Even In Recovery, Ulofoshio Continues to Rank Among Best LBs
When Kalen DeBoer took over the University of Washington football program is was like he bought a new home only to find out a lot of stuff didn't work. The floors creaked. The water pressure in the shower trickled. The air-conditioning didn't cool off anyone.
Well, five days from the opening of fall camp, the new coach appears to have much of his Husky house in order.
Offensive tackle Jaxson Kirkland has his eligibility restored. Edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui can be the Achilles of this team instead of worry about his. Veteran running backs Richard Newton and Cam Davis should be ready to run again after missing all of spring ball.
Everything is fixed, except for one important Montlake furnishing — Edefuan Ulofoshio.
And this playmaking inside linebacker, as DeBoer knows by now, is a huge selling point for the UW, something to prop up the Husky Stadium property value.
For the second consecutive season, even while acknowledging his prolonged injury status, Pro Football Focus has named Ulofoshio has the nation's top linebacker. Let that sink in. Whether you believe it or not, they do.
A one-time, second-team All-Pac-12 selection, Eddie ranks one slot higher than Oregon's highly decorated Noah Sewell and you can no doubt hear the howling from Portland to Eugene and back.
Again, this is a coast-to-coast listing, not a Pac-12 specific glad-handing.
Ulofoshio currently is in rehab, working to get healthy again after injuring a knee during winter workouts, this after an arm injury against UCLA last fall cost him half a season.
DeBoer will only say that they expect the linebacker to return after the season begins, which, if he's on the ZTF's recovery plan, would be in October.
"I never want to sell him short because he’s relentless in his rehab," DeBoer said at Pac-12 Media Day. "Whatever the doctors said, I wouldn’t doubt if it was three weeks earlier than that. I know he’s doing really well.”
Unlike other lists, that are often formed by intuition, bias or guesswork, PPF uses statistical formulas to arrive on its findings. Who else can tell you he's attempted 148 tackles in his career and missed on just seven?
Ulofoshio spits out as exceptional.
Clearly, PPF likes what the Husky defensive leader has done before and what he's capable of doing again. The following is that outfit's latest scouting report on Ulofoshio:
Even though he has played less than 300 snaps in each of the last three seasons, Ulofoshio has more than proven to be one of the best at the position. He began as a walk-on in 2018 before eventually earning playing time down the stretch in 2019, and he shined (210 snaps in the last five games). From there, he was limited to only four games in 2020 due to the pandemic and played six games in 2021 due to injury. He owns a 90.3 career PFF grade across 743 snaps with an 82.0-plus grade as a run defender, pass-rusher and coverage defender. Ulofoshio has attempted 148 tackles over that duration and missed only seven. Unfortunately for Ulofoshio and Washington, the off-ball linebacker will miss at least a few games of the 2022 season due to another injury that was suffered during conditioning, but head coach Kalen DeBoer is hopeful he can return for a portion of the year.
Ulofoshio, a 6-foot-1, 230-pound junior from Las Vegas and Anchorage, Alaska, just needs to play a full UW season as a starting linebacker for the first time. Give him extended minutes and see what he can do.
In 2019, he was a walk-on, a non-scholarship player, who started the final three games after coming off the bench at Oregon State and turning in a performance — 9 tackles, including a sack and a half — deemed worthy of Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.
In 2020, Ulofoshio, with a scholarship in hand, was sensational over a pandemic-limited four games, He wracked up a career-high 18 tackles against Stanford (second in school history), another 14 against Utah and 11 more against Oregon State, bringing him second-team all-conference accolades, which were limited only because he was in restricted in games played.
Last season over six outings, Eddie piled up 16 tackles against the now no doubt gun-shy Beavers, 13 at Michigan on primetime TV in the Big House and 10 more in his final appearance at midseason before going out against UCLA.
This season, he'll probably return at midseason and pick up where he left off, tackling everyone with a fury. In some regards, it will be a brand new Ulofoshio, with him wearing No. 4 rather than 48.
If only the Huskies could get Ulofoshio on the field for a full 12 or 13 games as a starter, fully paid for and healthy once more.
PPF's computers might go crazy.
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