In recent years, Washington has always been a team defined by its explosive offense, with the defense seeming more like an added luxury when it was on. Even in the team's national championship run during the 2023 season, Washington had a good, but not great, defense.
Last season in Jedd Fisch's first year as UW head coach, he brought on Bill Belichick's son Stephen to lead the group as defensive coordinator. It was another year of inconsistency. The defense showed glimpses of greatness, notably being second in the entire nation in allowing the fewest passing yards per game, but also couldn't get pressure on the quarterback or stop the run, allowing 161.8 rushing yards per game.
This season, Fisch hired former Purdue head coach Ryan Walters to be the new defensive coordinator. Walters, also a former defensive coordinator at Illinois and Missouri, has a strong reputation for how he builds formidable defenses using unique schemes.
Himself a former college safety who spent the early years of his coaching career as an assistant responsible for coaching defensive backs, he should be perfect in refining Washington's already great secondary, while also improving the consistency of the other defensive groups. Husky fans should believe he's a massive upgrade to Belichick.
With Walters at the helm, a full offseason of development for key returning players, and an influx of game-changing transfers, Washington's defense could prove to be the highlight of the team this season. Here's a deeper look at the outlook for it, position group by position group.
Defensive line
As noted earlier, Washington's pass rush and run defense wasn't the greatest last season, and the defensive line took a big hit this offseason when it lost edge rusher Russell Davis II for the 2025 season to another injury. That being said, Washington will field some lineman with high upside for this season.
Edge rusher Isaiah Ward is one of two returning starters for the Huskies on defense, and he had a solid season last year with three sacks and six TFLs. Zach Durfee is also a key returner from last season who proved to be a threat on the edge, although he was injured for most of 2024. He was also named one of the Huskies six team captains.
Rounding out the key edge rushers is Jacob Lane, who enters his third season with the Huskies. Lane has experience, but this will be his first season where he is a projected starter, and thus will need to step up into a larger role. With his 6 foot 5, 260-pound frame, he can certainly do it.
On the interior of the defensive line, Arizona transfer Ta'ita'i Uiagelelei and Western Michigan transfer Anterio Thompson will be massive upgrades in stuffing the run. The two had a combined 69 tackles last season, with 10 of those being for a loss, which is two more than Washington's starting tackles had last year -- in a smaller sample size.
Most significantly, Walters’s defensive scheme should make the D-line more efficient this season, as he constantly mixes formations, ranging from a 3-4 to a 4-2-5 to the rarer 5-1-5, using versatile personnel that enables creative blitzes and maximizes each player’s athletic strengths.
Linebackers
The linebacker position is the most questionable defensive group, as the Huskies lost Carson Bruener and Alphonzo Tuputala, two of their best defensive players last season who led the team in tackles.
Replacing them will be a core highlighted by Deven Bryant, Washington State transfer Buddah Al-Uqdah, and UCF transfer Xe'ree Alexander. Bryant redshirted for Washington in 2023 before playing in eight games and only making one tackle in 2024. Despite his lack of impressive stats on the field, the coaching staff obviously believes in his physical upside and work ethic, as he was awarded the team's Iron Dawg award for his dedication in the weight room.
Al-Uqdah had a fantastic year for the Cougars last season. He led the team in tackles with 76 and interceptions with three, including one that he returned for a touchdown. At UCF, Alexander was second on the team with 68 tackles, with six of those being for loss. Right now, Bryant and Al-Uqdah are listed on the depth chart as starters, while Alexander will get significant playing time filling in as a backup.