Four-star athlete Peyton Waters adds to UW Huskies’ growing commitment tally

SEATTLE – Peyton Waters has a transferable skill set.

In 14 games as a high school junior, he had 60 catches for 1,077 yards and 11 touchdowns; rushed 59 times for 491 yards (8.3 yards per carry) and 11 scores; compiled 51 tackles with four interceptions, two fumble recoveries, two defensive touchdowns and one forced fumble; punted nine times for 335 yards (37.2 yards per boot); and returned a punt for an additional score.

So: What position should he play on the Pac-12 level?

More on that in a minute.

Waters – a 6-foot-2, 170-pound athlete at Birmingham (California) High School – announced an oral commitment to Washington Thursday, over fellow finalists Northwestern, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC and Utah. He also earned offers from Arizona, Boston College, Cal, Oregon State, Washington State and more.

“For the next four years I’ll continue my academic and athletic career at the University of Washington,” said Waters, before reaching for a purple Husky hat during a ceremony at Birmingham High.

A Van Nuys, California, product, Waters was recruited to play safety at Washington.

Which 247Sports national recruiting editor Brandon Huffman believes is the ideal assignment.

“I think he’s a safety,” Huffman told The Times this week. “He can play that high safety role, good ball skills, pretty rangy. He can move sideline to sideline. I think he’s going to continue to bulk up. I think he’s got a frame where he probably plays in college at 195-200. You put him in there and let him play center field.”

UW may also have to play defense until Waters officially signs in December. After all, the versatile athlete – ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 32 player in California by the 247Sports Composite – took spring/summer official visits to Northwestern (May 12), UCLA (May 26), Stanford (June 2) and Utah (June 9).

But there must have been something in the water at Washington. To date, 10 prospects who took official visits last week have since announced oral pledges, and UW has received at least one oral commitment in six of the past seven days. That run may well continue, as two more recent official visitors – four-star defensive lineman/edge Dominic Kirks and three-star edge Deshawn Warner – will announce commitment decisions on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The Huskies’ class, which comprises 11 commits, ranks fourth in the Pac-12 and 43th in the nation by 247Sports.

At Washington, Waters may earn early opportunities at safety – where senior starters Asa Turner and Dominique Hampton will exit this offseason. Freshmen Vincent Holmes and Diesel Gordon, sophomores Vince Nunley and Makell Esteen and junior Kamren Fabiculanan are projected to remain on the roster in 2024.

And if that doesn’t work, who knows?

Perhaps Waters will excel as a wide receiver.