Huskies Offer Ex-West Virginia, Georgia Tech DT Who's Played in 49 Games
A year ago, the transfer portal priority for the University of Washington football team was adding cornerbacks and the Huskies went out and brought in three.
This time, the UW appears hellbent on finding defensive linemen, in particular tackles to replace the departing Tuli Letuligasenoa and Ulumoo Ale.
On Saturday, the Huskies extended an offer to Mike Lockhart, a 6-foot-3, 308-pound defensive tackle from West Virginia and Georgia Tech. He holds other offers from Michigan State, Boston College, Colorado and SMU.
On social media, Lockhart refers to himself as "Big Grizzly," which is just the sort of player Kalen DeBoer's team is seeking — someone good-sized and unnerving in the trenches.
Lockhart recently was named as an All-Big-12 honorable-mention selection.
A Birmingham, Alabama, product, Lockhart spent the past two seasons with the Mountaineers after three at Georgia Tech. He has a season of eligibility remaining as a grad transfer.
He's not short on experience at all, having appeared in 49 college games and started 22. He comes off a season in which he finished with 21 tackles, including 9 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, for an 8-4 West Virginian team headed to the Mayo Bowl to face North Carolina in Charlotte without him.
In late September, the agile Lockhart preserved the Mountaineers' 24-21 victory over TCU by blocking a 46-yard field-goal attempt with 4:47 left to play in Fort Worth.
"The hole came open and I blocked it and the rest is history," he said in a postgame interview.
Coming out of high school, Lockhart initially committed to UAB in his hometown before changing his mind and heading for Georgia Tech. He left the ACC school when the coaching staff appeared to be in trouble in terms of job security and was eventually fired well after he left.
At West Virginia, he was used as a reserve during the 2022 season and started all 12 games this past fall, and was considered a significant loss to the Mountaineers' defense.
In his final game of 2022, Lockhart played against Oklahoma State and cornerback Jabbar Muhammad, now a Husky starter. In the Mountaineers' 24-19 victory in Stillwater, Lockhart had a pair of tackles, including a half of a TFL, while Muhammad finished with a tackle and a pass break-up.
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