Once again — let’s assume that Spring Football will proceed without interference from the COVD-19 pandemic hanging over the heads of college football participants and fans, and look ahead at the 2020 Huskies, and look back at the 2019 Huskies.
Here’s a complete rundown of the 2019 season for the Husky defense, and we will then look at what to expect come April 1st when the team takes the field for Spring Football.
Review of the 2019 Defense
2019 Individual Stats Leaders
Elijah Molden: 79 Tackles 5.5 TFL 4 INT 13 PBU 3 FF
**Brandon Wellington: 68 Tackles 1.5 TFL .5 Sack 1 PBU
**Myles Bryant: 68 Tackles 4.5 TFL 1 Sack 3 INT 1 PBU 1 FF
Keith Taylor: 59 Tackles 2 TFL 5 PBU
Eduan Ulofoshio:47 Tackles 3.5 TFL 3 Sacks 1 FF
Levi Onwuzurike: 45 Tackles 6 TFL 2 Sacks
**Kyler Manu: 45 Tackles 2.5 TFL 1 Sack
Trent Mcduffie: 45 Tackles 1 INT 2 PBU 2 FF
Joe Tryon: 41 Tackles 12.5 TFL 8 Sacks
Ryan Bowman: 34 Tackles 9.5 TFL 5.5 Sacks 3 FF
Kyler Gordon: 32 Tackles 1 TFL 4 PBU
Cam Williams: 32 Tackles 1 TFL 3 INT
Benning Potoa’e: 30 Tackles 7 TFL 4.5 Sacks 1 FF
Defensive Loss of Production:
Tackles: 230/812=28%
Tackles for Loss: 17.5/71=24%
Sacks: 7/29=24%
Interceptions: 3/13= 23%
Pass Breakups: 4/32=12.5%
Forced Fumbles: 2/12=16%
Projected 2020 Spring Depth Chart
DL: Sam Taimani—Faatui Tuitele—Noa Ngalu
DL: Tuli Letuligasenoa—Jacob Bandes—Sama Paama
DL: Levi Owuzunreike—Josiah Bronson—Draco Bynum
BUCK: Joe Tryon —Bralen Trice— Jordan Lolohea
LB: Daniel Heimuli—Mj Taifisi—Miki Ah You—Alphonzo Tuputala
LB: Edefuan Ulofoshio—Josh Calvert—Jackson Sirmon
SAM: Ryan Bowman—Laiatu Latu—Zion Tupuola-Fetui,
CB: Trent McDuffie—Kyler Gordon
CB: Keith Taylor—Dom Hampton— Kamren Fabiculanan
NICKEL: Elijah Molden—Kyler Gordon—Isaiah Gilchrist
FS: Cameron Williams—Julius Irvin
SS: Asa Turner—Brandon Mckinney—Alex Cook
Three Biggest Questions on Defense
Inside Linebacker?
Last Season Brandon Wellington and Kyler Manu were the assumed starters coming into the season as the 2 seniors and only guys with any playing experience. As the season went on they were not able to make enough impact plays to keep those spots so Jackson Sirmon, MJ Taifisi, and Edefuan Ulofoshio started to rotate in.
Ulofoshio came off the bench to get 9 tackles 1.5 sacks vs OSU and win Pac 12 defensive player of the week. He started the final 3 games at LB over Manu and had two big games finishing with 11 tackles vs Colorado and 12 tackles 1.5 sacks vs WSU.
Assuming Ulofoshio starts at one linebacker spot that still leaves Jackson Sirmon, MJ Taifisi, Josh Calvert, and Daniel Heimuli to compete for the other LB spot. Sirmon and Taifisi have experience but Daniel Heimuli and Josh Calvert were both highly rated recruits coming out of HS who had to battle injuries going into last season and redshirted.
How many DBs will start?
Depending on the offense the Huskies are facing they could play as many as 7 DBs at a time. Last season 5 Dbs was base defense, they played 6 almost just as much. 7 would be possible this season with the depth and experience they have coming back.
At corner Elijah, Keith and Trent are 3 of the best corners in the Pac 12, but Kyler would start at many other schools in the conference and Dom Hampton has a ton of upside with his size and athleticism.
At Safety they are returning two players that are as good as it gets as true sophomores. Cam and Asa will be the starters next season but Brandon Mckinney and Julius Irvin came to Uw as two of the higher rated safeties in the country coming out of high school and will be fighting for playing time this season.
Will any young guys be able to jump the upper classmen in front of them on depth chart?
The Huskies have a ton of experience coming back on defense with starters returning at almost every position. However they also have very talented younger players that were highly rated recruits coming up behind them. Ryan Bowman was a former walk-on and is not prototypical size for an outside linebacker at only 6’ he is exceptionally strong and play his position well. He was 2nd team all Pac 12 in 2019 with 9.5 TFL and 5.5 sacks, and has 23.5 sacks in his career. Liatu Latu was the #6 defensive end in the country, he got a few opportunities to play last season had 16 tackles 2 TFL 1 sack and a safety in limited action.
Latu will be pushing Bowman for playing time in this season. Kyler Gordon came to UW as a highly rated 4 star prospect. He is probably the most athletic player on the team. He is a special teams standout and was pushing for playing time last season, even started a few games at CB before being passed on the depth chart by Trent McDuffie. He finished last season with 34 tackles and 4 PBU. He is only a RS Soph and will be pushing Keith Taylor, Trent McDuffie, and Elijah Molden for playing time all season.
Levi Owuzunrike, Josiah Bronson, Tuli Letuligasenoa, Sam Taimani, all started games and played well in 2019. Levi was an All Pac12 player, Tuli and Taimani showed they’re exceptional strength as run stoppers, and Josiah started 11 games last season made big impact on defense and was granted an extra year of eligibility for 2020. Even with all that talent at DT Faatui Tuitele and Jacob Bandes will be right on their heels fighting for playing time.
Tuitele and Bandes both played in less than 4 games last season preserving their redshirts but both were top 10 defensive tackles in the country when coming out of highschool. With guys like Latu, Gordon, Bandes, and Tuitele biting at the heels of all these returning starters if anybody takes a step back or gets injured there will be another talented young guy ready to take their spot.
Key Returners on Defense
Levi Onwuzurike- Senior DT 6’ 3” 293:
2019 1st Team All Pac-12. If Levi would have entered the NFL Draft last season he would have been drafted in the first couple rounds. He decided to come back for his senior year and should be an impact player on the defensive line this season. Entering spring last year the defense was full of young guys but nobody was set to be a leader on that team, this season everybody knows that Levi is the leader on this defense. He has elite strength and quickness for an interior defensive lineman. In his third full season as a starter he will be a force on this defense and with all the talent around him could have a breakout year.
Elijah Molden- Senior CB 5’ 10” 190:
2018 2nd Team All Pac-12. 2019 1st Team All Pac-12. Led the team in tackles with 79 in 2019. Tied for the 11th most PBU and 7th most interceptions in the country last season. Elijah is the most natural playmaker on this defense, he constantly gets his hands on the ball 13 pass break ups, 4 interceptions, and 3 forced fumbles in 2019.
Joe Tryon- Junior OLB 6’ 5” 262:
2019 2nd Team All Pac-12. Joe Tryon came into the 2019 season with big expectations. He had a slow start to the season but finished the season with 6 Sacks in the final 5 games. He was straight up unblockable in multiple games last season. With his size and athleticism in his third full season as a starter he has all the tools to be an all American and top draft pick next season.
The Depth:
The Husky Defense only lost 3 starters from last years team Myles Bryant, Kyler Manu, and Brandon Wellington. Myles was a key player on last years team with a lot of experience on a young defense but he was playing out of position at Safety instead of Nickel. Elijah Molden is an All Pac 12 Nickel and the Huskies were thin at Safety, but Asa Turner is a much better fit at Safety and got experience playing in multiple spots last season.
Kyler and Brandon started the season last year starting at Linebacker but by the end of the year they had been mostly replaced by Olofoshio, Sirmon and Taifisi. Every other starter is back from last years defense and a bunch of other guys with a good amount of playing experience. Sam Taimani, Tuli Letuligasenoa, Levi Owuzunrike, Josiah Bronson, Joe Tryon, MJ Taifisi, Edefuan Ulofoshio, Jackson Sirmon, Ryan Bowman, Laiatu Latu, Trent McDuffie, Keith Taylor, Elijah Molden, Kyler Gordon, Cam Williams, and Asa Turner all started at least one game with 5 more guys getting significant playing time. Add in the young guys who will be fighting to earn playing time this year and the Huskies Defense will have a solid 25 guys worthy of playing time this season.
Coaching Changes
Pete Kwiatkowski moved back to his old position of Defensive Coordinator, Will Harris took over as Defensive Backs Coach and Terrence Brown was hired as Assistant Defensive Backs Coach to fill the voids left by Coach Lake. Ikaika Malloe was promoted to Co-Defensive Coordinator/ Defensive Line Coach and Bob Gregory is returning as Inside Linebackers Coach.
