3 MIA Huskies We'd Like to See Show Up on Game Day
Laiatu Latu is alive and well.
We know this because of social media.
Latu recently sent out well wishes to the supposedly animated and lovable Rip Rowan who was promoted from a lower-level position deep within the program to University of Washington defensive-line coach.
On his 20th birthday during the Christmas season, Latu heard from his mother with a memory-lane photo collage.
It's always nice to hear from mom and know that she cares.
Latu is aging nicely.
He just hasn't played in a Husky football game for 15 months.
Latu is one of three random Huskies we're curious about, players who have been lurking in the shadows over several months and were unavailable for whatever reason for the UW's late-starting and early ending pandemic football season.
We revisit their situations, as best as we can make out from the bits and pieces offered by the coaching staff, and reset the stage for their emergence:
Laiatu Latu
With Joe Tryon opting out, this highly regarded player from Sacramento, California, was going to be the impact presence for the Husky defense, coming hard from the outside. Zion Tupuola-Fetui was going to back him up. Sav'ell Smalls was going to patiently learn from him.
The 6-foot-4, 265-pound edge rusher, who spurned USC to come to the UW, was the only lineman on either side of the ball from his true freshman class who got on the field during the 2019 season, obviously showing himself more advanced than the other meaty types.
Latu was ready to start last November, have a breakout season and take a few bows. It never happened. As then-DL coach Ikaika Malloe referenced in the accompanying video, this potential Husky standout was trying to work his way back from an undisclosed injury and was getting close when the football season ended abruptly for the UW because of a team COVID outbreak. Latu should be healthy now. He might be better than Ryan Bowman, ZTF and Smalls. He very well could be a starter.
Josh Calvert
The middle brother from a family of college linebackers, Calvert reported early for spring ball in 2019 and did well. A former quarterback, he showed off his athleticism and was headed for a special-teams assignment if not sporadic inside-linebacker minutes as a true freshman. However, he went down in fall camp with a serious knee injury that required surgery. His recovery has been painfully slow, as these things sometimes are.
Calvert, whose older sibling Bo plays at UCLA and whose younger one Ethan signed with Utah, practiced last fall but didn't make his Husky debut on game day. The Oak Park, California, product has missed two seasons now. UW defensive coordinator Bob Gregory acknowledged the staff wasn't rushing him. Expect to get a first glimpse of Calvert this coming season and have him show what he's got. His return should be gradual, as a reserve.
Triston Brown
The nation's No. 1 junior-college punter, who had won elite kicking contests, arrived this past season with all of those accolades in tow. Asked about his progress before last season, UW coach Jimmy Lake vaguely said the new guy from Brea, California, was doing well.
Apparently Brown didn't show up with the necessary technique. He sat out the pandemic season while little-used senior Race Porter took all of the Husky punts. And now Porter is returning for sixth season, compliments of the NCAA's free pandemic pass.
Brown, who has two seasons of college eligibility left, hasn't played in an organized football game since 2018. He might not appear in one until 2022. It's up to him to unseat Porter or draw cobwebs. We're thinking he makes the position his this season.
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