Inside The Huskies

UW Roster Review, No. 0-99: Fautanu the Understudy is Ready for Regular Work

The redshirt freshman has put on considerable weight and become one of the Huskies' strongest players.

Dan Raley

UW Roster Review, No. 0-99: Fautanu the Understudy is Ready for Regular Work
UW Roster Review, No. 0-99: Fautanu the Understudy is Ready for Regular Work /

Troy Fautanu is 55 pounds heavier than he was as a high school senior. 

He's appeared in four University of Washington football games.

He recently completed his first spring practice. 

Still a redshirt freshman because of pandemic provisions, the 6-foot-4, 315-pound Fautanu appears ready to play at left tackle for the Huskies on a regular basis whenever that moment arises.

He just needs All-American candidate Jaxson Kirkland to graduate.

One of the benefits of this UW football team is the depth accumulated in most position areas, with the offensive line offering one of the best stockpiles of Husky talent.  

Fautanu, if he can stay patient as a former 4-star recruit, is a starter waiting to happen.

He could open right now for the Huskies if Kirkland were unable to go, or if that All-Pac-12 player had entered the recent NFL draft, which was a realistic option for him that he passed on. 

Instead Fautanu sits behind Kirkland like another vehicle backed up in rush-hour traffic, waiting for things to clear out, not really going anywhere at the moment.

Yet the guy blocking his way onto the field knows what Fautanu is all about. 

"He had a great spring," Kirkland said. "It's so important for those young guys, when you think about it, because for a lot of them this was their first spring ball, due to COVID. Spring ball, to a degree, is about the young guys."

In this case, Fautanu received a chance to be much more involved in the Husky offense, as did fellow reserves in freshman tackle Roger Rosengarten, redshirt freshman guard Nate Kalepo, redshirt freshman tackle Julius Buelow and sophomore Matteo Mele.

"Our second O-line, and even into our third O-line, could be starters at other programs," UW coach Jimmy Lake said. "We need to do a good job of rotating those guys in because they're earning the right to have more reps."

Jordan Lolohea and Troy Fautanu walk to spring practice.
Troy Fautanu (55) walks to practice with outside linebacker Jordan Lolohea (51) / Dan Raley

Going down the roster in numerical order, this is another of our post-spring assessments of all of the Husky talent at hand, gleaned from a month of observations, as a way to keep everyone engaged during the offseason.

Fautanu wears No. 55, which he shares with senior outside linebacker Ryan Bowman, a player who made an impact early in his UW career on defense, been a long-time starter and earned second-team all-conference honors. The big tackle is ready for a similar experience.

From Henderson, Nevada, just outside of Las Vegas, Fautanu has reached a proper Pac-12 playing weight and he still retains his mobility, which is what drew the Huskies to him originally. He chose the UW over USC, UCLA and Utah.

He's certainly strong enough to see game time soon, especially in his legs. In the post-spring Husky combine, Fautanu topped everyone on the roster in the front squat, hoisting up 500 pounds — an impressive 65 pounds more than his closest teammate.

UW teammates were there to exhort him on in hitting the milestone, which put him well ahead of six other heavy lifters such as Cooper McDonald, Edefuan Ulofoshio and Jacob Bandes (435 pounds each), and Matteo Mele, Geirean Hatchett and Taki Taimani (415 pounds each).

He's also got a little feistiness in him and it doesn't matter who he's going up against. In a one-on-one spring drill, Fautanu threw down Ulofoshio, the serious All-American candidate and in some circles rated as the nation's top inside linebacker, jumped on him and held him on the ground as other offensive linemen directed a series of catcalls the defender's way.

Kirkland, for sure, remains a strong supporter of his understudy. Fautanu kind of reminds him of himself.

"It's so nice to see Troy progress," the older player said. "From day one, like the rest of us, he gotten so much better. Yeah, he's doing a good job."

Fautanu's 2021 Outlook: Projected backup left tackle

UW Service Time: Played in 4 games

Stats: None

Individual Honors: Not yet

Pro prospects: 2025 NFL second-day draftee

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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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