What ZTF's Return Means for the UW Defense
Edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui remains the centerpiece of the University of Washington defensive unit, the big flower in this football floral arrangement. Everything builds around him. It was supposed to be that way last fall.
While the Seattle Seahawks had their season unravel across town because of quarterback Russell Wilson's finger injury, the same thing happened to the Huskies once Tupuola-Fetui's Achilles tendon ripped for no good reason during spring practice.
Those noted playmakers suddenly were unavailable, then returned to action hardly resembling their former selves and a pair of Seattle football seasons were ruined.
With a fully committed and physically uncompromised ZTF announcing his return on Tuesday, the UW defense just got immeasurably better.
Zion Tupuola-Fetui made his season debut in 2021 against UCLA.
Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports
Next man up is a brave little slogan, but it means absolutely nothing when you lose your biggest game-changer. Ask Jimmy Lake.
The former UW coach can regret his sideline shove, his recruiting lapses and his stubbornness in relying on John Donovan to devise an offense for him all he wants, but his firm grip on that job began to loosen that April morning when ZTF came up lame and hopped off the field.
In an instant, Lake's Husky team became vulnerable and not nearly as capable of winning, a situation exacerbated on defense when Lake lost standout linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio and fellow edge rusher Ryan Bowman to season-ending injuries right when Tupuola-Fetui gingerly was launching his return.
Zion Tupuola-Fetui walks to the tunnel after the Apple Cup.
Dan Raley
Lake's most dominant player at any position — and that includes the UW's All-Pac-12 cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon, both possible first-round draft picks — was relegated to training-room regular and bored practice spectator for six months.
Whereas the Huskies were highly disruptive with Tupuola-Fetui coming off the edge during the 2020 season, they made no enemy offense uncomfortable for long last fall. He wasn't the same guy when he came back. The junior outside linebacker from Pearl City, Hawaii, went from 7 sacks and 3 forced fumbles in four outings the year before to a single sack in five appearances.
ZTF is shown shortly after surgery, relegated to riding a scooter.
Dan Raley
After taking over the program and looking over what he had and didn't have on the roster, new Husky coach Kalen DeBoer has made defensive upgrades by bringing in Pittsburgh linebacker Cam Bright and UC Davis cornerback Jordan Perryman.
He presented an overdue scholarship to part-time cornerback starter Michael Powell and another to JC transfer and hybrid safety/linebacker candidate DeMario King, intending to use both of them to rebuild the secondary.
His coaching staff next should make it a priority to get outside linebacker Sav'ell Smalls finally ready to play at a higher level and turn him into that matching bookend outside linebacker opposite Tupuola-Fetui.
DeBoer still needs to unearth a capable defensive tackle from the transfer portal and make certain his new corners are reliable. Yet the return of this marquee edge rusher with the yellow hair should automatically make the overall D-line better and give the new coverage guys plenty of time to get comfortable.
A reinvigorated ZTF will go a long way to turning Husky football respectable if not fearsome again.
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