Husky Offensive Line Experimentation Begins

Putting together a front five appears to UW football's top priority right now.

Enokk Vimahi chases down a loose ball as line coach Brennan Carroll watchies. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Midway through Tuesday's University of Washington football practice, the experimentation began in earnest.

After 10 practices of fielding fairly static lineups for the Husky offensive line, Jedd Fisch and his coaching staff began to tinker with the big boys up front and move bodies around to see what three different combinations might look like.

Each group offered a different center, a position that remains a chief concern solely because 6-foot-2, 310-pound sophomore Landen Hatchett, projected for greatness someday, is still coming back from a torn ACL in his right knee.

On Saturday night following a comprehensive scrimmage that didn't lead to a lot of points or yards, Fisch suggested something along the lines of individual auditions were coming.

"We're just continuing to find the right group of five to that we're going to play with," the first-year Husky coach said on the weekend.

With five new starters for the Husky offensive line, the cohesion of the new guys is paramount to the success of the current UW team. Fisch has proven offensive skill players and what seems to be a surplus of defensive talent, but the line is young and basically untested.

On Tuesday, the first five linemen initially consisted of 6-foot-8, 295-pound redshirt freshman Soane Faasolo at left tackle, 6-foot-4 299-pound junior Gaard Memmelaar at left guard, Hatchett manning center, 6-foot-2, 320-pound Portland State senior transfer D'Angalo Titialii at right guard and 6-foot-5, 338-pound redshirt freshman Kahlee Tafai at right tackle -- which represented an all-new right side for the Huskies.

The second unit had 6-foot-6, 290-pound Maryland and JC junior transfer Maximus McCree at left tackle, 6-foot-5, 295-pound Paki Finau at left guard, 6-foot-5, 299-pound redshirt freshman Zach Henning at center, 6-foot-4, 301-pound Ohio State senior transfer Enokk Vimani at right guard, and 6-foot-7, 308-pound San Diego State sophomore transfer Drew Azzopardi at right guard.

Finally, a third line took the field that consisted of Faasolo, Memmelaar, Titialii, Vimani and Azzopardi and better represented the No. 1 line previously used for a couple of weeks now.

For an added twist, the Huskies put six offensive linemen on the field all at once on Tuesday when they added McCree to the third five, positioning him in a quasi tight-end blocking role, something Kalen DeBoer's staff did last season with the departed Geirean Hatchett.

Yet before the UW toys around too much with six linemen, the Huskies need make a concentrated effort to find the best five blockers.

"We're going to keep pitching that to see exactly who those guys are," Fisch said.

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