Over a month after Ryan Otton wrapped up his final official visit in late June he was still unsure where he wanted to play college football.
Oregon State, Stanford and the University of Washington each got their turn at the No. 5 tight end in the 2022 class for a 48-hour period and all three made a strong impression.
The 6-foot-6 and 235-pound senior-to-be for Tumwater High School narrowed his list of 13 scholarship offers to the Pac-12 North in May. With the last name Otton, many expected the four-star recruit to follow in his older brother’s footsteps and dawn the purple and gold of UW.
As of Wednesday night, and into Thursday morning and afternoon, Ryan was still sorting through his options. He wanted to know that he could make his own legacy, and not just be seen as Cade Otton’s younger brother.
Thursday night, Otton felt that he could. He called UW tight ends coach Derham Cato to tell him that he wanted to come up to campus on Friday.
After being forced to not have a full junior season last fall due to the Covid-19 pandemic and play only a shortened six game schedule, he wanted to make his commitment in person to Jimmy Lake and the Husky coaching staff.
“It was much better to do it in person having the whole coaching staff start barking at me rather than just doing it over Facetime,” Otton told TheDawgReport on Saturday.
The moment was almost as joyous as his official visit June 25-27.
Prior to his commitment on Friday, Otton saved the last of his trips in June for the hometown Huskies. After visiting Corvallis, Oregon on June 11-13 and Palo Alto, California on June 18-20 the four-star recruit was one of seven visitors on campus the final weekend of June that the staff hoped to close on.
Of the official visitors only one was already committed to the program in the 2022 class, three-star quarterback Jackson Stratton. Two other offensive commits, three-star offensive lineman Parker Brailsford and four-star wide receiver Germie Bernard, were also on campus for an unofficial visit which allowed the offensive players time to gel together.
“That visit was probably one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had,” Otton said of his time on campus.
Before the official visit, Otton got the opportunity to work with Cato, an invaluable experience that showed he was the right coach for him. He made an unofficial visit in order to workout with Cato and then returned later to begin his official visit.
“I’ve been talking with coach Cato for over a year now,” he said.
“He’s really smart. Very driven by the details. I got the opportunity to work with him on my official visit, do some drills with him. He’s a very good coach. Very driven by the details and I feel like he can get me better.”
With faith in Cato secured, and comfort knowing that he could create his own name at UW, the final reason why Otton chose the Huskies was their usage of the position.
“Washington uses multiple tight ends. They don’t just use one tight end. That’s a big thing for me,” he said.
“I want to be able to get on the field early. So, the fact that they use two or three tight ends is big for me. Like you said, splitting out wide would be really fun. I think if I could do it anywhere it would be Washington.”
A Special Bond
Over his four years at Tumwater High School Cade Otton set a high bar. He finished with 33 touchdown receptions and 1,705 receiving yards to go along with 95 receptions and led the school to four consecutive playoffs.
At the same time, he only had two Pac-12 scholarship offers and four Power Five schools total on his list when he made his commitment to Washington in August 2016.
While his younger brother, Ryan Otton, might not have the statistical numbers that his older brother did he does have more attention paid on him heading into his senior year. Ultimately, the comparisons are always going to be there for the brothers.
But when it came down to deciding where he wanted to attend college, it was about only one person.
“I mean, Cade’s a huge resource. He’s been through it,” he said. “At the same time, it’s Ryan Otton. It’s not Cade Otton. I’m always going to ask him if I ever need anything. But I want to, as you said, blaze my own path and create my own legacy at Washington.”
After Ryan tweeted out a graphic Friday evening confirming his pledge to the program, the two brothers went out to dinner. It was the first time in a long time that the two – and Cade’s wife – had the chance to sit down and talk.
Cade spoke in April about the potential that the two could play together, technically, with his extra year of eligibility due to the 2020 Covid season. It is highly unlikely that comes to fruition, and for both that is the best-case scenario.
The Husky junior was able to come see Ryan’s final game this spring, a 50-12 victory against Steilacoom at Sid Otton Field.
“It’s awesome to have your brother there. We watch film all the time of my games so it’s nice to have him there and being able to learn from him.”
Otton is the second of two tight end commitments for UW in the 2022 class, and both hail from the Evergreen State.
The other, three-star Lincoln High School (Tacoma, Wash.) Chance Bogan was the second pledge in the class making his decision in September 2020.
Once his decision hit social media several former Husky tight ends reached out with a congratulations text message, including Cincinnati Bengals third-year tight end Drew Sample, who signed with the program out of Newport High School in the 2014 class.
“Drew just wanted to congratulate me on being a Dawg. It was really nice to see that these players wanted me. That I would be welcome if I came. That’s part of the reason why I ended up committing.”
