Washington Football Position Preview: Defensive Line Looks Stout in 2016

Chris Peterson heads into his 3rd season with the University of Washington, and looks to finally break Stanford and Oregon’s stronghold on the Pac-12 North. With football season coming up, we look ahead to where the Dawgs are set, and where their might be some battles.

A Year Ago…

Washington football’s defensive line was a formidable force in the Pac-12 a year ago, with senior Taniela Tupou leading the way for then Huskies, and sophomore Elijah Qualls clogging up the trenches at NT.

However, midway through the season, Qualls went out with an ankle injury, thus creating the need for fellow NT Greg Gaines, who stepped up and had an awesome season for the Dawgs, finishing the year with 28 total tackles and 1.0 tackles for loss on the year as a freshmen.

Similarly, freshmen Vita Vea finished with a strong season as well, getting 17 total tackles and 3.0 tackles for loss.

Overall, this line impressed very much, considering how young they were and how much they lost on the defensive line in the previous year. They successfully rushed and pressured opposing quarterbacks, giving the secondary opportunity to pick off rushed throws from those opposing signal callers.

Washington Huskies

Saying Goodbye:

• Jarett Finau, 6’3″, 274 lbs.
• Taniela Tupou, 6’2″, 288 lbs.

New Faces:

• Levi Onwuzurike, 6’3″, 250 lbs.
• Amandre Williams, 6’3″, 225 lbs.

Current Roster:

• Benning Potoa’e, Fr., 6’3″, 271 lbs.
• Elijah Qualls, Jr., 6’1″, 321 lbs.
• Vita Vea, So., 6’5″, 329 lbs.
• Jared Pulu, Fr., 6’4″, 260 lbs.
• John Clark, Fr., 6’4″, 271 lbs.
• Damion Turpin, Sr., 6’3″, 284 lbs.
• Ricky McCoy, Fr., 6’2″, 302 lbs.
• Jaylen Johnson, So., 6’3″, 285 lbs.
• Levi Onwuzurike, Fr., 6’4″, 262 lbs.
• Shane Bowman, So., 6’4″, 290 lbs.
• Jason Scrempos, Fr., 6’6″, 279 lbs.
• Greg Gaines, So., 6’2″, 318 lbs.
• Will Dissly, Jr., 6’4″, 273 lbs.
• Amandre Williams, 6’3″, 225 lbs.

2016 Outlook:

Another unit that looks to be much improved this upcoming season, as they return Qualls, Gaines, Mathis (in a hybrid role), Vea, and Johnson, who all played prominent roles in the Dawgs defensive line rotation a season ago.

Again, probably one of UW’s deeper position units because of all the freshmen that achieved playing time last season, the Huskies defensive line features a plethora of talent.

Some new faces to watch on the Huskies defensive line, are redshirt freshmen Potoa’e, who finished his senior season in high school the year before with 19 sacks, and 72 tackles.

Potoa’e is a former blue-chip prospect that was named the top high school football player in the state of Washington by multiple websites.

Additionally, another blue-chip prospect, Onwuzurike, could see the playing field in his first season as a Husky. He finished his senior season in high school with 8.5 sacks and 58 total tackles, and was named Dallas Area’s Defensive Player of the Year by the Dallas Morning News.

With the departures of sack masters Travis Feeney and Cory Littleton, the Huskies could look for extra help on the defensive line to create more and more pass rush options, and Onwuzurike and Potoa’e could be the extra help that they need.

Overall, this unit looks very very strong heading into next season. They aren’t many question marks as far as the talent in this position group goes, and with the additions of some former 4-star high school players, this unit looks to take another step in the right direction for the Husky defense.