Choosing a Husky Starting Lineup: Who Gets Joe Tryon's Job?

Joe Tryon has signed with an agent and presumably will secure a high-level trainer to get him ready for his NFL career, especially since he will go 21 months without appearing in a football game.

So who steps into his starting job as a University of Washington edge rusher?

Who's the bookend defender opposite Ryan Bowman?

Fortunately for the Huskies, they have a fairly deep pool of players who fit well into this hybrid outside linebacker/defensive end mold.

Big, mobile players who won't necessarily make you forget Joe Tryon, but they will help transition away from him.

There's more than one highly touted disruptor waiting in the wings who was wanted by blue-blood programs across the college football landscape.

OK, maybe one of these guys will make you forget Tryon.

It won't be Bowman, because the senior owns the other starting edge-rusher position and has established himself there.

It should be fun to see who among the young guys, including the really youthful newcomers, senses great opportunity here and makes a big move to get on the field for a lot of minutes.

Sort of like what Tryon did.

OLB candidates: Laiatu Latu, 6-4, 266, sophomore; Sav'ell Smalls, 6-4, 244, freshman; Zion Tupuola-Fetui, 6-3, 272, sophomore; Bralen Trice, 6-3, 249, redshirt freshman; Jordan Lolohea, 6-2, 271, freshman.

OLB starting experience: Ryan Bowman, 17 starts (other side).

Our selection: Latu. The California native actually is on a much faster track in his career than Tryon after playing right away as a true freshman; Tryon redshirted his first year with the Huskies. Latu showed up physically ready to play from the beginning, and he appeared in 12 of 13 games last season. He was the only lineman, on either side of the ball, among the UW's six first-year players who played regularly and didn't take a redshirt season. Husky defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski singled out Latu this spring as a player with unique skills considering his size — meaning the big guy can run. The DC said flatly Latu is expected to make a huge impact. Who's to argue?

Other options: Latu will be tough to displace, but then again Smalls is considered highly unique in his own way. He might be the best playmaker, the biggest disruptive force, among the incoming freshmen. UW newcomers like him in the past have been known to play right away and make things happen. Look for Smalls to pull significant minutes even if he has to defer to the talented Latu as the starter. Tupuola-Fetui likewise played in a dozen games as a redshirt freshman and is the biggest of the job candidates, and will see action. Trice and Lolohea haven't played for the Huskies on Saturdays yet and will slowly work their way into the mix.

Greatest Husky OLB: Hau'oli Kikaha was so good he answered to two names at Washington, also known as Hau'oli Jamora. He proved to be both Superman and Clark Kent for the Huskies, wracking up 19 sacks as a senior, 32 over his final two college seasons. Coming off a pair of serious knee injuries, he recovered to become a consensus All-America selection in 2014 and was able to enjoy a reasonable NFL career before retiring from pro football this past February.

Other legendary UW OLBs: Mark Stewart was a first-team AP All-America selection in 1982; Jason Chorak collected a school-record 14.5 sacks and was named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year as a junior in 1996; Chico Fraley and Donald Jones were starters for the 1991 national championship team.

The UW Starting Lineup:

Left tackle — Victor Curne

Left guard — Ulumoo Ale

Center — Luke Wattenberg

Right guard — Corey Luciano

Right tackle — Henry Bainivalu

Tight end — Cade Otton

Tight end — Jacob Kizer

Wide receiver — Puka Nacua

Wide receiver —

Running back —

Quarterback —

Kicker —

Punter —

Outside linebacker — Laiatu Latu

Defensive tackle —

Outside linebacker —

Inside linebacker —

Cornerback —

Nickel back —

Strong safety —

Free safety —

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