Inside The Huskies

With Portal Pick-Ups, UW Increases the Competition at Safety

The Huskies have added back-row players from Oklahoma and Sacramento State.

Dan Raley

Justin Harrington will transfer from Oklahoma to the UW.
Justin Harrington will transfer from Oklahoma to the UW. / NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

As Jedd Fisch's University of Washington coaching staff goes up and down the aisles of the transfer portal, treating it like some thrift store, the marching orders are clear: Find a bunch of offensive linemen and maybe one of everything else.

This shopping list held up until this past weekend when the Huskies drew a commitment from Sacramento State safety Cameron Broussard, this after much earlier securing a pledge from Oklahoma safety/nickelback Justin Harrington.

Who knew the UW's back row -- providing the 6-foot-3, 219-pound Harrington goes this route --needed such an upgrade?

Granted, Dom Hampton and Asa Turner, the Huskies' CFP championship game starters, are now in the NFL and playing for Florida, respectively.

Cam Broussard extends to bring down a Utah Tech runner.
Cam Broussard extends to bring down a Utah Tech runner. / Sacramento State

Yet sixth-year senior Kamren Fabiculanan and fifth-year junior Makell Esteen, who've appeared in 34 and 23 UW games so far, ran with the No. 1 defense for nearly all of spring football practice, Behind them were redshirt freshman Vincent Holmes and freshman Peyton Waters, with yet two more freshmen in Paul Mencke Jr. and Rahim Wright III on the way for fall camp. Add to that sophomore Tristan Dunn, who spent much of the spring at nickelback or in a hybrid linebacker spot yet can operate at safety if needed.

Enter Broussard and Harrington.

One is a first-team All-Big Sky safety, the other soon to be a seventh-year college player.

Both are coming off season-ending injuries, with the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Broussard starting 11 regular-season games before missing two FCS playoff outings with an unspecified ailment while Harrington lasted just two Sooners games in 2023 before tearing up a knee and having surgery.

While Fabiculanan and Esteen could hold up as the first-team safeties, Fisch has stressed that program position competition will be at the highest levels at all times.

The newcomers clearly fit an extra-large size for safeties, not unlike the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Hampton, who recently was drafted by the Washington Commanders as a fifth-round pick.

Harrington is a physical defensive back who collected 29 tackles and a pair of interceptions in 19 games over three seasons for Oklahoma. Of course, he will need to show he is healthy again. Broussard piled up 169 tackles, broke up 15 passes and intercepted 4 passes in three seasons at Sac State.

May the hardest-hitting safeties come to the forefront in fall camp.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley

DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.