Former Colorado State QB O’Brien announces transfer to UW

By Mike Vorel / The Seattle Times

Washington’s quarterback competition just got a little bit more crowded.

Following the offseason departures of graduate student Kevin Thomson, redshirt sophomore Jacob Sirmon and true freshman Ethan Garbers, UW was left with just two scholarship signal-callers — redshirt freshman Dylan Morris and incoming freshman Sam Huard — on its 2021 roster.

But on Thursday, Patrick O’Brien — a 6-foot-5, 235-pound redshirt senior from Colorado State — announced that he will make a graduate transfer to Washington for his final season of eligibility as well.

“Everyone’s journey is different and my college experience has taken me to some incredible places,” O’Brien tweeted. “I am so thankful for every opportunity that has been given to me. With that I would like to announce my commitment to the University of Washington. #GoDawgs”

In four games (and three starts) with the Rams in 2020, the San Juan Capistrano, Calif., product completed 56.3% of his passes and threw for 591 yards with three passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns and two interceptions — while splitting time with redshirt junior Todd Centeio. That’s after he completed 62% of his passes and threw for 2,803 yards with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions, while adding two more rushing scores, in 11 games (nine starts) in 2019.

“It felt like he was a pretty good leader,” said Kelly Lyell, a Colorado State writer for the Fort Collins Coloradoan. “They started Centeio in the first game, and then when Patrick came back in you could kind of see it almost lift the spirits of the whole offense. I noticed that a couple different times this year, when they were playing this back-and-forth quarterback shuffle. The players seemed a lot more confident in Patrick O’Brien than they were in Todd Centeio. That says something about the personality and the locker room leadership and some stuff like that. I think he was pretty good at those things.

“I think his offense believed in him. I think his teammates liked him. I don’t think his head coach (Steve Addazio) liked him.”

The arrival of Addazio, as well as a dramatically different offensive system, likely propelled O’Brien into his second collegiate transfer. A former San Juan Hills High School standout, O’Brien also transferred from Nebraska to Colorado State prior to the 2018 season. He made four appearances as a backup at Nebraska in 2017, completing 18 of 30 passes for 192 yards.

O’Brien was originally ranked a four-star recruit, the No. 7 pro-style quarterback and the No. 90 overall prospect in the 2016 class by 247Sports. He chose the Huskers over scholarship offers from Colorado, Colorado State, Texas Tech and UNLV.

“As was noted coming out of high school, he’s got a really strong arm,” Lyell said. “I don’t know that he’s always the best at reading defenses, and his accuracy is maybe a little questionable. But he definitely can throw the deep ball. He’s a pretty good pocket passer, but he’s not super mobile.”

This marks the second consecutive season in which Washington has welcomed a graduate student quarterback to Montlake. Thomson — a former Sacramento State QB and Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year — joined the Huskies last spring but did not appear in any of the team’s four games in 2020.

Thomson has since opted to pursue a professional career, while Sirmon (Central Michigan) and Garbers (UCLA) both transferred. Considering Huard is likely to play his senior season at Kennedy Catholic High School this spring, O’Brien’s winter arrival is important to provide immediate depth in UW’s April practices.

And then, when Huard arrives this summer, a proper quarterback competition will commence.

Morris could rightfully be considered the favorite, after he completed 60.9% of his passes and threw for 897 yards with six total touchdowns and three interceptions in four starts last fall. The 6-foot, 200-pounder from Puyallup led his Huskies to a 3-1 record, with the highlight being an 88-yard go-ahead touchdown drive in the 24-21 comeback win over Utah.

But Huard also didn’t sign with Washington to sit. The 6-1, 190-pound freshman — who is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a five-star prospect and the No. 1 pro-style passer in the 2021 class — completed 63.1% of his passes and threw for 4,172 yards with 56 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2019, leading the state in passing yards as both a sophomore and a junior.