Inside The Huskies

Seeking DL Help, Huskies Offer New Mexico State Player

Ezra Christensen originally is from Africa and he's a late-bloomer to the game of football.
Dan Raley|
Ezra Christensen from New Mexico State has a UW offer.
Ezra Christensen from New Mexico State has a UW offer. | NMSU

With the transfer portal in its full madness, the University of Washington football team made an offer on Friday to defensive tackle Ezra Christensen, formerly of New Mexico State and Fresno State, according to the player.

With pending graduation, lingering injuries and a portal defection greatly thinning the ranks, the Huskies find themselves badly in need of more bodies at the defensive-line position.

Things to know about this 6-foot-2, 280-pound Christensen begin with the fact he's a late bloomer to the game of football.

Aa a sophomore in high school, he arrived in Poway, California, in the San Diego area, from Sierra Leone in West Africa.

Christensen has played just five years of football.

He's spent one season at Palomar High School, another at San Diego Mesa College, two at Fresno State and just one at New Mexico State.

in 26 career games for the Bulldogs and Aggies, Christensen started just six times -- all for New Mexico State over the latter half of this past season.

He has a recruiting visit scheduled next week to go see Colorado and Deion Sanders.

Wierd fact: Christensen has the unique distinction of appearing in UW defensive coordinator Ryan Walters' very first game as the Purdue head coach in 2023 and he came up with a lone tackle in Fresno State State's 39-35 victory in West Lafayette, Indiana.

While still relatively new to the game, he played against Michigan for Fresno State in 2024 and against Tennessee for New Mexico State this past season, both of which were lopsided losses with crowds in excess of 100,000.

He finished with a tackle in each game, which included a sack against the Wolverines.

This past season, Christensen began as a reserve defensive tackle for the first four games before earning his first college start against Sam Houston in a 37-10 victory.

In 11 outings for New Mexico State, a Conference USA member which finished with a 4-8 record, Christensen finished with 42 tackles, including 11 tackles for loss and 6 sacks. He also had 10 quarterback hurries, 2 pass deflections and a forced fumble.

In his two seasons at Fresno State, and well past Kalen DeBoer's time there, he had 12 tackles in 15 games, which included 2 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.

Whether or not he'll end up at the UW, Christensen seems a little undersized, though his coaches seem to like his rangy athleticism.

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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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