UW Fresh Start (No. 24): With One Game Under His Belt, Esteen Is Looking for More
Makell Esteen played in his second game as a true freshman for the University of Washington football team, pulling fourth-quarter snaps in a 44-27 victory over Arizona in 2020.
The 6-foot-1, 180-pound safety from Hawthorne, California, had to be pleased with the immediacy of his college debut. He likely figured more game time wasn't far off.
However, that was it.
Last fall, Esteen began his second season on the sideline in street clothes, nursing a sprained ankle while watching the Huskies get upset by Montana 13-7.
Esteen never seemed to catch up thereafter. The defensive back was a spectator throughout a down season, even as the UW went through seven different starters at the safety spots.
Since taking over, new Husky coach Kalen DeBoer has remarked that he doesn't have enough film of everyone on the roster, specifically reserve players, to properly grade them.
Esteen might be one of those guys, with his handful of plays from a solitary game at the height of the pandemic in 2020 serving as his only barometer.
With less than a month until spring practice, we're offering intel and observations gathered on the UW football personnel in a series of stories on every scholarship player from No. 0 to 99. We'll review each Husky's previous starting experience, if applicable, and determine what comes next under DeBoer.
As is the case with any coaching change, it's a new football beginning for everyone, including for the Huskies' No. 24 on defense.
Esteen arrived in the same recruiting class with fellow defensive backs Jacobe Covington, James Smith and Elijah Jackson, with Jackson also teaming with him at Lawndale High School.
Smith returned home to Southern California after just one season. Covington appeared in all 12 games last fall and Jackson played in three outings.
It's still a race to see who among this class of secondary recruits, as three of them approach their third UW seasons together, becomes the first one to start a game.
Esteen looked like he was making great strides a year ago in spring practice. In the third of four scrimmages held, he came up and caused Jay'Veon Sunday to fumble and a short time later he dropped the same running back for a 2-yard loss. Esteen finished the day by intercepting a Sam Huard pass meant for the since departed Sawyer Racanelli.
Maybe someone can dig out some footage of that morning and share it with his new coaches.
UW Starter or Not: Esteen looks fairly athletic and it's likely time for him to make a Husky breakthrough with steady game-day snaps, maybe on special teams. As for starting, he's still too far down the depth chart to make that a realistic outcome. Covington is the odds-on member of his class to get there first, with Jackson presumably not too far behind him, with both in the mix at cornerback. But Esteen, the safety, should find himself on the field with more regularity.
Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Husky Maven stories as soon as they’re published.
Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.
Find Husky Maven on Facebook by searching: Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated
Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven
