Washington scored a big one on Thursday.

Van Nuys (Calif.) Birmingham athlete Peyton Waters announced his verbal commitment to the Huskies Thursday afternoon. The 6-foot-2, 170-pound Waters took official visits to Northwestern, UCLA, Stanford, Utah, and then finally to UW last weekend before making his decision.

Waters plays receiver and defensive back for Birmingham, but it appears he’ll begin his Husky career on the defensive side of the ball after co-DC Chuck Morrell (safeties) and Juice Brown (corners) took the lead on his recruitment. DawgMan’s Chris Fetters reported Waters will begin at safety.

Waters is one of the top athletes in the region. He’s a 4-star recruit in the industry-generated 247 Composite and ranked as the No. 32 prospect from the state of California. Overall, he’s the No. 392 recruit in the class.

As a junior last fall, he made plays all over the field. At receiver, he hauled in 60 passes for 1,077 yards and 11 touchdowns. As a wildcat quarterback, he ran for 491 yards and 11 more scores. In the secondary, he recorded 51 tackles, four interceptions, four pass breakups, four tackles for loss, and a forced fumble. One of his picks was returned for a touchdown, and he added another score on punt return.

UW is getting a proven playmaker.

Here’s the moment he made his decision known:

UW’s 2024 class grows to 11 known commits now. Coach Kalen DeBoer and Co. have set up shop in California and found decent success. Eight of the 11 pledges are from California recruits, including each of the three highest-ranked.

You can see Waters’ highlight tape below, via Hudl: