Huskies Lose 2 LBs, Expect ZTF Back Far Sooner Than Projected

Lake loses incoming freshman Will Latu and holdover Miki Ah You because of personal issues.

University of Washington football players took part in an opening fall practice that seemed buoyant and fast-paced on the surface, but had both good and bad developments behind the scenes.

Coach Jimmy Lake disclosed on Friday that he has lost a pair of inside linebackers, possibly for good, in incoming freshman Will Latu — one of the headliners of his 2021 class — and redshirt freshman Miki Ah You.

On the plus side, Lake said All-America candidate edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui, recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon, is way ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation and will play far sooner than expected during the regular season.

The loss of Latu, in particular, was a big blow to the second-year coach, who already had felt a backlash for the low grades affixed to his first recruiting class. The 6-foot-2, 221-pound linebacker, deemed a 4-star recruit, picked the UW over USC, Michigan, Nebraska and a host of schools. 

Ah You, the grandson of one of the greatest football players to come out of Hawaii, appeared in just one game in his two seasons in Seattle, the first one spent rehabbing a high school knee injury. At the end of the spring game in May, he came up with one of the bigger plays, returning a fumble 34 yards. 

Both players left the team citing family issues that weren't further explained to media members. Lake said neither linebacker will be part of the team this season, but he left open the possibility that both would be welcomed back if their situations change.

"It's not the way you want to start off training camp, for sure," Lake said.

Meantime, the somewhat flamboyant player known as ZTF attended the beginning and end of the first Husky practice, leaving presumably to take part in a rehab treatment. 

He's noticeably thinner, down 20 pounds from last season after determining that 260 is a better playing weight for him. 

Also, his often fluorescent colored and ever-changing hair had a simple orange bob, but it was mostly his natural color. 

ZTF was injured midway through spring practice, tearing his Achilles on a non-contact situation and limping hard on one leg to the sideline. His recovery time initially was pegged at 6 to 10 months. It might not even last as long as the lower number.

"He's beat all the benchmarks the doctors and trainers have laid out for him," Lake said. "It's awesome to see."

ZTF finished as one of the nation's leaders with 7 sacks in his 4 games after moving into the lineup. He replaced another Lutu, Laiatu, who was a sophomore from Sacramento and was the projected starter at outside linebacker opposite Ryan Bowman entering last season. Latu suffered a career-ending injury 

After losing those two inside backers, Lake said 6-foot-2, 230-pound freshman Carson Bruener will move from outside linebacker to help the numbers at the position. Freshman outside linebacker Cooper McDonald is another possibility on playing in the inside, which is where his UW career began. 

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