Choosing the Husky Starting Lineup: Time to Find New DT Headliner

Cornerback and safety are glamor positions for the University of Washington football program. The Huskies have a certifiable track record for putting talented secondary guys in the pros.

UW linebackers are well-represented in the NFL, too. Just last Sunday, Shaq Thompson and Cory Littleton were on opposite sides in the same game, heading up the respective Carolina Panthers and Las Vegas Raiders defenses.

Ah, but defensive tackle has been the bane of Husky excellence for a long, long time. No UW position has been more feted with trophies, more showered with awards and more exalted with first-round draft standing.

It all begins with the monstrous Steve Emtman, who won the Outland Trophy, Lombardi Award, was a consensus All-American and became the NFL's No. 1 overall draft in 1992.

Injuries stripped him of long-term pro employment, but Emtman stuck around long enough to return an interception of a Dan Marino pass an league-record 90 yards for a touchdown on Monday Night Football.

Yes, that's not a typo — 90 yards for a defensive tackle.

The Husky roll call at this position certainly does not end with Emtman. Consider these NFL first-round draft picks, all Husky defensive tackles: Reggie Rogers, seventh overall, 1987; Ron Holmes, eighth, 1985; Doug Martin, ninth, 1980; Danny Shelton, 12th, 2015; and Vita Vea, 12th, 2018.

That's a lot of prime-cut beef.

For 40 years, a stalwart, well-decorated defensive tackle has been a Washington calling card.

More recently, Greg Gaines won the Pac-12's Morris Trophy, as the league's top defensive lineman, joining previous UW winners in Fletcher Jenkins, Holmes, Rogers, Emtman, D'Marco Farr and Vea.

Entering the coming season, Levi Onwuzurike has drawn preseason All-American attention, suggesting the UW DL is still in very good hands.

However, in this day and age of pandemic-related football decisions, Onwuzurike, with a college degree in hand and a promising pro future ahead, seems like a logical candidate to opt out. No one would argue.

That said, we continue to pick a starting lineup for Washington's coming season, giving new coach Jimmy Lake another opinion on who his top 24 players should be.

DT candidates: Josiah Bronson, 6-foot-3, 298, senior; Tuli Letuligasenoa, 6-2, 311, sophomore; Noa Ngalu, 6-1, 290, redshirt freshman; Sam Taimani, 6-2, 327, sophomore; Jacob Bandes, 6-2, 317, redshirt freshman; Faatui Tuitele, 6-3, 288, redshirt freshman.

DT starting experience: Josiah Bronson, 11 starts.

Our selection: Letuligasenoa. With Onwuzurike likely an opt-out and Bronson better at filling space than throwing down runners, the guy with the longest name on the roster, hyphenated or not, is next up. Letuligaseno has star quality written all over his low-leverage wide body. He became a fan favorite once he flipped on USC late and went with the Huskies. Who does that? Letuligaseno did. Coming off the bench, he had as many tackles (23) as Bronson did as a starter, hence out reason for not simply sliding the sixth-year senior into the headliner role on the D-line.

Other options: Well, there's Bronson, if he insists on being a big TFL guy. But he looks like a better second starter in terms of visibility. Nothing wrong with that. Taki Taimani is another possibility, but he, too, seems better suited for teaming up with Letuligaseno rather than beating him out. Bandes come with a huge reputation and year of weight lifting under his belt. Ngalu and Tuitele aren't as big as the other guys, but are physical enough to to plenty of playing time.

Greatest Husky DT: Steve Emtman. Hands down, he's the greatest Washington player ever. At any position. He led the Huskies to national championship. No one has been more dominant. He started 27 games — and his teams went 24-3 with him on the field, with 16 blowout victories (three touchdowns or more). He's the only No. 1 overall NFL draft pick in school history and no other UW player has been higher than seventh in modern times. He more often was double- and even triple-teamed because teams so feared what he might do to their offenses.

Other legendary UW DTs: Reggie Rogers, who went from UW basketball player to outside linebacker to second-team AP All-American at DT on the 1985 Orange Bowl winner; Doug Martin, who was a second-team AP All-American for the 1978 Rose Bowl team; Fletcher Jenkins, who was a second-team AP All-American for the 1982 Rose Bowl team; Danny Shelton, who was a first-team AP All-American in 2014; Dennis Brown, a third-team AP All-American in 1989 and the starter ahead of Emtman; and Vita Vea and Greg Gaines, Morris Trophy winners.

The UW Starting Lineup:

Left tackle — Victor Curne

Left guard — Ulumoo Ale

Center — Luke Wattenberg

Right guard — Corey Luciano

Right tackle — Henry Bainivalu

Tight end — Cade Otton

Tight end — Jacob Kizer

Wide receiver — Puka Nacua

Wide receiver — Ty Jones

Running back — Richard Newton

Quarterback —

Kicker —

Punter —

Outside linebacker — Laiatu Latu

Defensive tackle — Tuli Letuligasenoa

Defensive tackle —

Outside linebacker —

Inside linebacker — Edefuan Ulofoshio

Inside linebacker — Miki Ah You

Cornerback —

Nickel back —

Strong safety —

Free safety —

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