Inside The Huskies

Huskies Go the Big Sky Route Again, Pick up Another Defensive Lineman

DeShawn Lynch will come to the UW with two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Dan Raley|
DeShawn Lynch was a fairly mobile defensive lineman for Sacramento State.
DeShawn Lynch was a fairly mobile defensive lineman for Sacramento State. | Sacramento State

Kalen DeBoer wasn't shy about taking players from the Big Sky Conference, adding UC Davis cornerback Jordan Perryman and making him a University of Washington starter in 2022, and signing Montana State defensive tackle Sebastian Valdez this past winter before he left for Alabama.

Jedd Fisch, DeBoer's Husky coaching successor, has no compunction about going down this road either.

On Friday, Fisch's staff received a transfer portal commitment from Sacramento State defensive tackle DeShawn Lynch, this after Portland State offensive guard D'Angalo Titialii pledged to the Huskies nearly a month ago.

That's a lot of FCS players moving to Montlake, all of a sudden.

If they're worthy enough, Valdez and Lynch could be side by side as starters on the Husky defensive line this coming season.

Here's what the UW is getting in this latest UW portal prospect: Lynch is a 6-foot-5, 283-pound junior with two seasons of eligibility remaining, hails from Folsom High School in that California prison town that sent running back Daniyel Ngata first to Arizona State and now the Huskies and brought former quarterbacks Jake Browning and Austin Mack to Montlake, and he started all 13 games for Sacramento State this past season.

DeShawn Lynch gets out and rumbles iwth a fumble recovery against Northern Arizona.
DeShawn Lynch gets out and rumbles iwth a fumble recovery against Northern Arizona. | Sacramento State

Lynch, unlike Valdez, didn't receive any All-Big Sky honors, For an 8-5 team, he finished with 34 tackles, which included 6.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.

In 2022, he appeared seven games as a reserve for Sacramento State's 12-1 team, collecting 10 tackles and playing on a defense that featured former Husky Ariel Ngata, Daniyel's brother, at linebacker. The year before, Lynch played in a pair of games and redshirted. In 2020, he was in school but the Big Sky season was canceled because of the COVID pandemic.

Lynch becomes the 11th player from the transfer portal to commit to the Huskies, who still seem to be in need of veteran offensive line help as they get down to their last three or four roster spots.

The defensive back and Indiana transfer wasn't shy about mixing it up with his new teammates.

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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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