Husky Roster Review: With or Without a Scholarship, Fowler Pushes On

The walk-on linebacker has appeared in 25 UW games so far.

Dan Raley | Jun 23, 2023

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Washington Huskies

The conversation was meant to be about Carson Bruener, but he turned it around and made it about Drew Fowler. Such is the teammate loyalty in the highly competitive University of Washington linebacker corps.

Bruener was quizzed about the competition for two Husky linebacker starting jobs, presumed to be a four-person standoff entering the fall.

Don't leave out Fowler, a 6-foot-1, 221-pound junior and non-scholarship player from Bellevue, Washington, his teammate interjected.

"I'm surprised he's still a walk-on," Bruener said, doing some stumping on behalf of the other guy. "Put that out there."

Granted, Bruener and Fowler are best friends and that relationship could color his thinking some. Yet considering Fowler's progress and increasing playing time, maybe it's not such a far-fetched idea to acknowledge his presence if needed.

Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Fowler, who wears No. 54 all to himself, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.

Drew Fowler has appeared in 25 games for the Huskies as a non-scholarship player, with two seasons to go.

Drew Fowler (54) joins teammates in a post-spring practice song, joined by Ryan Otton (87), Austin Harnetiaux (44), Rome Odunze (1) and Jaden Green (89).

Drew Fowler (54) is among the Huskies celebrating a big hit by Davon Banks (10) on a kickoff against Michigan State.

Drew Fowler reaches out to fellow linebacker Daniel Heimuli, who has since transferred to Arizona, during a game at Husky Stadium.

Drew Fowler had three different head football coaches at Bellevue High and has had three more at the UW.

Drew Fowler told a story of seeing wild Husky dogs running on the UCLA campus during his recruiting visit, helping him decide his college football path.

In this 2020 UW linebacker spring photo, Drew Fowler (54) is just one of three players who are still on the roster, joined by Edefuan Ulofoshio (48) and Alphonzo Tuputala, in a cast.

Entering his fifth year in UW football, Fowler comes off a 2022 season in which he appeared in all 13 games and came up with 10 tackles.

Not only was he a special-teams player, Fowler was in the linebacker rotation, trusted enough that he often played next to Bruener on the No. 2 defense.

He's known as the guy who visited UCLA during his recruitment, turned down a Bruins scholarship offer and came to the UW even when the Huskies under Chris Petersen weren't forthcoming with financial aid.

Maybe it was the competitiveness in him that wanted to prove the hometown team wrong by joining it rather than trying to beat it playing for someone else.

Fowler likes to tell the story of going on his UCLA recruiting visit when a hard rain came rushing down and wild Husky dogs actually were spotted running through the Westwood campus that day.

"I don't know if you're into signs, but I thought that was pretty funny," Fowler said last fall.

He's also a resilient guy, having played for three high school and three college football coaches over the past eight seasons, so he tends to think anything is possible. He feels needed.

"I know what my role is — I'm know here for a purpose, helping the other guys navigate these coaching changes and these things of building those relationships," Fowler said.

As for that elusive Husky scholarship, he's likely in that handful of walk-on players who remain in consideration, joined by place-kicker Grady Gross and punter Jack McCallister, should one become available.

Meanwhile, Fowler will keep showing up, taking snaps and making tackles.

DREW FOWLER FILE

Service: For a walk-on player, Fowler has done fairly well for himself in landing playing time, appearing in 25 career Husky games so far, including all 13 in 2022.

Stats: He has 10 tackles, 6 coming in the final three games last season — 3 against Colorado last season, 2 against WSU in the Apple Cup and another in the Alamo Bowl against Texas.

Role: Fowler went from primarily a special-teams role only for Jimmy Lake to joining the linebacker rotation for Kalen DeBoer's staff. He's probably in the third wave of backers sent onto the field this season.

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Published Jun 23, 2023

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.