Midseason Report: With Turnover, Huskies Have Been Teetering on Edge

Players have come and gone with high frequency at this position.

Isaiah Ward literally runs into Northwestern QB Jack Lausch for a sack. / Skylar Lin Visuals

It didn't last long, but the original plan for University of Washington starting edge rushers had a lot of possibilities -- put junior Zach Durfee and sophomore Isaiah Ward on opposite ends, wind them up and just let them terrorize people.

This particular pairing was good for all of two games before nagging injuries turned the outside sentry position into a revolving door., with five different UW players eventually pulling starting assignments.

Durfee and Ward opened the first two games against Weber State and Eastern Michigan before that partnership dissolved.

The Apple Cup against Washington State came next and the UW trotted out seniors Voi Tunuufi and Alphonzo Tuputala as No. 1 edges just for the opening series, with Tuputala ultimately playing his normal linebacker role and even elsewhere on defense.

Tunuufi, in fact, has started five consecutive games at edge rusher now, the most by any Husky, and he's been paired with three different players in the opening lineup in Sacramento State junior transfer Deshawn Lynch, Durfee and Tuputala.

With all of the horse-trading going on at the edge, we've given the Huskies a midseason C grade while they try to get everyone healthy during the bye week and. try to get their best players back on the field for longer periods of time.

Zach Durfee looks across the line against Michigan. / Skylar Lin Visuals

While starting only the first two games yet playing in all seven, the 6-foot-5, 227-pound Ward leads the Huskies with 3 sacks, picking them up against Northwestern, Michigan and Iowa. An 11-game starter last season for Arizona and Jedd Fisch's staff, Ward either has come off the bench largely because the Huskies have played against rush-minded teams and his forte is pass rushing.

"It's stop the run, just be physical, be tough. we know what we can do," Ward said after beating Northwestern 24-5. "It's just do it."

The 6-foot-5, 256-pound Durfee has started three games, played briefly in two and sat out two others while dealing with a nagging toe injury, this after recovering from spring elbow surgery. He's collected 2.5 sacks, all against Eastern Michigan. He just hasn't been able to settle in and get into a longstanding defensive groove. The UW hopes the bye week off will enable the playmaker to heal and get back on the field.

As always, the 6-foot-1, 282-pound Tunuufi has been able and willing to play anywhere when the Huskies need him and he's been an edge stopgap this season. He has 1.5 sacks, giving him 11. 5 over his career.

Voi Tunuufi lines up as an edge rusher against Michigan. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Tunuufi has teamed up three times with the 6-foot-5, 292-pound Lynch as the starting edge starters. Again, he paired up once with Tuputala, who's played in a hybrid role that's put him at inside linebacker, outside linebacker and at the edge.

Similarly, the UW has used three other players as reserves on the edge in sophomores Jayden Wayne, Jacob Lane and Lance Holtzclaw, a Miami transfer and a pair of holdover players, respectively. Yet another Arizona transfer, junior Russelll Davis II, was injured in fall camp and hasn't played this season, though he recently was medically cleared and could show up soon.

The Huskies have plenty of bodies set aside for the edge, they just have to get their most dynamic tandem back on the field.

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