and-1 stop by Ryan Walters' defense presented UW an early opportunity to take a crucial—and rare—lead on the road. Instead, after sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr. hit Denzel Boston for a 48-yard strike to put the ball at the Wolverines' 19-yard line, a 2-yard run, a negative play, and an incomplete pass sent Gross out for a 36-yard field goal attempt.
Gross pushed his kick just right of the far upright for only his second miss of the season at the time. It was also his second game in a row with an early missed field goal attempt, having pulled a 39-yarder against Rutgers just left the previous week after UW was already down 7-0.
🐺 Meet the Pack: PK Tyler Robles @Tyler_Robless. A veteran kicker bringing a proven leg to the Huskies in ‘26. A native of Encinitas, California he’s studying Real Estate ☔️ pic.twitter.com/V7jcxHZYy2
— Washington Football (@UW_Football) July 20, 2026
Robles never missed a field goal attempt in consecutive games at Texas State and never attempted a field goal in his two years at USC, but he also had a similar situation as Gross in his lone season with the Bobcats.
The Encinitas, California native missed what would've been a game-winning 46-yard kick against Troy on the final play in regulation on October 11. It proved to be a fateful miss as the Bobcats lost 48-41 in overtime, a week after he hit the right upright on Texas State's final drive at Arkansas State—a 31-30 loss that would've likely gone to overtime barring a two-point conversion by Arkansas State on its ensuing game-winning touchdown drive.
Both games were the front-half of a five-game losing streak for the Bobcats before they finished the 2025 season on a four-game win streak capped off by a 41-10 victory over Rice in the Armed Forces Bowl. Robles went 7-for-7 on field goal attempts and 19-for-19 on extra point kicks during those four wins, which, especially given how UW's last four games this fall line up, is significant.
Aside from the Huskies' first Big Ten road game at USC on October 3, Robles doesn't have experience facing or playing for any schools in the league, setting up a clean slate for the fourth-year specialist to be one of the reasons Fisch and Co. reach double-digit victories in 2026.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Why Kicker Could Be Washington's Linchpin to Success in 2026
