Husky Starting Safety Competition Is Just Beginning

Four veterans are in the mix for the two game-opening roles.

Oklahoma transfer Justin Harrington had an interception in Saturday's UW scrimmage. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Watching Saturday night's scrimmage at Husky Stadium, Cameron Broussard stood off to the side and watched, his head covered by a hoodie. Kamren Fabiculanan and Makell Esteen were in uniform, but the only time they got on the field was when they ran sprints across it between plays.

This was the University of Washington safety competition on hold, now ready to resume with the season opener against Weber State fast approaching. It should be a fairly interesting battle, certainly competitive, over the next few weeks.

The year before, Fabiculanan and Esteen were largely Husky backups to Dom Hampton and Asa Turner, though pulling spot starts on occasion, while Broussard enjoyed a first-team All-Big Sky season for Sacramento State. Add to them Oklahoma transfer Justin Harrington, who's a seventh-year senior and the UW hardly is short of experienced candidates to fill these back-row jobs.

The 6-foot-3, 193-pound Broussard had impressed Jedd Fisch's coaching staff until dislocating a finger during a previous UW football practice that has temporarily sidelined him.

"He's another who's had a really good camp," Fisch said of Broussard. "Not having him, Makell and Kam Fab the whole second half of the scrimmage, you could see the difference back there defensively."

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Fabiculanan, a sixth-year senior now on his fourth Husky football coach in Fisch, has appeared in 34 outings and started 11, giving him more FBS game experience than anyone else in the position scramble. Since the UW coaching change to Fisch, this player known as Kam Fab has been groomed to take a leadership role, possibly supplying the defense with captain material. If healthy, he'll be tough to keep out of the starting lineup.

Broussard is a junior who runs well with his longish frame. He provides the flashiest credentials among these safeties after turning in his all-conference season for Sacramento State, which included an 11-tackle outing with an interception against Stanford. In three seasons for the FCS Hornets, he played in 34 games and started 22 times. He hails from the same Folsom High School in the Bay Area that sent quarterback Jake Browning to the UW, as well as edge rusher Deshawn Lynch, who played with him at Sac State and is now with the Huskies. No one will be surprised if Broussard grabs one of the starting spots.

Transfer Cameron Broussard (8) was impressive at safety for the UW before injuring a hand. / Skylar Lin Visuals

The 6-foot-1, 202-pound Esteen is a fifth-year junior who patiently has waited for a bigger role at safety. He's appeared in 23 games, starting against Stanford and Washington State this past season. He's come up with 3 career interceptions in two years against Kent State, Colorado and WSU in the Apple Cup.

While those three other safeties each missed Saturday night's scrimmage, the rangy 6-foot-3, 209-pound Harrington received his first chance to show what he could do after apparently receiving medical clearance for a knee injury that ended his 2023 season at Oklahoma. He went down after starting the first two games against Arkansas State and SMU. Overall, he played 19 contests for the Sooners, the others as a reserve. Similar to Esteen, he had a 2022 interception against Kent State. Before Oklahoma, he played two seasons for Bakersfield Community College in California. Harrington has more size than the others.

The Huskies likely will play all four of these guys in some manner, but the starters are from clear. Let the big hits and pass deflections begin.

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