Washington Defensive Players to Watch vs. No. 4 Oregon
The pride of the Washington Huskies football program for much of the past decade has been the elite play of the defense year in and year out. Six defensive players have been selected from Washington in the first round of the NFL draft since 2013, and plenty of other talented players were in selected later rounds.
This year's defense is loaded with talent but has battled with injuries to major pieces all season. At full strength, the Washington defense would likely be in the conversation for the best defense in the country. Linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio, who enjoyed a breakout start to the season, is out for the year with an arm injury.
Linebacker Ryan Bowman is also out for the season with a shoulder injury, and two other players that will be named below have either recently recovered from injuries or have battled nagging injuries this season.
Despite the lengthy list of impact players missing time, Washington is still the top defense in the Pac-12 in terms of scoring (18.9 points allowed per game), passing (146.9 passing yards allowed per game), and total defense (324.9 total yards allowed per game). The 146.9 passing yards allowed per game is actually the fewest allowed in the nation — five yards fewer than Georgia's defense.
Here are a few players that have fueled this Washington and will play an important role on Saturday against No. 7 Oregon.
1. #22 Trent McDuffie - Cornerback
Washington defensive back Trent McDuffie (22) celebrates following an interception against Utah on Nov. 28, 2020.
© Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Washington has produced some elite defensive backs over the years that have made it to the NFL — Budda Baker, Byron Murphy, Kevin King, Marcus Peters, Desmond Trufant, and Taylor Rapp among others.
Trent McDuffie is next in line. McDuffie has all the tools to be a special player in the NFL. He's as smart a defensive back as there is in college football. He has blistering speed when he recognizes routes and makes a break toward tacklers. When he sees the ball coming a receiver's way, the receiver hardly has any time to make a move.
McDuffie is not just a sure tackler, but he's a thumper as well. For a 5-foot-11, 195-pound corner, he hits like a linebacker. He doesn't rack up tackles because he simply isn't thrown at often, but he can break off blocks and blast a running back or receiver on a screen. He's a physical tackler that will swipe for the football, so the Ducks must take care of the football when throwing anywhere near him.
2. #58 Zion Tupuola-Fetui - Outside Linebacker
Washington linebacker Zion Tupuola-Fetui (58) celebrates a sack against Arizona.
© Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
The Ducks have been swapping players at the left tackle spot, with George Moore getting most of the reps early in the year and TJ Bass shifting over for the past couple of weeks. Mario Cristobal mentioned that the switching had to do with how a certain offensive lineman matched up with an opposing defensive lineman.
Of course, the Ducks will plan accordingly for Washington's defense and watch film to make the best offensive line rotation possible, but if they watch any film of Zion Tupuola-Fetui, they would know that most game plans are thrown out the window when he's on the field.
Tupuola-Fetui, often referred to by his initials "ZTF," led the Pac-12 in sacks (7.0) and forced fumbles (3) while playing only four games in 2020. He also led the nation in sacks per game and forced fumbles per game.
Coming into the 2021 season, ZTF was garnering attention as a future first-round NFL draft pick, but a torn Achilles in the spring appeared to have ended his season before it even began. However, in what should be viewed as nothing short of a miraculous recovery, he returned to action just six months later, making his 2021 debut against UCLA.
ZTF may not be back to his full form just yet, as he has just two tackles and a sack in his three games since returning from injury. But he's still as dangerous as anyone on the field for the Huskies. His power, strength, and speed pose problems for just about any offensive lineman in the country. Sound familiar?
3. #44 Brendan Radley-Hiles - Defensive Back
Radley-Hiles celebrates after a big play against California.
© Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports
Brendan Radley-Hiles is in his first year at Washington after transferring from Oklahoma, and despite not enrolling until March 29, he's looking like the player that was one of the top cornerbacks in the 2018 class coming out of IMG Academy.
"Bookie" fits right in with Washington as a physical defensive back that can make plays wherever he lines up. He's stuffed the stat sheet in his first season as a Husky, recording 31 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, four pass breakups, and an interception.
Radley-Hiles has come right in and helped the Huskies become the best passing defense in the country. Everything will have to be earned when throwing at him, as he is another quick defensive back that's not afraid to tackle.
The Huskies' secondary consists of a bunch of studs with elite eye discipline and the ability to read plays before they happen, but against UCLA, there were times where Dorian Thompson-Robinson was able to get the ball downfield by looking off defensive backs whose eyes were stuck on the quarterback for a tad too long.
If Oregon is to have success through the air, Anthony Brown must use his eyes and make the right reads against the Huskies. If he locks his eyes onto a receiver for too long, Radley-Hiles and the Huskies will make him pay.
Bonus: #42 Carson Bruener - Linebacker
Washington linebacker Carson Bruener (42) celebrates a tackle against Stanford.
Washington Athletics (@UW_Football on Twitter)
Inside linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio had been one of the Huskies' best players on defense all season up until his season-ending arm injury suffered in the loss to UCLA. He was a tackling machine, but the Huskies needed to shore up his spot quickly.
Carson Bruener seems to have stepped in nicely after switching back-and-forth between outside and inside linebacker. He switched to the outside after Tupuola-Fetui's injury in the spring but was moved back to the inside in the summer.
Bruener, whose father Mark was a tight end at Washington from 1991 to 1994, made his first career start this past weekend in the win at Stanford, recording 16 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. The breakout performance earned him Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week honors.
There isn't a ton of film on Bruener outside of the Stanford game, which actually doubled his tackles total from the previous six games, and he didn't play all of last season. But he looked like a seasoned vet on film in the win against Stanford, and he could be a force in the middle of the field and coming off the edge for the Huskies.
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