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Inside The Huskies

Husky Linebackers Are Probably Better Than Most People Think

This preseason list has the UW second row ranked in the middle of the pack in the Pac-12.
Dan Raley|
Husky Linebackers Are Probably Better Than Most People Think
Husky Linebackers Are Probably Better Than Most People Think

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Washington Huskies

Entering 2021, the University of Washington inside linebacking corps had no equal in the Pac-12, though not everyone quite knew it at the time. Edefuan Ulofoshio and Jackson Sirmon were the Husky starters, good friends and even roommates at one point.

Overly mobile and aggressive, Ulofoshio back then was so highly regarded Pro Football Focus named him as the nation's top returning linebacker, a heady line item for his college football resume from a respected source, while Sirmon was the hard-hitting coach's son who brought a lot of trustworthiness to the field.

These two played just five games together in 2021 as the first-team UW linebackers before everything came apart — first Ulofoshio's arm or shoulder was frayed, leading to surgery, and then Jimmy Lake's team bottomed out, sending Sirmon to the transfer portal and a reunion with his dad at California.

SuperWest Sports just ranked all of the Pac-12 linebacker units and pegged the Huskies at No. 6, while noting that a fully healthy and available Ulofoshio for the first time in a season and a half might elevate them some.

In pondering this list, it was interesting to see all of the former Husky linebackers in contention for playing time or more elsewhere across the conference in Daniel Heimuli at Arizona, Josh Calvert at Utah and Sirmon at Cal, with the latter coming off a first-team All-Pac-12 season for the Bears.

All of these veteran linebackers still could have been together in Montlake entering this season if not for bad luck (Calvert's freshman knee injury), a bad choice (Heimuli's suspension) and family ties (Sirmon joining his father, Bears defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon). 

The sixth-year senior is ready to start again after injuries took him out of the No. 1 defense and a season and a half ago.

The junior has the chance to become a three-year starting inside linebacker for Kalen DeBoer's staff. 

The USC transfer left his former team behind after starting for two seasons and being relegated to coming off the bench. 

The junior started five games in 2021, had a 16-tackle game and was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week. He's trying to regain a No. 1 spot.

He played four seasons at the UW, starting two of them, and left when the team imploded in 2021, becoming a first-team All-Pac-12 pick at Cal.

He spent four seasons at the UW, starting two games when Edefuan Ulofoshio got hurt, and transferred to Arizona after running into trouble with the DeBoer coaching staff. 

He was headed for immediate playing time but tore up a knee in 2019 fall camp and never played in a game for the Huskies in three seasons and transferred to Utah. 

That said, Ulofoshio is back as a Husky linebacker starter opposite returning first-teamer Alphonzo Tuputala, providing either USC transfer Ralen Goforth or former UW starter Carson Bruener don't rearrange the pecking order, and this duo could change the face of the defense to something more attacking and turnover-minded this fall.

Ulofoshio, who had an 18-tackle game in 2020, looked as quick, cut and confident as ever while running through 15 spring practices. Tuputala has the chance to become a three-year starter for the Huskies. Add to that Goforth, who came to Seattle to play after Lincoln Riley's staff decided he would no longer be a Trojans starter and would come off the bench, and Bruener, who can still hold up his 16-tackle game against Stanford in 2021 as proof he can play at a high level.

SuperWest Sports says they're No. 6. Ulofoshio and Company have the capability of making that projection look silly. 

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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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