Where Will Kyler Gordon Play? Everywhere and Anywhere in the Husky Secondary
Kyler Gordon shows up first in the numerical order on the University of Washington football roster these days, sporting jersey No. 2 after trading in 19 during the offseason. No one goes any lower.
Otherwise, the sophomore defensive back from Mukilteo, Washington, might be a little hard to pin down.
Gordon could turn up just about anywhere this coming season for the Huskies rather than nowhere, according to UW coach Jimmy Lake.
"He can play a number of positions for us on defense for sure and in the return game," Lake said. "Kyler can play corner, and he has played corner, and at nickel. We could put him back at safety. He's that athletic and that tough."
A year ago, Gordon entered the season as a starting cornerback and held the job for the first three games before giving way to Trent McDuffie.
Then a true freshman, McDuffie made his move and won the job while Gordon got lit up a few times in coverage, most noticeably at the end of the UW-California game that was delayed by lightning and won by the Bears 20-19.
Gordon didn't start again until the Apple Cup, when the Huskies put six defensive backs on the field to combat WSU's Air Raid offense. He played all along on the return and coverage teams, getting named UW special-teams player of the year after getting singled out for this duty in games against Eastern Washington and USC.
While he's unlikely to unseat McDuffie, who received postseason honors, or senior nickelback Elijah Molden, who's a preseason All-American candidate, Gordon could push senior Keith Taylor for a starting job or claim one of the safety spots from Asa Turner or Cameron Williams, both sophomores.
Lake, as the new Husky head coach, emphasized that one of the program changes under his leadership will be to take players like Gordon and have them ready to play multiple positions rather than specialize. He wants everyone to be overly competitive.
"That defensive backfield, though, it's stacked with a lot of players who have played some football," he said. "It's going to be competitive. We've got some young guys in there who are really good football players. There's no positions that are inked in where we say, 'This is the guy.' "
For now, all anyone knows is Gordon wears No. 2. Donning it, he might as well be No. 1 somewhere.
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