Husky Roster Review: Dunn Lumber Is a Painful Experience

The hard-hitting defensive back left a lot of kick returners sprawled on the field.

Tristan Dunn moves in for a spring football hit. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Jordan Ford probably still has the welts, maybe a sore neck, possibly a fear of flying into Seattle.

Nine months ago at Husky Stadium, the Tulsa return man innocently settled under a third-quarter kickoff at Husky Stadium at his 4-yard line and took off running. At the 17, Tristan Dunn took his head off.

It was a fearsome collision the visiting player likely won't ever forget. While this was just the second game of the season for the University of Washington football team, Dunn's punishing play not only landed him Husky Special-Teams Player of the Week accolades, it held up as the winner of the team's Chuck Niemi Big Hit Award encompassing the entire season.

One of the scarier things about this UW football team that won 14 of 15 games and finished as the CFP runner-up was the sight of 6-foot-4, 197-pound Dunn running at full speed and hurtling his body at defenseless returners.

While he's mastered special-teams play for the Huskies, the next step for Dunn is to bring his overly aggressive approach to scrimmage downs as a safety or a nickelback.

This is one in a series of articles -- going from 0 to 99 on the Husky roster -- examining what each scholarship player and leading walk-on did this past spring and what to expect from them going forward.

Tristan Dunn shows off his agility in this passing drill. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Coming out of spring practice, Dunn, a sophomore from Olympia, Washington, was running as the No. 2 nickelback behind Dyson McCutcheon, but Jedd Fisch's new UW coaching staff clearly was trying to find a way to get him on the field more.

At times the Huskies had Dunn on defense with a lone linebacker while using him as a hybrid player or rover. It wouldn't be surprising if at some point his coaches put another 25-30 pounds on him and turned him into a full-time linebacker.

For now, he's a dedicated secondary member and that accomplished special-teamer. He finished last season with 16 tackles, all except for a handful coming on kickoffs or punts.

At Michigan State, Dunn helped set the tone in the 41-7 victory by dropping returner Tyrell Henry on the Spartans 17 on the opening kickoff.

Fisch might remember Dunn from last season when in the Arizona-UW game in Tucson this long and sturdy player got downfield in a hurry on a fourth-quarter punt and dropped the usually elusive Jacob Cowling for a 1-yard loss at the Wildcats 20.

Against USC on a second-quarter kickoff, Dunn shot downfield and together with teammate Carson Bruener dropped kick returner Zachariah Branch at the Trojans 5.

Dunn is going to play and hit people. It's just a matter of how often and in how many roles.

Safeties coach Vinnie Sunseri offers guidance to Tristan Dunn. / Skylar Lin Visuals

TRISTAN DUNN FILE

What he's done: After flipping from Arizona State to the UW once Kalen DeBoer's staff took over, Dunn has played in 19 UW games over two seasons, including all 15 last year. He seems very coachable, spotted having long conversations with his position leaders from the past two coaching staffs.

Starter or not: Dunn appears very determined to turn himself into an every-down player, but he's probably not there yet. It will be interesting to see if he turns up as a nickel, safety or even a linebacker in the future. No matter where, he's bound to leave some bruises.

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