UW Football Primer: Onwuzurike Might Be Huskies' Best Player

The defensive tackle has made steady progress and lived up to all of the hype coming in from football-crazy Texas.

Levi Onwuzurike doesn't always tell you what he's thinking. He prefers to show you. For the Washington football team, it works.

Defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski flew to Texas on six consecutive recruiting weeks to demonstrate serious interest in the touted defensive tackle from the Dallas suburbs. Yet he never knew how Onwuzurike was leaning until the kid tweeted his decision.

After earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors, Onwuzurike teased reporters that he'd made up his mind about leaving early for the NFL or staying without telling them. He didn't tip his hand until tweeting out his plan following the Las Vegas Bowl.

Each well-cultivated and carefully guarded decision favored the Huskies, which has been a good thing for them. 

The 6-foot-3, 288-pound Onwuzurike enters his senior campaign as the UW's most heralded football player. While senior cornerback Elijah Molden, junior tight end Cade Otton and junior offensive tackle Jaxson Kirkland bring heady credentials, their teammate from the Dallas suburbs trumps everyone in football reputation. 

Pro Football Focus listed Onwuzurike as the 27th player selected in the NFL draft. Not next year's draft. Next month's.

Bleacher Report drew up what it considered college football's perfect defense for the coming season and the Husky standout was one of the 11 players singled out. Consider this nationwide front line: Miami's Quincy Roche, Florida State's Marvin Wilson, Duke's Chris Rumph II and Onwuzurike.

"He's very strong, twitchy, quick, explosive," Kwiatkowski said of Levi. "He does a great job using his hands. He's what you want as a defensive lineman -- fast, strong, explosive."

Did the coach mention fast?

At Allen High School, Onwuzurike blocked an extra-point kick, caught it on a bounce and returned it 97 yards for two points, pulling away from all pursuers.

"Nobody could catch him and then him being 6 feet, 3 inches and 250 pounds tends to stand out," Allen coach Tom Westerberg told the Seattle Times. 

Personable and notably humble, Onwuzurike brings a relaxed approach to what he does off the field. He smiles a lot. He's no real self-promoter.

"I've been doing pretty good," he said. "I haven't been getting to the quarterback as much as I want, but as long as the other guys are and I'm getting sacks, I'm feeling good."

He stands at the end of a long line of great UW defensive linemen that includes Danny Shelton, Elijah Qualls, Vita Vea and Greg Grimes. He's met all expectations and delivered.

Onwuzurike played a big role for an absolute Friday Night Lights powerhouse in Allen High School, sharing in three consecutive Texas 6A state championships and a 57-game winning streak.

With exploits such as this, he could have gone anywhere in the country to play college football. He chose the Huskies over Arizona State, Baylor and Michigan.

He found great comfort in choosing Seattle -- meteorologically speaking. 

"The weather," he explained. "Texas football, I love it, but the weather is terrible. It's so hot."

Onwuzurike became a UW starter midway though his sophomore season and gradually became more dominant as his junior year played out. In 2019, he collected 45 tackles, including 6 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks, and, to no surprise, he blocked an Arizona punt.

"I think a lot of guys grew up, like Elijah and Trent (McDuffie)," he said. "I think we improved a lot as a defense."

Or, in his case, he did just what was expected of him. Without telling anyone, of course.

SUMMARY: Onwuzurike is big and fast, and has steadily developed his skills at Washington without any falloff. No reason to stop now.

GRADE (1 to 5): Levi gets a strong 5. First-team All-Pac-12 as a junior. Drawing All-America attention entering his senior season. He's an exceptional player and tailored for the NFL.