Inside The Huskies

Look Who shares the UW Lead in Interceptions

Red freshman Makell Esteen has made the most of his Husky opportunities this season.

Dan Raley

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For all the hard lessons learned by young University of Washington defensive backs this season, Makell Esteen has been one of those guys who's made the homework sessions pay off.

He's a redshirt freshman safety, someone who's played in seven of 11 games as a reserve, and, get this, Esteen leads the Huskies in interceptions, actually sharing that distinction with fellow safety Asa Turner.

Each guy has two, more than half of the UW pass theft total of 7. Cornerbacks Julius Irvin and Davon Banks, both out for the rest of the season with injuries, and linebacker Cam Bright have one each.

While two might not sound like a tremendous amount of interceptions — especially if you consider what Husky safety Al Worley once did, with his NCAA record 14 in 1968 — it's a step forward as Kalen DeBoer's staff diligently gets players ready for the future while navigating successfully through an initial campaign in Montlake.

"My goal heading into the season was I just wanted to start off strong," Esteen said. "My coach [Chuck Morrrell] said he was going to give me opportunity."

Esteen intercepted his first pass on his very first play of the season in the fourth quarter of a 45-20 win over Kent State in the opener. Last Saturday night against Colorado, he grabbed his second one midway through the fourth quarter of the 54-7 victory, playing much of the second half.

Co-defensive coordinator William Inge likes the progress he's seen from the 6-foot-1, 177-pounder from Hawthorne, California, who arrived at the UW from Lawndale High School with redshirt freshman cornerback Elijah Jackson, who likewise saw a lot of playing time against Colorado.

"You try to emphasize where preparation builds confidence and that is something he's been doing — he's been preparing, preparing, preparing," Inge said. "You know, often luck favors the prepared. ... He's one of the luckiest men around to where he's leading the team in interceptions. Every time he comes in, usually in the first five plays, he's a ballhawk magnet."

With sixth-year senior Alex Cook moving on once the season ends, Esteen will be in the mix for the starting job opposite Turner, who's a junior. He's been given the chance to play significant snaps with games on the line rather than just mop-up duty. 

Esteen credits Turner with setting up his first career interception against Kent State that came in a game in which Asa stole a pair of passes, including one on the Huskies' first defensive play of the season.

"Big props to my coaches and big props to Asa," Esteen said. "He did it on the first play of the game and I came in, and they tried the same play, and I do it."

As Inge would say that's preparation, maybe a little lucky, definitely boding well for the future, for a guy with plenty of self Esteen. 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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