A Way Too Early Look at the 2023 Husky Football Starting Lineup
When a new college football coach takes over a program, people invariably say just wait and see what he can do with all his own players in place.
Well, Kalen DeBoer and his first-year University of Washington staff did exceedingly well in putting together a 10-2 team with mostly holdover Huskies supplemented by four key transfers who started: quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (Indiana), running back Wayne Taulapapa (Virginia), linebacker Cam Bright (Pittsburgh) and cornerback Jordan Perryman (UC Davis).
On Wednesday, DeBoer will sign roughly two-dozen new players in high school recruits, a handful of transfers and a junior-college prospect — and fully expect some of them to play a lot or even start right away.
As this Husky coaching staff repeatedly reminds everyone, recruited or inherited, if you're on scholarship, you're expected to perform at a high level.
From here on, it's nothing personal if you don't get promoted; it's competition that's roundly encouraged, and the best guys are going to play.
Whereas the Alamo Bowl against Texas is nine days away, the 2023 season opener against Boise State at Husky Stadium is just nine months out.
Barring any of the returning wide receivers taking early entry in the NFL draft, Kalen DeBoer's second UW team should have 15 starters back and everyone predicting big things for the Men from Montlake.
The Huskies will need to rebuild the offensive line and find a new first-teamer plugged in here and there.
That said, barring any offseason position changes and lingering injuries, we've put together our way-too-early UW three-deeps (with returning starters in body type) for DeBoer's second trip around the Pac-12 Conference. There's a lot of experience.
OFFENSE (7)
WR — Rome Odunze, Germie Bernard, Denzel Boston. Comment: This position is in great hands. Odunze is a first-team, All-Pac-12 selection after supplying 70 catches for 1,088 and 7 TDs so far this season. Bernard brings a bona fide deep threat from Michigan State.
WR — Jalen McMillan, Giles Jackson, Taeshaun Lyons. Comment: McMillan will replace Odunze as the most overlooked player in the conference, with his big-numbers season of 71 catches for 1,040 yards and 8 TDs landing him limited individual rewards. Jackson brings 28 catches.
WR — Ja'Lynn Polk, Taj Davis, Rashid Williams. Comment: Polk someday will be the UW's No. 1 receiver, but not until Odunze and McMillan head to the NFL. He's provided 38 catches for 649 yards and 6 scores so far this season. Davis has showed he's a clutch receiver with his late 62-yard game-tying touchdown at Oregon.
LT — Troy Fautanu, Elishah Jackett, Julius Buelow. Comment: Fautanu, a second-team, All-Pac-12 pick, will be promoted as one of the best players in the conference if not beyond in 2023 now that he's announced his return. He's played in 25 UW games and started 15 times.
LG — Nate Kalepo, Gaard Memmelaar, Zach Henning. Comment: Kalepo has been groomed to take over at guard for five-year Husky starter Jaxson Kirkland and has 25 games played and 3 starts as he closes out this season.
C — Matteo Mele, Landon Hatchett, Kahlee Tafai. Comment: Mele was used frequently this season, with the coaching staff preparing him to become the next starting center, and he counts 28 games played and a lone career start in 2019 at Arizona. However, the younger and incoming Hatchett won't take long before he becomes a serious contributor somewhere across the UW O-line.
RG — Geirean Hatchett, Myles Murao, Parker Brailsford. Comment: Replacing a three-year starter in Henry Bainivalu, the older Hatchett has been prepped for a first-unit job by appearing in all 12 games this season, some even as a blocking tight end.
RT — Roger Rosengarten, Victor Curne, Saone Faasolo. Comment: Rosengarten has started all 12 games so far this season as a redshirt freshman and a budding star. Curne, who will be a senior, provides an experienced back-up with 26 UW games played and 16 starts.
TE — Devin Culp, Jack Westover, Quentin Moore. Comment: The Huskies are well-stocked with Culp, who has started 16 of 38 games played, and Westover, who has opened 5 of 36. They have a combined 83 catches. Moore has 12 games of experience, 10 this season. Add Cal Poly transfer Josh Cuevas and his 57 catches this fall and legacy freshman Ryan Otton to this trio as highly capable players.
QB — Michael Penix Jr., Sam Huard, Dylan Morris. Comment: Coming off one of the finest seasons for a UW quarterback, Penix ranks as the nation's leading passer with 4,354 yards entering the bowl season, has thrown 29 TD passes, completes pass at a 70 percent clip and will be a serious Heisman Trophy candidate in 2023. Each of these three Husky signal callers has been a starter, with Morris pulling 15 of those assignments.
RB — Cam Davis, Tybo Rogers, Richard Newton. Comment: Davis started just one game during the regular season but he scored 13 touchdowns and is the dual-threat back the coaching staff requires. Rogers has been hand-picked for this offense. Newton enters his sixth season in the program.
DEFENSE (7)
ER — Bralen Trice, Anthony James, Sav'ell Smalls. Comment: Trice enters 2023 as the Huskies' top defender and a returning first-team, All-Pac-12 selection, and he has 10 career sacks and 11 starts. James, unless he moves inside, will join the edge rotation.
DL — Tuli Letuligasenoa, Ulumoo Ale, Jacob Bandes. Comment: The high-mileage Letuligasenoa brings 94 tackles and 14 tackles for loss in 40 games played, including 23 starts, as he eyes a sixth season as a dependable player up front.
DL — Faatui Tuitele, Voi Tuunufi, Jayvon Parker. Comment: Another seasoned veteran in the trenches though not quite the physical presence that Letuligasenoa is, Tutitele has started 22 games and played in 29. A unique player behind him, Tuunufi has appeared in 23 games, started two and come up with 7 sacks, more than anyone as a UW interior defender.
ER — Zion Tupuola-Fetui, Joe Moore III, Zach Durfee. Comment: Considering how much he's played and what he's done, ZTF might as well be considered a returning starter. He's a 2020 first-team, All-Pac-12 selection with 12.5 career sacks, 9 career starts and 31 games played. Durfee brings 11.5 sacks and 11 starts from his season's work as a redshirt freshman at Sioux Falls. Moore was a 12-game starter as a sophomore for Arizona State, with one of those outings coming against the Huskies.
LB — Edefuan Ulofoshio, Ralen Goforth, Deven Bryant. Comment: Ulofoshio likewise is another player who could be considered a returning starter, though he hasn't opened a game at the UW for a season and a half because of injuries and surgeries that got in his way. He brings 155 career tackles, 12 starts and 30 games played. Goforth has a similar line: 149 tackles, 13 career starts and 29 games played from USC.
LB — Alphonzo Tuputala, Carson Bruener, Demario King. Comment: Tuputala has appeared in 25 career games and started 12 times this season, and brings 79 career tackles, needing only to be more of a turnover-causing playmaker. Bruener continues to wait his turn for more time, even after logging 112 tackles and starting 5 of 23 games over two seasons.
CB — Mishael Powell, Leroy Bryant, Jaivion Green. Comment: The most veteran of the Husky corners, Powell has played in 20 career games and started 10, but he's still awaiting his first interception. He carries a big load with the other corner spot more often filled by a much younger, inexperienced player.
CB — Davon Banks, Curley Reed, Thaddeus Dixon. Comment: Every corner on the UW roster might get a spring or a fall look at this spot, with Banks coming off a season-ending injury after starting twice and picking up his first career interception. Reed, nicknamed "Lockdown," comes highly recommended. Dixon arrives seasoned from the California JC ranks.
FS — Asa Turner, Vincey Nunley, Makell Esteen. Comment: Turner brings a veteran presence to the back row with 17 starts in 35 career games and he has a team-best 6 interceptions in his time at the UW. Esteen owns a pair of career pass thefts in his limited duty.
SS — Julius Irvin, Tristan Dunn, Vincent Holmes. Comment: Irvin will come off a season-ending injury after starting at cornerback and he likely returns to the safety competition. He's played in 30 games and started 6 times combined at his two positions and this season he came up with his first career interception against Michigan State.
Husky — Dominique Hampton, Kamren Fabiculanan, Dyson McCucheon. Comment: The physical Hampton tops three veterans at the Husky hybrid position with 13 secondary starts in 40 outings and 76 career tackles. Behind him, Kam Fab has 21 games played and five starts.
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