This Husky Football Team Starts With Defense

Let's get something straight a week from the season opener: while this University of Washington football team might have the fastest quarterback in Power 4 football and a veteran offensive line to lead him down the field, this is foremost a defensive crew.

The best football minds out there know you win with defense first and Jedd Fisch's third team in Montlake will attempt to do that.

The 2023 UW entry, even with Michael Penix Jr. capable of making anything happen at quarterback, found this out in the College Football Playoff national championship game to its detriment and fell short to Michigan.

The 1991 Huskies learned this to their benefit by unleashing monster defensive tackle Steve Emtman and his assorted wing men on everyone who stood in their way and they won it all, beating Michigan at the end.

In a short amount of time, the UW has brought in a defensive coordinator mastermind in Ryan Walters and given him nearly all of the resources he needs to succeed -- and that doesn't count the defense-heavy recruiting class coming in next year.

"Everybody has had different days where they've excelled," Walters said. "I'm really pleased with the guys who play on the front four. I've been really pleased with the linebacking corps and the secondary. I'm happy with where we are."

The UW linebackers have the potential to be ridiculously good, whether it's pairing Jacob Manu with Zaydrius Rainey-Sale or Manu with Xe'ree Alexander on the second row.

Jacob Manu awaits the next play in the UW Spring Game. | Dave Sizer photo

Manu just wants it more than anyone else who will be on the field with him, whether that's teammates or opponents. You can hear Manu above all other defensive voices on the field and feel his presence sideline to sideline.

When fall camp began, Rainey-Sale called himself the fastest linebacker in the nation and no one outwardly questioned it. He has elite speed, no matter where he ranks. He's an NFL player waiting to happen.

Manu, at the UW and Arizona, is a 32-game career starter, while Rainey-Sale drew two starting assignments in his abbreviated 2025 debut.

If all goes well, the Huskies will have Manu and Rainey-Sale each for a full season rather than for just five and eight games, respectively, which was their limit last season.

Elinneus Davis mixes it up with the Illinois offense in 2025. | Dave Sizer photo

Up front, the Huskies return two of their four starters in defensive tackle Elinneus Davis and edge rusher Jacob Lane, with a third starter back in defensive tackle Ta'ita'i Uiagalelei, who is still waiting to get eligible for a fifth season. Lane and Davis opened 13 and 10 games in 2025, respectively.

The 6-foot-3, 320-pound Davis has made himself a significantly improved player for each of the past two seasons and he might have had the best spring showing of any Husky in April. He could be getting close to rate consideration as an honors player.

The UW will line them up with a pair of advanced freshmen in 6-foot-5, 235-pound edge rusher Ramzak Fruean and 6-foot-5, 295-pound defensive tackle Derek Colman-Brusa, who will probably alternate heroic plays with painful learning moments as they get comfortable.

Zaydrius Rainey-Sale is poised to become a starter and a standout player for the UW this season. | Dave Sizer phot

Fruean has the speed, same at Rainey-Sale, to give the Huskies the sack-producing player they've been lacking for a couple of seasons. This kid likewise has the potential for star status that could elevate him fairly quickly.

In the secondary, the UW will relay on a pair of proven tough guys at safety in the hard-hitting Alex McLaughlin and Rylon Dillard-Allen, who were 13- and 3-game starters in 2025. McLaughlin, a 36-game career starter counting Northern Arizona, is the lone conference honors recipient returning from last season, receiving All-Big Ten honorable mention.

The cornerbacks look promising in coverage in Virginia transfer Manny Karnley and Dylan Robinson, 10- and six-game starters in the ACC and for the UW in 2025. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Karnley and the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Robinson each share NFL potential.

At nickelback, Rahshawn Clark returns for his third season at the UW as a five-game starter and likewise is capable of coming up with turnovers,

What makes this Husky team even more formidable is an overabundance of capable and seasoned players at linebacker and across the defensive line waiting in the wings to get on the field or rotating in when they can.

Buddah Al-Uqdah is a 20-game career linebacker starter for the UW and Washington State while Alexander is a collective 18-game career starter on the second row now for Idaho, UCF and the Huskies.

Russell Davis II missed all of 2025 but is back as a UW edge rusher. | Dave Sizer photo

On the edge, Isaiah Ward returns as a 19-game career starter at the UW and Arizona while Russell Davis II is a one-time Big Ten co-Defensive Player of the Week for his 3-sack outing against UCLA in 2024 for the Huskies.

Should he get the go-ahead to play in games again, the 6-foot-4, 285-pound Uiagalelei brings 31 career starts from the UW and Arizona.

Similarly at defensive tackle, Ball State transfer Darin Conley was a 12-game starter last season, Sacramento State transfer DeSean Watts opened 11 games in 2025 and Kai McClendon was a five-game starter for Mississippi State in 2024. They're all ready to go.

That's a lot of defensive firepower in Montlake all of a sudden, trying to make big things happen.

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