ZTF Appears on Mock Draft — Has He Played His Final UW Game?

Pro Football Focus likes the Husky outside linebacker among the top 45 picks, even injured.

Has outside linebacker Zion Tupuola-Fetui played his final game for the University of Washington football team?

It's a question certainly worth asking, considering the release of Pro Football Focus' latest NFL mock draft — PFF has ZTF going early in the second round next April, selected with the 45th pick overall. 

The 6-foot-4, 280-pound sophomore from Pearl City, Hawaii, of course, suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon injury midway through Husky spring practice and had subsequent surgery. 

Considering the nature of his medical issue, where recovery takes 6-10 months, the time frame likely makes him miss the coming season. 

If the pros remain interested in taking him right away, and he's amenable to his projected draft position, ZTF could go the way of Joe Tryon and Levi Onwuzurike, who were drafted 32nd in the first round and 41st in the second, even after opting out of the Huskies' 2020 season because of the pandemic. 

Similar to them, ZTF might have to consider his college career done, move on and start pulling a pro football salary.

PPF's latest mock draft is highly interesting, over and above ZTF's situation. 

In this past April's draft, the Huskies provided three players among the first 100 NFL picks, which was a huge improvement over 2020, when the first UW player (Jacob Eason) didn't go until the 122nd choice.

According to PFF, the next draft is going to treat the UW considerably better than all of that — cornerback Trent McDuffie, offensive tackle Jaxson Kirkland and Tupuola-Fetui are each projected as top 45 selections.

McDuffie and Kirkland, if this Michael Renner-compiled draft is anywhere near accurate, both will be scooped up in the first 15 picks of the draft that comes in nine months.

A 5-foot-11, 195-pounder given sophomore status by the NCAA because of the pandemic, McDuffie is pegged as draftee No. 13 for his combination of coverage skills and open-field tackling. He's the third corner on the PFF board, behind LSU's Derek Stingley Jr., and Florida's Kaiir Elam, with those two predicted to go second and ninth overall, respectively. 

Renner, in his draft assessment of the UW defensive back, wrote: "I don't often bring up tackling for a cornerback, [but] McDuffie's physicality when bringing down ball carriers deserves some love. He's missed two tackles on 64 career attempts and is exceptional in run support. He may not be an island man corner, but he's very instinctive and smooth in his own right."

Kirkland, a 6-foot-7, 310-pound junior and the Husky who usually gets the most attention in drafts and All-American listings, draws the No. 15 spot of the opening round in this mock effort. He's singled out as the second offensive tackle on the board, behind only Alabama's Evan Neal, picked to go sixth overall. 

Renner's take on the left tackle: "If Kirkland had played more than four games last season, he might be preparing for his first training camp right now. He allowed only two pressures in his first season at left tackle after two years starting at guard."

Tupuola-Fetui, who had a sensational four-game debut as a Husky starter, still rates as very much draft worthy, even with his Achilles injury and three seasons of college eligibility remaining. His combination of strength and speed is enticing.

Renner, in choosing him as a second-rounder, had this to say about the orange-haired defender: "ZTF is yet another player who would have been higher were it not for an offseason injury. His torn Achilles puts his 2021 season in jeopardy after he earned a 91.8 pass-rushing grade across four games last year."

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