UW Will Pull on Pads, Concentrate on Finding Defensive Starters

Except for a wide receiver or two, the offense looks fairly set as the University of Washington football team puts on the pads on Friday morning for a third fall camp practice and gets serious.

However, the defense is a different story.

More jobs are open for the Husky stop unit, from the front wall to the back row in the secondary.

Ryan Walters, the former Purdue head coach turned UW defensive coordinator, is entrusted with puttng together a group that could have more playmakers than a year ago. He has provided some marching orders.

"We definitely have to stop the run," Walters said on Thursday, acknowledging it was a team shortcoming in 2024. "This is the Big Ten."

If there's any constants in the defensive groupings that have taken the field so far, Western Michigan transfer Anterio Thompson at defensive tackle and returnee Zach Durfee at edge rusher will be hard to dislodge, especially Durfee, who missed half of last season and all of spring ball while dealing with double turf toes.

"He looks the part, obviously, and watching him go through drills he's definitely got the movement skills to be an impact player," Walters said of the 6-foot-5, 256-pound Durfee, who's been projected for greatness by two different UW coaching staffs now.

Of the incoming freshmen, 6-foot-3, 195-pound cornerback Dylan Robinson also has presented a physical presence in practice that's hard to miss and might indicate he's on the fast track to play right away. His defensive coordinator didn't discourage it.

"You see my track record, I have no problem playing freshmen," Walters said. "If you're ready to play, you're going to play. If you can help us win, you can help us win. How far he takes it is up to him."

The Huskies probably need to spend the next four weeks finding a starting edge rusher, a defensive tackle, a linebacker, a nickelback and a safety.

The Parker brothers, Jayvon and Armon, plus linebackers Jacob Manu and Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, spent a large part of the second practice working on rehabilitation drills with a trainer as each recovers from a knee injury.

Again, Manu seems to be pushing hard to get back jsut nine and a half months after suffering an ACL tear against Colorado in a non-contact situation.

If there's a player hard to peg at this moment, it's Arizona transfer Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei, who was a 12-game starter at edge rusher for the Wildcats last season for the staff that replaced Jedd Fisch.

The Huskies have had Uiagalelei come out as an edge rusher this week after he primarily spent spring ball coming out of a stance on the interior defensive line, largely in five-man fronts.

While he can play every position on the line, Uiagalelei could find himself become more of an edge rusher again with the season-ending injury for Russell Davis II and four-game starter Deshawn Lynch in uniform but hobbled and limited some by an injury.

The pads come on for Friday's third fall practice that begins at 10 a.m.

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