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Inside The Huskies

Best UW Football Player of the Season Is Up for Debate

Any one of three Huskies has credentials to fit this bill at the top performer.
Dan Raley|
Jonah Coleman goes airborne to pick up a few extra yards against Northwestern.
Jonah Coleman goes airborne to pick up a few extra yards against Northwestern. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Five days from the Sun Bowl, Louisville still might be a little unclear while putting together a detailed and comprehensive scouting report as to who deservedly is the University of Washington's top football player.

Differing opinions are circulating out there.

To hear the players tell it, that Husky headliner would be sixth-year senior linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala, someone they voted as the winner of the Flaherty Award, which is the team's oldest and most prestigious accolade -- and aptly describes their most inspirational leader.

The Big Ten Huddle, a podcast that covers all things conference related, singled out junior running back Jonah Coleman as the Huskies' best player for 2024.

However, separate panels of the conference coaches and media members settled on fifth-year senior linebacker Carson Bruener as the team's top dog by collectively voting him as a third-unit selection on each of their All-Big Ten teams.

Bruener leads the Huskies in tackles with 93 and interceptions with 3 in 2024, and has 295 and 5 in his career, respectively.

Coleman tops the UW in rushing this season with 1,011 yards, ranking him fifth in the conference, and in touchdowns with 10.

Tuputala?

While he's played all over the field this season, lining up at inside linebacker, outside linebacker and edge rusher, what separates him from the others on the UW roster is his service -- he's started 39 Husky games, 16 more than his nearest teammate, sixth-year senior safety Kamren Fabiculanan. The UW's only returning starter from the CFP national championship game to reclaim his job, this guy has showed definite staying power.

If there was a natural tie-breaker, it might be each Huskies' NFL prospects. Each probably rates a mid-round pick at best right now, with Coleman returning in 2025 for his senior season in an effort to raise his draft stock.

Bruener has NFL bloodlines in more than one way, emerging as the son of retired 14-year NFL tight end Mark Bruener, who's now a Pittsburgh Steelers scout, which means pro teams might be willing to take a flyer on him because of it.

Tuputala?

His coaches turned him into a multi-dimensional defender, which just might elevate his NFL stock, which, in turn, might make him the Huskies' best player.

Louisville actually could hold the tie-breaker here. Whoever finishes up the strongest among these Huskies in El Paso probably deserves to called the top UW player for 2024.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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