Elijah Jackson Latest Husky to Try New Position

The returning starting cornerback got a trial run in the slot.

Elijah Jackson gave nickelback a try in the UW's sixth fall practice. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Coming out of spring football, Jedd Fisch's University of Washington coaches had to be asking themselves the following: We have three solid cornerbacks who can be legitimate starters, so how do we get them into the lineup all at once?

On Tuesday, they presented a possible solution by putting junior cornerback Elijah Jackson -- one of just two returning Husky starters from the CFP national championship game -- at nickelback midway through the two-and-a-half-hour practice.

Rather than line up on the outside, the 6-foot-1, 193-pound Jackson ran around for a half-dozen plays in the slot, leaving Arizona transfer Ephesians Prysock and holdover senior Thaddeus Dixon to handle the outside coverage duties while he was on the field.

Jackson's trial run at nickel makes him one of three Husky players who have been bouncing between decidedly different positions, with defensive linemen in senior Voi Tunuufi and Sacramento State transfer Deshawn Lynch both pulling snaps at both edge rusher and defensive tackle.

If he changed positions, Jackson would follow in the football footsteps of the departed Mishael Powell, who started at corner for the Huskies in 2022 and became a game-opening player at nickel last season for Kalen DeBoer's staff. Powell, of course, transferred to Miami.

The 6-foot-1, 280-pound Tunuufi has split time between down lineman and the edge for the past three seasons for two different coaching staffs, headed up by Jimmy Lake and DeBoer. He started two games as a freshman defensive tackle, including once against Arizona and Fisch's staff, before DeBoer's coaches tried to make him more of an outside pass rusher in 2023. He has 10 career sacks so far.

On Tuesday, Tunuufi was used almost exclusively at defensive tackle again during the scrimmage portions of the practice, often paired with senior Jacob Bandes and edge rushers in sophomores Jacob Lane and Isaiah Ward.

"I feel good on the outside and I feel good on the inside," Tunuufi said. "I feel explosive in both positions."

The 6-foot-5, 292-pound Lynch began fall camp coming out of a down-lineman stance and recently has drawn more snaps as an edge rusher. In Tuesday's scrimmage sets, he was paired with sophomore Lance Holtzclaw at the edge positions with Montana State transfer Sebastian Valdez and Miami transfer Logan Sagapolu lining up inside.

Last season, Lynch started all 13 games at edge rusher for his Big Sky team, coming up with 34 tackles, including 6.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.

Sacramento State transfer Deshawn Lynch is a two-position player who lately has been working as an edge rusher. / Dan Raley

Defensive-line coach Jason Kaufusi oversees both the interior and outside players, which is different than before for the Huskies, who previously had a coach in charge of each position group. Yet he said the position titles weren't as important as simply having people who can make plays no matter the role.

"We just want football guys," Kaufusi said.

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