Choosing a Husky Starting Lineup: UW Not Backed into Any Corner
Jimmy Lake suggests he has freshmen defensive backs who can play right away.
The first-year University of Washington head coach keeps saying this over and over.
Lake makes this observation with three starting cornerbacks returning from last season — his best player on the team, Elijah Molden; an extra-tall cover guy, Keith Taylor; and a guy who broke into the opening lineup last season as a freshman, Trent McDuffie.
Molden won't be losing his job any time soon because he's an All-America candidate, an NFL first-round possibility and the certified leader of this Husky team.
McDuffie should stay on his toes, but Pro Football Focus picked him second-team All-Pac-12 following his first college season.
Which brings us to Taylor.
He's played in 39 games and started 15 of them.
He's 6-foot-3 and 196 pounds, much longer than your usual college corner.
By comparison, McDuffie and Molden stand just 5-11 and 5-10, respectively.
Taylor, despite his advantageous reach and while a tested veteran, has received no individual honors of any kind over three previous seasons.
More telling, he has no interceptions.
Zero.
Zip.
While Taylor will have at least seven games soon to collect a pick or two, build a better reputation and make himself draftable, he could be pressed to keep his job.
As we continue to choose the Huskies starting lineup, now one month from the start of the Pac-12's third and hopefully final iteration of a fall schedule, the cornerback competition should be some of the most entertaining leading up to the opener.
Does the senior keep his job? Does a freshman take it? Of is there someone else out there who passes all of them?
It should be a fierce competition. See if you agree on our choice for this corner slot.
Cornerback candidates: Keith Taylor, 6-3, 196, senior; Trent McDuffie, 5-11, 192, sophomore; Elijah Jackson, 6-0, 182, freshman; Kyler Gordon, 6-0, 195, sophomore; Kamren Fabiculanen, 6-1, 186, redshirt freshman.
Starting experience: Taylor, 15 starts; McDuffie, 11 starts; Gordon, 4 starts.
Our selection: In a spirited battle, Gordon returns to the starting lineup. He started four games as a redshirt freshman before getting beat a couple of times and he lost his job to McDuffie. One of the team's more athletic players, Gordon wins back the job from a different teammate, Taylor. Gordon is a natural playmaker who won't go three seasons without an interception. Even after losing his first-unit position, he was named All-Pac-12 honorable mention. You can't keep this guy out of the lineup.
Other options: Taylor has a lot at stake. He's got the size the pros covet so he won't be handing over his starting job without a fight. He's just needs to step up and put himself in better position for interceptions. Expect these cornerback competition battles to be extra fierce. A wildcard for a starting job could be Elijah Jackson, one of those freshmen who comes in with a big reputation. Another first-year player capable of playing his way into the lineup is James Smith, a teammate of McDuffie's in high school. Lake said it could happen.
Greatest Husky CB: Calvin Jones. He's the only Husky cornerback ever named Associated Press first-team All-American, earning this honor in 1972. He was an explosive player who, even at just 5-8, could cover anyone with his speed and leaping ability. He played four NFL seasons for the Denver Broncos. Oregon once threw at him three times in a row from inside the 10 at the end of a game. The Ducks went 0-for-3 against him. Jones finished with 11 career interceptions.
Other legendary UW CBs: Vestee Jackson came up with 13 interceptions and started 36 games in 1983-85, and was a second-round draft pick and led the NFL in pass thefts with 8 in 1988; Marcus Peters started 27 games and intercepted 11 passes, and was a first-round NFL pick in 2015 and has scored 7 times on defense in the pros; Walter Bailey scored twice on interceptions for the 1991 national championship team; Desmond Trufant started 47 games and was a first-round draft pick in 2013; Dana Hall was a 31-game starter and first-round draft pick off the 1991 national championship team.
The UW Starting Lineup:
Left tackle — Jaxson Kirkland
Left guard — Ulumoo Ale
Center — Luke Wattenberg
Right guard — Corey Luciano
Right tackle — Henry Bainivalu
Tight end — Cade Otton
Tight end — Jacob Kizer
Wide receiver — Puka Nacua
Wide receiver — Ty Jones
Running back — Richard Newton
Quarterback —
Kicker —
Punter —
Outside linebacker — Laiatu Latu
Defensive tackle — Tuli Letuligasenoa
Defensive tackle — Josiah Bronson
Outside linebacker — Sav'ell Smalls
Inside linebacker — Edefuan Ulofoshio
Inside linebacker — Miki Ah You
Cornerback — Kyler Gordon
Cornerback —
Nickel back — Elijah Molden
Strong safety —
Free safety —
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