With UW, Ward Out To Be Player He Was At Arizona

Isaiah Ward went from 11 starting assignments as a fully established Arizona edge rusher in 2023 to six for the University of Washington football team the following year and only two for the Huskies last season.

A career in decline?

No, it was just one slowed at times while Ward navigated a more injury-filled and competitive Montlake than he found in Tucson.

Twelve practices into spring ball, he appears to have reclaimed some personal momentum exclusively as a first-unit defender opposite fellow senior Jacob Lane as someone much more healthy and with fewer pass rushers standing in his way.

No more leg braces or Zach Durfee to deal with.

"It's be healthy," Ward said recently. "Doing as much as I can in the treatment room to make sure none of that injury stuff happens and I can fully go this season."

Husky edge rusher Isaiah Ward calls out an offensive formation in the 2024 Apple Cup. | Skylar Lin Visuals

He's a robust 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, up at least 15 since he first arrived at the UW and still aiming to reach a maximum weight of 255 this summer to carry into the coming season and eventually into the NFL if possible.

Ward has extra incentive to get to the pros in 2027. His uncle Bobby Wagner is a 14-year NFL linebacker, 10 of them coming with the Seattle Seahawks, who seemingly wants to play forever.

Isaiah Ward (91) holds a running conversation with UW linebacker Xe'ree Alexander in the heat of the battle. | Dave Sizer photo

The nephew would like nothing more than to spend a season at the next level while his mom's brother is still active in the league. After all, Ward played the past three seasons with his brother Anthony, another linebacker, at Arizona and the UW. It's always family football for him.

Yet first things, first.

Ward comes off a 2025 season which began with him playing behind the since graduated Durfee, replacing him as the starter against Maryland and Rutgers when Durfee got hurt and then missing five of the final six games with a lower-body injury.

In 2024, he began and ended the season as the starter, initially opposite Durfee, playing in all 13 games and opening six.

Still, it was a far cry from Arizona, where he started nearly the entire season and finished his time there on a high note with a season-best 5 tackles, including a tackle for loss and a forced fumble that wrapped up a 38-24 victory over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl.

Ward currently is one of five former Arizona players still on the Husky roster, all players who followed coach Jedd Fisch to Montlake. He shares this distinction with running back Jordan Washington, cornerback Manny Karnley, linebacker Jacob Manu and fellow edge rusher Russell Davis II. with each of them dealing with injuries big and small at times.

He has career totals of 58 tackles, including 15.5 TFLs and 10 sacks. He's had his moments, just not enough of them with the Huskies. He hopes to make amends this fall.

"I stay ready to go," Ward said. "Stuff happens all the time. You've just got to keep a right mindset that will pull you from wherever you are."

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