Midseason Report: UW LBs Grade High on Experience, Never Get Old

Carson Bruener and Alphonzo Tuputala have 11 college seasons between them.

Alphonzo Tuputala lines up on the UW edge besides playing linebacker. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Carson Bruener and Alphonzo Tuputala are mirror images of each other as University of Washington linebackers -- similar size, extremely tough, high career numbers in tackles and well-decorated for their efforts.

Now if each of these seniors was just a step quicker, we might be talking about a pair of high-round NFL draft selections.

Instead, the 6-foot-2, 226-pound Bruener and 6-foot-2, 230-pound Tuputala will do their best to finish strong for a rebuilding UW football team, get the Huskies into a bowl game if possible and see if they can interest the pros in their talents.

While the Husky edge rushers, interior line and secondary have each undergone various personnel changes since the season began, Bruener and Tuputala have started all seven games without interruption, though Bruener had to go to great lengths to come back from a shoulder injury that sent him to the sideline hunched over in the Apple Cup against Washington State.

They rank 1-2 in Husky tackles ,with Bruener piling up 44, plus a pass interception and three pass break-ups, while Tuputala has 31 tackles, plus a pair of sacks and a PBU.

Mainly, they keep things from getting out of hand for a UW stop unit that has been efficient enough to rank No. 9 nationally in total defense while permitting 266.3 yards per game.

In handing out our midseason grades, we give these Husky linebackers a solid B with the possibility of moving up should they help direct Jedd Fisch's team to a couple of stirring upsets coming down the stretch, which would require their playmaking at its best to make that happen.

Bruener and Tuputala each were named All-Pac-12 honorable-mention selections over the previous two seasons, with Bruener impressively doing it as a reserve. Bruener likewise was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week following his first career start and a16-tackle performance against Stanford in 2021. Tuputala has started 34 of the past 35 Husky games.

Carson Bruener celebrates a Husky turnover against Michigan. / Skylar Lin Visuals

What's different for these guys is they often line up with a third linebacker in freshman Khmori House while Tuputala briefly shifts to an edge rusher or an outside linebacker role as Husky defensive coordinator Steve Belichick tries to use Alphonzo's versatility to benefit the team plus possibly make him more marketable to the NFL.

The 6-foot, 213-pound House possesses the foot speed that would make Bruener and Tuputala can't-miss pros and could elevate him as the linebacker leader in 2025, when the others and fellow senior Drew Fowler are done, this after San Jose State transfer quit the team after four games over a lack of playing time and will transfer again.

The Huskies also have a pair of redshirt freshmen in 5-foot-11, 234-pound Deven Bryant and 6-foot-2, 222-pound Hayden Moore, a Michigan transfer, waiting in the wings, along with 6-foot, 233-pound junior Anthony Ward, an Arizona transfer, plus a very highly regarded Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound recruit coming next season from Spanaway, Washington.

Bruener and Tuputala will leave with a collective 11 seasons of college experience, far more than most linebacking tandems, but not before they try to finish out strong.

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