The pride of Husky Nation since 2013, Washington’s defense could be at its best since the team went all the way to the College Football Playoff in 2016. Jimmy Lake called his secondary “more advanced” than the 2016 group at this point, and the Huskies could end up as a top 10 group nationally in passing yards allowed.

Over the course of the summer, the safety battle was probably the most hotly contested on the team. How did that battle play out? Well, you’ll just have to find out!

Defensive Tackle

Taki Taimani, Tuli Letuligasenoa AND/OR Faatui Tuitele

Jacob Bandes, Noa Ngalu

Predicting the starters will be entirely determined by the offense’s personnel. If Montana comes out heavy, Bob Gregory will probably call a standard 3-4 defensive front, and if they come out in 11 personnel, it’ll be the standard 2-2-2-5 nickel look that Husky fans have grown accustomed to. Letuligasenoa and Tuitele will probably be the duo on the field in obvious passing situations, with Taimani as the primary run stuffer.

SAM OLB

Ryan Bowman

Jeremiah Martin

Bowman has been a force to be reckoned with throughout camp. He seems to be in line for another big season, which the Huskies are desperately in need of while Zion Tupuola-Fetui recovers from his ruptured Achilles tendon. Martin has a lot of room to grow after transferring in from Texas A&M. He has an excellent bull rush, but he needs to continue to work on his finesse moves and hand fighting. Once he does that, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with.

BUCK OLB

Bralen Trice

Sav’ell Smalls

Trice is going to surprise a lot of people this season. He’s garnered high praise from outside linebackers coach Ikaika Malloe, who said Trice could end up being better than former Husky and first-round pick Joe Tryon. Smalls, who got thrown into the fire as a true freshman in 2020, is developing very smoothly. He should see more reps in 2021, and could potentially be featured on third and long scenarios across from Trice or Bowman.

Inside Linebacker

Edefuan Ulofoshio, Jackson Sirmon

Daniel Heimuli, MJ Tafisi

The ILB’s room took a major hit this summer when Jimmy Lake announced that Will Latu and Miki Ah You wouldn’t be with the team in 2021. There’s not a ton of depth right now when it comes to scholarship players, so the starters are going to have to shoulder the majority of the work, and avoid injuries in the process. Thankfully, it appears that Daniel Heimuli avoided a major injury, and might be back at practice very soon. If another injury or two hits the room, it looks like Drew Fowler and Carson Bruener would be the next men up.

Cornerback

Trent McDuffie, Kyler Gordon

Jacobe Covington, Elijah Jackson

Each one of these groups has a trait that sets them apart. For the starters, it’s elite athleticism. For the backups, it’s length. Gordon and McDuffie are going to form arguably the best cornerback duo in college football this season. If McDuffie continues to improve off of his dominant 2020 campaign, he could end up being the best cornerback in the country in 2021.

Nickelback

Brendan Radley-Hiles

Kamren Fabiculanen

Not enough national media outlets are talking about the addition of Radley-Hiles. After being a three-year starter at Oklahoma, Bookie is going to make the loss of Elijah Molden hurt way less than it should. He’ll be a great player in run support when needed, and will excel in man coverage. There’s a strong chance he ends up leading the team in interceptions in 2021, because he’ll probably end up being tested the most out of the three cornerbacks.

Safety

Kamren Fabiculanen, Julius Irvin

Cam Williams, Dominique Hampton

Surprise! Weren’t expecting to see KamFab on this list now, were you? Sources have told me that he’s impossible to keep off the field, and has done nothing but make plays since he started getting reps as a safety. He’s able to do a little bit of everything, and at a position with so much talent, it seems like any choice the coaches make will be the right choice. On the other hand, Irvin seems to have finally found his groove at safety, after being asked to play nickel in 2020. He’s a natural safety, and will be excellent playing in a two-deep zone, as well as coming downhill in run support. It also sounds like when the team switches to a six DB dime package, Hampton will be the dimeback.