Huskies Aren't Starting Over, But Opening Lineup Needs Lots of Work

The UW had few vacancies when the 2020 season ended, but that's not the case now.

For a moment last offseason, until people got busy in the transfer portal, the University of Washington football team had a staggering 20 of 22 starters returning. These were players who started most of the short season or were entrenched as first-teamers at the end of 2020.

Twenty starters is an overabundance of experience for sure, a definitive way to get ranked in the AP preseason top 20, practically a guarantee to be part of the ongoing conversation for league championship and bowl game consideration.

Receivers Puka Nacua (BYU) and Ty Jones (Fresno State) were the first to thin the starting ranks by leaving. Eventually that number shrank even more when edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui blew a tire in spring practice, rupturing an Achilles tendon, and veteran players such offensive guard Ulumoo Ale and safety Asa Turner got beat out by teammates.

So with a new head coach Kalen DeBoer firmly in place and a lot of confusion over where personnel is headed because of the change, where do these reconfigured Huskies stand in terms of numbers?

By our calculations, 12 starters return.

Compared to the initial 90 percent return rate from a year ago, it's just half now. And not all of these guys are expected to retain their jobs.

DeBoer promised these players he wasn't going to conduct a Husky rebuild, but there's no way around it that a lot of work still has to be done in fielding a starting lineup.

The UW's most experienced position area a year ago is still the most veteran group for the coming season — the offensive line. Twelve months ago, the Huskies welcomed back all five starters. This time it's three, though it gets a little complicated in explaining it all.

Junior right tackle Victor Curne (12 starts) and senior right guard Henry Bainivalu (12) return after starting the entire season this past fall. They'll enter their third seasons as the No. 1 players at their respective positions.

Left guard counts as a third returning starter, only it's a multi-headed monster: the Huskies used a host of players in this competitive spot in sophomore Julius Buelow (5), junior Ulumoo Ale (6) and sophomore Troy Fautanu (1). Buelow opened the season as the starter and Fautanu closed it as the regular, but Ale drew the most starting assignments. For that mater, Fautanu also made a couple of fill-in injury starts (2) at left tackle.

At wide receiver, sophomores Jalen McMillan (9) and Rome Odunze (7) reclaim their starting jobs after dealing with their own injury-interrupted seasons, while sophomore Taj Davis (6) joined them in three-wideout sets. Behind them are junior Giles Jackson (3) and sophomore Ja'Lynn Polk (2), the former Michigan and Texas Tech transfers, who are capable of stepping into starting spots, as well.

The Huskies will require a new starter at tight end, though they have returnees available who have pulled spot duty as the first-teamer. Junior Devin Culp (5) largely spelled the departed and the often sidelined Cade Otton or opened opposite him, while junior Jack Westover (1) drew a start, as well.

While he sat out the Apple Cup in favor of redshirt freshman Sam Huard (1), sophomore Dylan Morris (11) still rates as the returning starter at Husky quarterback. He's a two-year returning QB-1 who will have to contend with Indiana transfer Michael Penix Jr., who opened games (17) for the Hoosiers over parts of three seasons and suffered season-ending injuries each of his four years at the Big Ten school.

Tailback is considered another open-ended position, though junior Richard Newton began the season as the starter (3) before getting banged up and finally ruled out for the season with a knee injury, with his recovery time uncertain.  Sophomore Cam Davis ran the ball a lot but only briefly started (1).

On the other side of the ball, the most veteran player is junior defensive tackle Tuli Letuligasenoa (11), who opened all but one game up front. Other down linemen who pulled spot starts were sophomores Faatui Tuitele (4), Jacob Bandes (1) and Voi Tunuufi (1). Taki Taimani, of course, turned his 10 starts in for a bus transfer to Oregon.

At outside linebacker, it's all new starters yet it's not. Junior Zion Tupuola-Fetui (3), the 2020 first-teamer, made just a handful of opening appearances this past midseason while coming off his injury. Sophomore Bralen Trice (2) eased into the lineup for couple at the end when ZTF got re-injured and senior Jeremiah Martin, the one-time Texas A&M transfer (1) drew his first college start.

Inside, junior Edefuan Ulofoshio (6) and sophomore Carson Bruener (6) split the season as linebacker starters once the former was lost for the season with an arm injury and surgery, with both playing opposite the departed Jackson Sirmon, a 12-game regular now at California. Sophomore Daniel Heimuli (2) likewise pulled a couple of staggered starts.

All new full-time cornerback starters for the Huskies are in order, though sophomore Mishael Powell (3) pulled a handful of starts because of injury and the use of an expanded secondary.

At the safeties, six players return who were first-teamers at some point over the course of the season in senior Alex Cook (9) and junior Asa Turner (4), who closed the season that way. Add to them junior Dominique Hampton (3), junior Cameron Williams (2), junior Julius Irvin (2) and sophomore Kamren Fabiculanan (1), who each got a shot to own the position. Look for one of these guys to shift to a hybrid safety/linebacker role in DeBoer's new defense.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Husky Maven stories as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Husky Maven on Facebook by searching: Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated

Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven