As UW Puts Pieces Back Together Again, Will Physicality Be Restored?

The Huskies were outmatched on each line during the 2021 season.

For nine months, Kalen DeBoer has made big changes to the University of Washington football team. New offense. New defense. New culture. New brotherhood. Added fitness.

He might open the season with a former Indiana quarterback, an ex-Virginia running back, a one-time Pittsburgh linebacker and a much better than expected UC Davis cornerback. 

Everything seems so positive now after the UW changed all but one of the coaches and parted with more than a dozen players who weren't committed, interested in the Montlake remodel or actually good enough to remain following a 4-8 showing.

So with the season opener 12 days away, what could go wrong for the rebuilt Huskies? What remains the great unknown for the UW team as it enters a new era of coaching leadership and tries to return to championship contention?

Actually, it's the same issue that began to dismantle last season's 20th-ranked Huskies before the faulty offensive schemes were fully exposed for their ineffectiveness and the football injuries to starter after starter began to pile up in disturbing amounts.

Physicality.

Will the UW offensive and defensive lines be tough enough this season?

A year ago, they surrendered.

DeBoer is hopeful he and his coaches have solved that issue, but they still won't know until their players get into the trenches and mix it up.

The strength and will of the big guys up front remain a relative unknown until they show what they've got in real time against strangers in helmets and shoulder pads.

"That's probably one of them if you forced me to have to pick something," the coach said of any lingering questions surrounding the Huskies. "I think we're greatly improved."

Corey Luciana, Nate Kalepo and Troy Fautanu, left to right, get in a stance / Skylar Lin Visuals

Still, out of the nearly one dozen portal transfers brought to Seattle none were offensive or defensive linemen, though the staff did obtain a junior-college edge rusher in Sekai Asoau-Afoa and moved former starter Ulumoo Ale from offensive guard to defensive tackle to beef up that side of the ball. 

Instead, DeBoer and company basically determined, that with a number of tweaks, they could get more out of the linemen they inherited than the previous staff did.

Julius Buelow, who moved from guard to tackle, attacks the blocking sled.  / Skylar Lin Visuals

If the projected lineups hold up, the Husky offensive line will have three new starters joining All-Pac-12 left tackle Jaxson Kirkland and returning right guard Henry Bainivalu, both sixth-year seniors. The new faces include sophomore left guard Troy Fautanu, senior center Corey Luciano and redshirt freshman right tackle Roger Rosengarten. Kirkland, of course, will sit out the opener to appease the NCAA after having agent dealings and initially declaring for the NFL draft and pulling out.

"I think our offensive line definitely is more in sync, more in sync with what we're trying to do," DeBoer said. "When they're all working together, now they're opening up holes. So I think a lot of it is really understanding what the goals and objectives are for each play, with the calls and what adjustments are with each concept, and executing."

Zion Tupuola-Fetui is healthy again and ready to reclaim his previous stature / Skylar Lin Visuals

Defensively, the Huskies stand to open the season with junior Tuli Letuligasenoa and redshirt freshman Kuao Peihopa up front, and pick two players from among junior Zion Tupuola-Fetui, sophomore Bralen Trice and senior Jeremiah Martin coming off the edges.

Each of the edge rushers is fully healthy if not better schooled in what he has to do. DeBoer and his coaches have singled out ZTF, Trice and Martin as possibly composing the most imposing Husky position area on the team, with Tupuola-Fetui considered an All-American candidate and a possible high NFL draft pick once more.

Last season, Letuligasenoa was selected as an All-Pac-12 honorable mention defensive tackle by the league's coaches even while the Husky defense gave up an overly generous 193 yards rushing per game. His coach said he has had a very consistent fall camp so far, but he needs a solid running mate. Peihopa is a young player stamped for success after an injury-filled first year. Ale, once he regains his health, should be a factor up front with his 6-foot-6, 333-pound frame.

Kuao Peihopa is counted on to make the UW defensive line a lot tougher.  / Skylar Lin Visuals

"I think we're rock solid on understanding our fits," DeBoer said of the defensive line. "You know, defensively, I think playing with confidence is a big part of playing physical. ... It's really believing that, hey, I'm doing my job. If I do my job, the guy next to me is going to do his and the guy behind me is going to do his. I think that's really helped us."

Yet if there's still wonderment over how things will shake out, especially against the better teams on the schedule, it comes back to physicality. Last year's UW team didn't have it.

It's a fair question whether these Huskies have fixed this issue or not.

"The physicality part, until we play a game I can't come to you [with an answer]," DeBoer said. "Probably you're hitting the nail on the head. Is that one of the things we need to continue to work on and that we're continuing to wonder about?"

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