ZTF Has Been Unblockable Again in 4 Days of Husky Camp
Zion Tupuola-Fetui was merely a spectator. A year ago, as the University of Washington football team prepared to open the season without him, the edge rusher stood on the sideline and watched.
Stretched. Yawned. Threw a football around. Chatted up whomever was in earshot. Headed for physical therapy day after day, everywhere but after the quarterback.
ZTF's torn Achilles heel was the beginning of the end for Jimmy Lake and his coaching staff.
Montana does not beat the Huskies with this player coming off the corner. The Michigan game on primetime TV introduces the Hawaiian to the rest of the country in a sack competition with Aidan Hutchinson. Oregon State has no real answer for him in Corvallis. Had he been able to play an entire season in 2021, ZTF would be in the NFL right now.
New coach Kalen DeBoer has caught on quick to the power of a healthy Tupuola-Fetui. This talented defensive playmaker should be a major factor in how successful his UW program is coming out of the chute. It's been fairly obvious that he's been a fall camp standout so far.
"He's been great," said DeBoer, who has Monday an off day. "You know with pads off, he's almost impossible to block just because he's so slippery and [in] the surface area there's so little to get a hold of him. In practice two, he was in the backfield every play."
Zion Tupuola-Fetui lets you know he's around.
Skylar Lin Visuals
More than anyone, ZTF is the heart and soul of the Huskies.
Two-time, All-Pac-12 offensive tackle Jaxson Kirkland has a plethora of talent and a deep-rooted connection to the UW football program, but he goes about his business in a stoic fashion. The same goes for injured linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio and fellow edge rusher Bralen Trice, other potential impact players who go about their business when able.
ZTF is the guy with plenty of swagger, someone who could be an SEC player in another life, and a high NFL draft pick waiting to happen. He knows he's good and he's not the least bit hesitant to remind people of this.
On Saturday, Tupuola-Fetui let a handful of boisterous Husky offensive linemen hear this, yelling across the field at them, after they loudly suggested that one of their own had neutralized him. For a play.
Zion Tupuola-Fetui and edge-rusher coach Eric Schmidt share trade secrets.
Skylar Lin Visuals
DeBoer has learned there's much more to the 6-foot-4, 249-pound junior from Pearl City, Hawaii, than the yellow-streaked hair, catchy initial set and extroverted personality.
"He's really smart sitting in the meetings hearing him," the coach said. "He's not a guy who just makes plays physically. He knows what's going on, whether it's scheme-wise or fundamental-wise. He's really working to become an elite player."
For now, ZTF makes teammates such as tackles Roger Rosengarten and Julius Buelow suffer when they try to block him had have little success as he goes flying by. His talent level is really high.
"He's a problem," DeBoer said of his defender. "You would have to have an answer for him, I know for sure, if you're going against him. You can't just let a tackle block him one-on-one or whatever the matchup is. He has an attacking mindset."
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