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Inside The Huskies

Elite Arizona Edge Rusher Trims List to 6, UW Included

Jalanie George has two high school teammates already committed to the Huskies.
Dan Raley|
Jalanie George, left, is one of the nation's leading prospects for the 2028 recruiting class.
Jalanie George, left, is one of the nation's leading prospects for the 2028 recruiting class. | ASU

From a high school located on the outskirts of Phoenix, the University of Washington football team already holds Class of 2027 commitments from its 4-star wide receiver and 4-star quarterback.

So why not persuade the 5-star edge rusher from that same Arizona school and the 2028 class to climb on board the train to Montlake, too?

Jedd Fisch's recruiters have suburban Desert Edge High surrounded with pledges previously secured from ace pass-catcher Zerek Sidney back on January 29 and from equally touted signal-caller Blake Roskopf on April 7.

On Friday, the Huskies remained solidly in the running for the biggest prize of them all in all-everything pass rusher Jalanie George, who pared his list of college pursuers to the following: Auburn, Florida, Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Washington.

While a half-dozen choices is a long way off from a final decision, each of these schools has to be pleased that they still have a chance at signing the 6-foot-5, 250-pound George, who is just finishing up his sophomore year at Desert Edge.

According to 247Sports, he's the No. 1 defensive player in the country and the No. 2 player overall, which makes his every move big news.

Did we mention that he wears No. 90, which was the jersey selection at the UW for Steve Emtman, a consensus All-American, the NFL's No. 1 draft pick and possibly the greatest football player in school annals.

With his extra long arms, George finished this past season with 54 tackles, including 16 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, plus 2 pass break-ups, a forced fumble and a recovered fumble for an 11-1 Desert Edge playoff team. He had a high game of 8 tackles in a midseason 27-14 win over Notre Dame Prep.

As a freshman in 2024, he was equally disruptive, collecting 63 tackles, iwhich included 11 TFLs and 5 sacks, plus 2 forced fumbles, 2 PBUs and an interception for a 10-4 Scorpions team that went on to win the 5A state championship.

With his frame and the potential put on a lot of heft, George could come to Seattle and find himself moving inside and coming out of a stance at defensive tackle similar to what freshman and converted edge rusher Derek Colman-Brusa is doing now.

Or George simply put on a lot of size and stay put, making him one of the scariest edge rushers anywhere.

His recruiting decision is likely 12 months off, if that soon.

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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.

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