Inside The Huskies

Here's What Taylor Mays Has to Work with at UW Safety

FIU transfer CJ Christian has the most college starts among the Husky job candidates.
Dan Raley|
FIU's CJ Christian, now at the UW, brings down Jacksonville State's Michael Pettway.
FIU's CJ Christian, now at the UW, brings down Jacksonville State's Michael Pettway. | Dave Hyatt / Special to the Gadsden Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Playing safety wasn't complicated at all for Taylor Mays, a 50-game starter and a three-time, first-team All-America selection at USC.

However, coaching this position for the first time at the University of Washington is bound to be much more of a challenge for Mays.

Starters Kam Fabiculanan and Cam Broussard used up their eligibility and have moved on, requiring others to step in.

Entering spring football in a little more than a month, safety replacements will consist of a couple of returnees who have been occasional starters, a host of young, untested players and a pair of accomplished transfers.

In that third group emerges CJ Christian, a fairly worldly newcomer from Florida International University, or FIU, a Conference USA team where he spent the past three seasons and started 24 of 27 games, more than anyone else in the Husky safety competition.

"CJ, as you know, [was a] productive player at his previous location, which is always good," UW secondary coach John Richardson said. "More importantly, he's intelligent and he loves the game of football. He likes to be able to show different disguises, which is phenomenal."

Before he could become a college football player, Christian had to work behind the counter at a dry-cleaning business in his hometown of Normal, Illinois, and experience a three-year gap without the game after finishing high school.

He initially received a scholarship in 2018 from Augustana, a Division II school in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, only to have it rescinded once he arrived at the school and learned he was an academic non-qualifier.

In 2021, the 6-foot-1, 196-pound Christian finally returned to football and spent a season at a junior college, Iowa Central Community College, where he teamed with Maximus McCree, currently a Husky offensive tackle.

Next it was on to FIU for three years where he overcame a dislocated shoulder that prematurely ended his first season. He comes to Montlake with 151 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 5 interceptions, 10 pass break-ups and a fumble recovery.

Mays, the Huskies' new safeties coach, will try to help him enhance those numbers while roaming the back row throughout the Big Ten.

"He brings a lot to the table, good times, looking to grow," Richardson said of Christian, "and with Taylor being able to show him the ropes out there."

HUSKY SAFETY CANDIDATES

CJ Christian, 6-1, 196, Sr.

Started 24 of 27 games at FIU.

Alex McLaughlin, 6-2, 190, Jr.

All-Big Sky selection, started 23 of 23 games for Northern Arizona.

Makell Esteen, 6-f, 202, Sr.

Started 7 of 32 UW games.

Vincent Holmes, 6-0, 187, So.

Started 1 of 16 Husky games.

Rahim Wright II, 6-0, 178, R-Fr.

Appeared in 1 game in 2024.

Rahshawn Clark, 6-0, 180, R-Fr.

Appeared in 1 game in 2024.

Paul Mencke Jr., 6-2, 185, R-Fr.

Redshirted and didn't play in 2024.

Rylon Dillard-Allen, 6-0, 180, Fr.

Nicknamed Batman, new to the program.

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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