All is Right in the Husky World As Ulofoshio Runs with No. 1 Defense
Late last fall, Edefuan Ulofoshio made a triumphant comeback, appearing as a reserve linebacker in the final five games of the season for the University of Washington football team.
On Monday, the 6-foot-1, 234-pound senior linebacker from Las Vegas made another.
As the Huskies completed the first of 15 spring football workouts, Ulofoshio ran with the No. 1 Husky defense — doing so for the first time in 18 long months since a series of injuries changed the course of his college football career.
Wearing a new jersey after trading in his trademark No. 48 for 5, Ulofoshio teamed with returning starter Alphonzo Tuputala to give the Huskies a pair of veteran and overly physical linebackers who can run.
Claiming he's always been extra fit, Ulofoshio still looked noticeably chiseled even while carrying a few extra pounds. As he took his turn in different drills, he moved with a quickness that seemed a notch above his previous mobility.
All of this marked a fresh start for the UW defensive leader who transformed himself from a walk-on player into someone with whom Pro Football Focus had labeled as the nation's top inside linebacker entering the 2021 season.
"I changed my number mostly because I just felt I wanted to come in with something to prove," Ulofoshio said. "Forty-eight has done a lot of things, but No. 5 hasn't done anything on the field."
Edefuan Ulofoshio wears No. 5 for the UW now.
Dan Raley
And why that specific Husky number?
Ulofoshio pointed to former UW players who had made that digit memorable in some manner while they were in Montlake, among them teammates and yet another who was an iconic player from a different generation.
"Kind of the reason I came here was Myles Bryant," the linebacker said of the defensive back, now in the NFL. "He was a walk-on; he like worked his way up and got a scholarship. [Edge rusher] Ryan Bowman was the same story, No. 55. One of my favorite Husky linebackers is Michael Jackson. Five, five, five, five, five, five."
Jackson was a Don James-era defender in 1975-78 who still holds the UW record for tackles in a game with 20 — two tackles more than Ulofoshio registered in a 2020 game against Stanford — before spending eight seasons in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks.
"He told me to break it," the UW linebacker said. "We'll see what happens."
A twice-injured Ulofoshio, who's appeared in 31 games and started 12, represented the last inherited player to make himself available to the newly installed Kalen DeBoer coaching staff, which had to wait patiently for this 2020 second-team All-Pac-12 player to gain medical clearance to play against following knee and shoulder injuries.
Even while he was sidelined last spring and through the first eight games once the season began, the DeBoer staff came to fully appreciate Ulofoshio and his motivation.
"I can't say there's a player on our squad right now who wants it more than Eddie," co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell said. "[He had] a long injury recovery last season, [was] able to get back in toward the back end and get a little bit of a taste.
"I think he's excited to not only get back to what he had been previously but even exceed and excel beyond that."
Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.
Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.
Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12
Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley3
Have a question, direct message me on Facebook or Twitter.
