Husky Roster Review: Harnetiaux Has Great Size, Likely Needs More Speed

Austin Harnetiaux arrived at the University of Washington in 2022 already filling out a fully developed college football physique.

At 6-foot-3 and 234 pounds, in fact, this redshirt freshman from Seattle is still bigger than nearly all of the other Husky linebackers.

At practice, Harnetiaux plays as physical as any of his veteran second-row peers.

He also wears No. 44, which is one of three retired Husky jerseys, with this one mothballed and not returned to service until 2021, when Oklahoma transfer nickelback Bookie Radley-Hiles asked to use it and was granted permission.

Harnetiaux seemingly has everything going for him in Montlake except he's not one of the scholarship players.

The obvious question is why not? What could be holding back this otherwise intriguing player?

Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Harnetiaux, who wears that No. 44 all to himself, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.

Austin Harnetiaux wears No. 44, one of three Husky jerseys that have been retired yet returned to service.

Linebacker Austin Harnetiaux wheels around a Husky football staffer in this spring drill.

Austin Harnetiaux joins in a post-spring song with Ryan Otton (87), Drew Fowler (54), Rome Odunze (1) and Jaden Green (89).

Linebackers Austin Harnetiaux (44) and Deven Bryant (17) hustle to the locker room after a spring football practice at Dempsey Indoor.

Austin Harnetiaux waits for his turn in this linebacker drill with Carson Bruener (42), Edefuan Ulofoshio (5), Deven Bryant (17) and Jordan Whitney (33).

Newly hired Kalen DeBoer and his co-defensive coordinator William Inge in 2022 welcome walk-on Austin Harnetiaux to the UW program.

Harnetiaux played for Seattle Prep, the closest high school to the UW, and originally agreed to be a preferred walk-on player at Wisconsin.

He changed his mind once Kalen DeBoer's staff came on board and offered him similar status with the Huskies.

Yet both of those Power 5 programs stuck a lower grade on Harnetiaux, suggesting that he needs to prove them wrong about something.

While his size and physicality checked off boxes, Harnetiaux likely isn't quite as mobile as those schools prefer for Big Ten and Pac-12 play, in particular the Huskies.

Following last season, the UW coaching staff has been fairly straightforward about becoming more of an attacking, aggressive stop unit — it's all about using faster players.

During spring football practice, Harnetiaux largely rotated between the third and fourth teams. A lot of faster guys are ahead of him on the depth chart.

He's made himself one of the guys, with USC transfer Ralen Goforth mentioning him in the above video as someone who had welcomed him to the program.

Harnetiaux has plenty of positives, but he appears to have a lot of ground to make up if he's going to secure steady playing time and a scholarship.

AUSTIN HARNETIAUX FILE

Service: As a freshman, Harnetiaux played in one game, drawing fourth-quarter, mop-up duty in the UW's 54-7 victory over Colorado.

Stats: Against the overmatched Buffaloes, he was credited for a tackle late in the game. So he's had a taste.

Role: Harnetiaux is so young and promising in numerous ways, but he's still down in the depth. For an immediate breakthrough, he should aim for a spot as a special-teams player, such as fellow backer Drew Fowler did, where some of those responsibilities are all about being physical.

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