Nunley Is Putting Himself in the Conversation at UW Safety

The redshirt freshman is making up for lost time during the spring.

Jimmy Lake, who was very good at recruiting and developing defensive backs, left a tempting four-man class of 2021 secondary players for the new staff to pick through.

Three cornerbacks and a safety.

Three from Southern California and one from the Bay Area.

All redshirt freshmen. 

Davon Banks, Dyson McCutcheon, Vince Nunley and Zhakari Spears.

Banks was the first of these defenders to make a breakthrough, appearing in four games last fall and impressing Kalen DeBoer's new Husky coaching staff in spring ball and now in fall camp.

It appears the safety of this group, Nunley, is beginning to make his move up the depth chart after missing much of the spring with an undisclosed injury.

"Vince is on the rise, there's no doubt about it," co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell said. "We're making up for a little bit of lost time."

Vince Nunley signs a spring autograph / Dan Raley

Morrell went on to explain how the 6-foot-1, 188-pound Nunley from Oakland is receiving added repetitions in practice to help him get back on schedule in his player progression. 

The young safety came out of spring ball behind veteran starters Alex Cook and Asa Turner and their experienced back-ups in Cam Williams and Julius Irvin, all juniors or seniors. 

Vince Nunley (28) leaves the field, surrounded by 2021 classmates Davon Banks (16) and Zhakari Spears (14) / Dan Raley

Once fall camp began, however, Nunley began to show up more and more with the second unit. His first UW game time shouldn't be far off.

"Love his range, smart player, does some good things all around," Morrell said. "He has some all-around tools and length. We're just pressing him every day to be a factor back there."

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