Husky Roster Review: The UW Defense Starts With Tuputala

The veteran linebacker is set to become a starter for a third consecutive season.

Voi Tunuufi (52) and Alphonzo Tuputala (11) chase after a ball-carrying coach in spring ball. / Skylar Lin Visuals

When Kalen DeBoer's coaching staff took over at the University of Washington in 2022, one of the first things it did was make Alphonzo Tuputala a starting linebacker for the first time. They liked his physicality, discipline and determination.

They paired him on the No. 1 defense with Pittsburgh transfer Cam Bright, rather than with returning starter Carson Bruener, and Tuputala and Bright went on to enjoy All-Pac-12 honorable-mention seasons.

A year ago, Tuputala had a new starting partner in Edefuan Ulofoshio, healthy again after two years of injuries and surgeries, and Ulofosho proceeded to turn in a first-team All-Pac-12 linebacker performance. Coming off the bench once more, Bruener showed he could play at a high level and enjoyed his own All-Pac-12 honorable-mention showing.

For this coming season, the player known as Zo remains solidly entrenched as a Husky starter while Bruener now seems certain to share the second row with him, making them the third different starting linebacker combo in as many seasons.

While the 6-foot-2, 240-pound Tuputala from Federal Way, Washington, is to be commended for his longevity -- his 27 Husky starts are 10 more than his next closest teammate, cornerback Elijah Jackson -- some people still wonder why DeBoer's staff so adamantly preferred him over Bruener, who are almost carbon copies, especially after Jimmy Lake's coaches used them in reverse order in 2021.

At least Jedd Fisch's staff won't have that issue of picking one over the other. It will just put these two veterans side by side to open games this fall. and let them hit everybody who comes into their air space.

Alphonzo Tuputala wears a dark visor to spring football practice. / Skylar Lin Visuals

This is one in a series of articles -- going from 0 to 99 on the Husky roster -- examining what each scholarship player and leading walk-on did this past spring and what to expect from them going forward.

By now, Tuputala is used to having to prove himself. He came to the Huskies as the least heralded of four linebackers in the 2019 class with Daniel Heimuli, Josh Calvert and Miki Ah You. He's the only one who stuck around the program to the end, let alone made it as a full-time UW starter. Heimuli transferred to Arizona and more recently to Georgia State, Calvert is finishing up at Utah and Ah You is out of football.

Alphonzo Tuputala reaches for a ball during spring practice. / Skylar Lin Visuals

With 40 percent of the roster changing over after the Huskies advanced all the way to the national championship game, Tuputala never really considered doing anything but coming back for one more season in Montlake. He's a program mainstay.

"Once we got to Fisch, were able to talk to him and see his staff, it was a great decision to be back here, to be home and to learn from them," the linebacker said.

Tuputala enters his sixth and final UW season with 153 career tackles, among them 9.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, plus a pair of pass break-ups, a fumble recovery and a 76-yard interception return against Utah last season that became an unwanted blooper -- the play ended one yard short of the end zone when he inadvertently dropped the ball before crossing the goal line.

Bruener and Tuputala should work well together and have each other's backs at all times. There's already proof of this. On Tuputala's botched pick-six, Bruener came back on the very next play and tackled a Utes rusher in the end zone for a safety and the final points in the UW's 35-28 victory.

ALPHONZO TUPUTALA FILE

What he's done: Tuputala had his own challenges earlier in his career, suffering a torn Achilles tendon in 2021 spring practice that set back his career some. He's been fully recovered for two and a a half seasons. With his track record -- 40 games played and those 27 starts -- he should be captain material and a highly reliable player.

Starter or not: He's one of two returning Husky starters with Jackson from last season's 14-1 team. He has far more Power 5 starts than anyone on the UW defense. He's two-year starter soon to become three.

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