With UW Opener on the Horizon, Who Replaces Kirkland?
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Not quite three weeks from the season opener, Jaxson Kirkland won't play against Kent State, per unexplained NCAA edict, requiring an offensive-line shuffle for the University of Washington football team.
Who fills that vacancy?
Sophomore Julius Buelow is a possibility. A starting left guard for six games last season, he changed positions this spring and was operating as Kirkland's back-up at left tackle early in fall camp.
Another option is sophomore Troy Fautanu, who started at both left guard and left tackle last season, replacing an injured Kirkland for two games on the outside.
Yet move some players around like some kind of a shell game and sophomore Nate Kalepo enters the mix, too.
Consider this No. 1 offensive line for the Kent State opener at Husky Stadium: 6-foot-4, 312-pound Fautanu at left tackle; 6-foot-6, 317-pound Kalepo at left guard; 6-foot-4, 294-pound senior Corey Luciano at center; 6-foot-7, 307-pound senior Henry Bainivalu at right guard and 6-foot-6, 303-pound redshirt freshman Roger Rosengarten at right tackle.
Kalepo has appeared in 13 games in his career as he patiently awaits his first Husky starting assignment.
Recruited originally by Chris Petersen, the guard from Renton, Washington, has embraced the guidance presented by Kalen DeBoer's first-year coaching staff.
"I like their vibe," Kalepo said. "It's kind of a like a Coach Pete vibe with their morals and everything they talk about. I really respect them."
He's one of the players who totally bought in to the new staff's call for better fitness, dropping his weight significantly from 330 pounds and carrying a large yet much trimmer frame.
Kalepo spent all of spring football as the No. 1 left guard while Fautanu ran next to him at tackle and Kirkland was held out waiting for his eligibility to be restore.
No matter who's out there, everyone maintains the Husky offense will be far more productive under the new regime.
"Explosive, explosive," Kalepo said. "Explosive is the only word I can think of."
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