Husky Edge Rushers Surprised DeBoer in How Good They Were
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After holding 15 spring practices and now one in the fall, and watching plenty of inherited film and even TV reruns, Kalen DeBoer says the one thing he didn't fully grasp about the University of Washington football team was the talent outside.
The Huskies were rough around the edges — and that's a good thing.
His veteran players coming off the corners, in particular Zion Tupuola-Fetui, Bralen Trice and Jeremiah Martin, were far better than he anticipated.
This was a most pleasing development for the first-year coach from Fresno State who has had to get familiar with 100 new players in a short amount of time.
"With ZTF, Bralen and Jeremiah, I think that's the position as a whole that impresses me beyond what I realized we had," DeBoer said following Thursday's opening workout.
All spring, he watched these guys, in different combination of twos, fly off the edges and make his offense uncomfortable and later have it verified simply by channel-surfing.
Moving into town, DeBoer and half of his coaching staff temporarily shared a house in north Seattle for several months before they could move their families north and into permanent residences.
Invariably, they saw their guys show up on TV and they either saw something new or confirmed initial impressions.
"Now I actually go back and you might watch a Pac-12 Network game or something late at night and you watch the reruns from last year," DeBoer said. "Now you can see it come out now that you've seen it in person, and you go back and watch more film and you do see that it was there."
Zion Tupuola-Fetui and Bralen Trice are back, hoping to have breakout seasons as edge rushers.
Skylar Lin Visuals
Ironically, the three edge rushers he identified collectively started six games last season for the Huskies: ZTF three, Trice two and Martin one either because of injury or growth.
Tupuola-Fetui, of course, was a 2020 UW sensation with 7 sacks, including 3 strip sacks, in just four games and was named first-team All-Pac-12 and third-team AP All-American.
Yet he suffered a torn Achilles tendon that delayed his start to last season and a concussion that ended it early.
Entering fall camp, the Hawaiian player known as ZTF carries a solid 6-foot-4, 249-pound frame into his junior season (with pandemic allowances), which is nearly 20 pounds lighter than his career high but eight more than spring weight, as he seeks a happy medium.
His objective now is to play a full 12- or 13-game season as a Husky starter, jumpstart his 2020 success and play well enough to become a high-round NFL draft pick.
Trice, a 6-foot-4, 269-pound sophomore from Arizona, played for the first time last fall and appeared in all 12 games, and started the final two against Colorado and Washington State. He showed what he's capable of by scooping up an Arkansas State fumble and returning it 72 yards for a touchdown.
He seems poised to become a full-time starter and see what he can do with full responsibility over a full season.
Jeremiah Martin is making a strong bid start on the edge for the Huskies.
Skylar Lin Visuals
Martin, a 6-foot-4, 267-pound senior from California, joined the Huskies last season after transferring from Texas A&M. He played four seasons for the SEC team as a reserve and drew his first and only career college start opposite Trice against WSU in the Apple Cup.
His goal should be to finish off his college career as a season-long starter and see if he can stir up some interest in himself as an NFL player.
For DeBoer, he's a believer in all of them and eager to let them duke it out for playing time and reward them.
"I do think these guys are healthier, stronger and faster, too, than what they were a year ago for different reasons, right, injuries or another year into their career," DeBoer said of their progress. "So a lot of that's happening because of the hard work they're putting in."
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