With Spring Football commencing in 3 days, handicapped the new interior of Washington’s offensive line will be intriguing. Gone are left guard Jaxson Kirkland, center Corey Luciano, and right guard Henry Bainivalu. The two guards are competing in the NFL combine this week.
The biggest sore spot–literally, figuratively, and statistically last season was in the defensive backfield. Literally, a sore spot because so many DBs were injured throughout the season that it was difficult to keep track of not just week-to-week but play-to-play. Figuratively, a sore spot because they struggled play-to-play. And statistically, a sore spot because of the aforementioned issues led to the defensive backs being burned far too often.
However, the departures of the three offensive linemen leave behind some rather large shoes to fill—literally, figuratively, and statistically. Literally, at 6-7, 6-6, and 6-4, obviously they have large feet. Figuratively, the shoes to fill are that they represent 60-percent of one of the best offensive lines in the nation. And, statistically, they were one of the best the nation in the fewest negative plays allowed, passing yards, sacks, turnovers, 3rd down conversion rate, and other categories.
Washington coach Kalen DeBoer, in his pre-Spring Football press conference, identified 4 linemen set to compete for those 3 open spots: Geirean Hatchett, Julius Buelow, Nate Kalepo, and Matteo Mele.
The 6-8, 310-pound Hawaiian Buelow is intriguing given what is the size of a typical tackle. However, given that the two tackle spots are locked down by Troy Fautanu and Roger Rosengarten, and that DeBoer had no problem putting 6-7, 340-pound Kirkland in at left or right guard, they’re not opposed to a larger body inside. The junior started 5 games in 2021 and saw the field in 10 games that year. In total, he’s been a part of 22 games.
Matteo Mele has started one game, albeit as a redshirt freshman back in 2019. He’s similar in size to Henry Bainivalu, listed at 6-6 and 295 pounds–12 pounds lighter than Bainivalu. Mele is a senior with 29 games under his belt including all 13 games last season. The 6th-year senior first game was taking over for Nick Harris at center, snapping the ball to Jacob Eason.
Nate Kalepo, like Mele, is close to Bainivalu’s size but 16 pounds heavier at 323. The Rainier Beach grad started the first 3 games at left guard last season as Kirkland got healthy. He saw action in 12 of 13 games in 2022, missing only Washington’s blowout against Colorado at Husky Stadium. Over the past 3 seasons, Kalepo has played in 16 of 19 games.
The youngest of the 4 is Ferndale’s Geirean Hatchett. the 4th year sophomore didn’t see the field until DeBoer’s arrival. At 6-4 and 297 pounds, Hatchett is also the smallest of the lot–but nearly the exact same size as Luciano, just 3 pounds heavier. He demonstrated his versatility in 2022 playing multiple spots on the line including stints at TE as a blocker. The 4th year sophomore was singled out by DeBoer as the Hungriest Dawg.
A case can be made for each of these linemen and it’s going to be up to the players and coaches to sort it out over the next 6 weeks.
The most intriguing position battle will definitely be in the defensive backfield, but even that won’t initially be a battle. They will be mixing and matching to see who fits best where before they battle it out in the final week or so of Spring Football. For my money, the offensive line will be the best position battle. Any slip up and there are plenty of capable bodies behind waiting for their shots, as well.
