Here's How the Husky Offensive Line Has Shaken Out

Landen Hatchett's return to good health has been the big story.

Landen Hatchett meditates before the Penn State game. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Entering the season, the big concern for Jedd Fisch's first University of Washington football team was the offensive line. With all new starters, it was potentially the difference between Husky wins and losses.

Eleven games in with a regular-season close-out at Oregon coming up on Saturday, the Husky line has held up well enough to deliver victories over name opponents such as Michigan and USC, but not so well while getting pushed around in bad losses on the road to the overly physical Penn State and Iowa.

Two of the five line spots have changed hands, with left tackle repeatedly swapped out by injuries, with 6-foot-8, 325-pound redshirt freshman Soane Faasolo starting initially and giving way to 6-foot-6, 296-pound junior Maximus McCree, who stepped aside for 6-foot-5, 330-pound redshirt freshman Kahlee Tafai.

Landen Hatchett provides pass protection against Penn State. / Skylar Lin Visuals

The biggest development, however, has been 6-foot-2, 310-pound sophomore Landen Hatchett recovering from a knee injury last December, starting at both guard spots, ultimately settling in at right guard, and playing well.

"Landen has come a long way from the period since he was recovering from his injury.," said Brennan Carroll, the Huskies' offensive coordinator and offensive-line coach, this week. "That was the obvious one, when he was trying to get back to his playing speed. You see him improve as the year goes on and that."

Hatchett drew his first start at Iowa at left guard, replacing a hobbled Gaard Memmelaar in a one-off situation. He since has opened three consecutive games at right guard, replacing Ohio State transfer Enokk Vimahi, who was brought in basically as a stop-gap player, with both Hatchett and Memmelaar coming back from knee injuries that required surgery.

Only Drew Azzopardi, a 6-foot-7, 315-pound sophomore and San Diego State transfer, and D'Angalo Titialii, a 6-foot-2, 320-pound senior and Portland State transfer, have started all 11 games up front so far.

Kahlee Tafai lines up at left tackle for the UW against Penn State. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Tafai currently occupies left tackle, having started the past three games. Faasolo and McCree each have four starting assignments on their ledger, which means the Huskies will have plenty of experienced players moving forward.

"All the young guys who have rotated in, it's been a trial for these guys to get in there and make adjustments on the fly," Caroll said. "They've done well enough to get us to this point. We'll keep grinding on them."

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