Will the Washington football defensive line come of age?

Washington football is getting a lot younger along the defensive line, but will it regress?

Washington football lost three members of the defensive line, including fourth round pick Greg Gaines. Jaylen Johnson and Shane Bowman have both graduated. Junior Levi Onwuzurike started five games last year, and is expected to be a full time starter this season.

Benning Potoa’e is switching positions from outside linebacker to defensive tackle, to use his quickness to his advantage on the inside.

Redshirt freshmen Tuli Letuligasenoa and Sam Taimani are expected to be featured heavily at nose tackle too. Though they don’t have a lot of college experience, they should make a big impact.

Senior Josiah Bronson is expected to see action this year. He began his college career at Temple, but transferred after his freshman year. He played his high school ball at nearby Kentwood so he decided to come home and walk on.

Bronson didn’t play at all in 2017, however, in 2018 he played in 12 games for the Huskies. His experience last year will help the Huskies indeed. He was awarded a scholarship this year during spring ball along with fellow defensive linemen John Clark, who will miss his senior season with a knee injury.

The Huskies also brought in three highly touted prospects in Faatui Tuitele, Jacob Bandes, and Sama Paama, who all might see the field depending on how the season plays out. The three four-star prospects would presumably be redshirted, but with the new four-game redshirt rule, Chris Petersen might want them to see some game action and get them up to speed.

The Huskies will be looking at combination of veterans along with youth to make the defensive line a position for the opposition to deal with. It will be interesting to see how things turn out this season.