Healthy ZTF Is Enough to Give Huskies a Noticeable Makeover
Face it, what started Jimmy Lake on his way to coaching unemployment last year was not an impulsive sideline rant nor an offense that flat didn't work, though none of that was a career-enhancer.
No, it was elite edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui hopping off the practice field 15 months ago with a ruptured Achilles, robbing the University of Washington football team of its most impactful player from the season before.
All of a sudden, everything changed in an April instant for Lake.
Having a questionable offense was bad enough, but losing ZTF meant he no longer had a fearsome defense that might offset any ball-movement woes. Sure the coach made a bunch of mistakes during his brief tenure, but bad luck here really hurt him.
Rather than attack, Husky defenders found themselves back on their heels — someone else's heels other than ZTF's. Eventually the UW lost Ryan Bowman, the other pass rusher, plus linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio, the team's leading tackler, and this defense was Montlake toast.
With fall camp three and a half weeks out, we're breaking down each starting position and penciling out a depth chart across the board before the pads come on.
ZTF appeared in five 2021 games while starting late and finishing early.
USA TODAY Sports
We began the series with Bralen Trice, envisioning him winning an extended fall battle with Jeremiah Martin for the other edge-rusher role. Yet as good as he is, Trice merely serves as Robin to ZTF's Batman.
The 6-foot-4, 241-pound (or more) Tupuola-Fetui, a junior from Pearl City, Hawaii, is the super hero. If he can maintain his health and regain his magic, he's a first-team All-America selection and a first-round NFL draft pick. That's not hometown hyperbole; it's based on his previous body of work.
While you let that last brash assessment sink in, here's how we envision Kalen DeBoer's Husky depth shaking out for this second edge-rushing slot:
EDGE RUSHER
1) Zion Tupuola-Fetui, 6-4, 241, Jr., Pearl City, Hawaii
2) Sav'ell Smalls, 6-3, 265, Soph., Seattle
3) Sekai Afoa-Asoau, 6-5, 255, Jr. Tacoma
Over the past two seasons, the pandemic and the torn Achilles are the only things that slowed ZTF. Think about it, the guy really hasn't played a significant amount of time yet for the UW.
In 2018, he appeared in two games as a true freshman and upped it to a dozen games as a reserve the following season, picking up a series here and series there, but never extended minutes.
Two years ago, ZTF turned in four games and was sensational with 7 sacks, including 3 strip sacks, before COVID-19 abruptly ended the season. Everybody wanted to see more. Nobody except Stanford got in his way, and even then the Cardinal had to double-team him all game. He was named third-team AP All-America and first-team All-Pac-12, and was expected to be in the NFL by now.
The heel came undone in a non-contact drill during 2021 spring practice and sent ZTF to a surgeon. He made nothing short of a miraculous recovery by playing again in six months, but he didn't have his usual first-step explosiveness. He picked up just one sack. He played in four and a half games before a concussion curtailed his season.
After playing at a high of 278 pounds two seasons ago, he was slimmed down to 241 for spring ball, but figures something in the 250 range best suits him. He's had time to figure out what works best for him. A sizable NFL salary and leaving college football in a blaze of glory are at stake.
DeBoer will take him however he can get him and at whatever size. A disruptive ZTF automatically takes pressure off everyone around him, such as the down linemen, the linebackers and a rebuilt secondary.
Backing up this headliner is a holdover still waiting for his breakout moment and a newcomer from the JC ranks who should come in ready to play.
Sav'ell Smalls has played in 16 UW games and started one.
UW Athletics
While the new staff made 40 percent of the roster slim down, Smalls shot up 15 pounds to 265 over a year's time. The prize player of the 2020 recruiting class, he hasn't been able to dominate yet as he adjusts to the college level and tries to figure out how to gain an upper hand.
The Seattle native has appeared in 16 games and started one thus far, so he hasn't been just sitting and watching. He's awaiting his first sack. The hope is everything will just kick in for him.
Sekai Afoa-Asoau caused a fumble, picked up and scored at San Mateo.
CSM
Afoa-Asoau comes to the Huskies after spending a season at FCS Central Washington and another at two-year College of San Mateo in the Bay Area, with the pandemic disrupting things in between football stops.
He could surprise and be a playmaker right away. At San Mateo, Afoa-Asoau supplied an example of what he could do when he made a runner fumble with a crushing hit and was athletic enough to pick up the ball and return it 26 yards for a touchdown.
Conclusion: It's the ZTF Show here, plain and simple. Yet fans want to see Smalls make a breakthrough and Afoa-Asoau might be tough to keep off the field. It's a nice situation for the Huskies to be in. Lake will be left to forever wonder what if had that Achilles not become shredded.
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