Washington football will have arguably the country’s fiercest defensive line in 2020, and it runs deeper than ever
Jimmy Lake is going to have a lot to deal with during his first year as Washington football’s head coach, but one thing he won’t have to worry about is his defensive line. The Huskies are returning arguably the best interior defensive lineman in the country in Levi Onwzurike, and are adding to the stockpile of weapons after redshirting their 2019 recruits.
Off the top, let’s say that it’s impossible to talk about splitting up snaps, because everyone that’s going to be mentioned in this article has the potential to make a big impact this year. The defensive tackles alone are going to run at least seven deep, and depending on the progression of Noa Ngalu it could be eight. Washington runs a base 2-2-2-5 defense, which makes it even harder for some of these interior guys to get playing time. Defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski has the ability to play one set of defensive tackles per series to keep everyone fresh, or rotate them out like hockey lines.
No matter which option he chooses, the Huskies are talented enough up front to free up a lot of one on one opportunities for their outside linebackers, while still generating consistent pressure from the interior. Now let’s have some fun and look at some of the best possible combinations of defensive tackles for the upcoming season. These will not be based on the depth chart, but rather on complementary skill sets that will work best together in 2020.