Huskies Have Plenty of Intriguing Edge Rushers to Choose From

If anything is guaranteed this coming season, the University of Washington football team should still be a handful coming off the edge.

No, former starters Bralen Trice and Zion Tupuola-Fetui, both one-time All-Pac-12 players, haven't secured more eligibility.

New coach Jedd Fisch simply finds himself with an abundance of intriguing playmakers on the exterior, including some he brought with him from Arizona and plenty of others inherited from Kalen DeBoer's Husky roster, with many of them waiting to be fully unleashed.

As the Huskies prepare to open spring football practice next week, 11 players are listed as edge rushers, with two or three of them capable of playing on the interior defensive line, as well.

Isaiah Ward is a returning Fisch starter from Tucson. Zach Durfee has star quality. Jacob Lane made the Huskies play him as a freshman and burned his redshirt. Russell Davis II is a tested player and the son of an NFL player by the same name. Lance Holtzclaw, an Arizona native, has been steadily developed. Voi Tunuufi holds up 10 career sacks.

If the Huskies were to play Weber State this weekend, the best guess is 6-foot-5, 225-pound Ward, a sophomore with 5 career sacks, would start opposite the 6-foot-5, 255-pound Durfee, a junior who made his UW debut in the Sugar Bowl against Texas but hasn't been properly introduced because of an inane NCAA eligibility hold-up last season.

Or the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Lane, a sophomore with nine career games played that included the entire three-game UW postseason, might open with the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Holtzclaw, a sophomore who has a career sack and 14 games played.

Or the new staff could pair up the 6-foot-1, 260-pound Tunuufi, a senior with 39 games played, with the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Davis, a junior who's appeared in 23 games, with both coming out of a down-lineman stance at times besides off the edge.

Here's a further look at the 11 players, scholarship and walk-ons, who should make this position extra competitive this spring:

Isaiah Ward -- This wispy but active defender played 16 games at Arizona, including 13 last season, 11 of which he started. He brings a good memory to his UW career, coming up with a crucial sack in his most recentl game against Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl.

Zach Durfee -- With the NCAA holding him up as a double transfer, he pulled just four snaps in New Orleans, but at least he got his feet wet at a major-college football level. DeBoer's staff raved about this guy, who had 11 sacks in 11 games in his lone season at Division II Sioux Falls.

Jacob Lane -- DeBoer's coaches couldn't keep this well-proportioned rusher off the field, utilizing him down the stretch on a third-down speed-rushing unit. He has as a good a chance to start on the edge as anyone.

Lance Holtzclaw -- The player nicknamed "Showtime" has 14 Husky games under his belt and picked up his first career sack against Washington State in the Apple Cup. He played against Fisch's Arizona team in Tucson.

Voi Tunuufi -- The only senior of the bunch, the battle-tested Tunuufi could continue to bounce between the edge and the interior line. Again, he has 10 career sacks, including one against Fisch and Arizona in 2022. He's started twice as a freshman DL, one of them coming against Fisch and the Wildcats in Tucson in 2021.

Russell Davis II -- He similarly could play both on the edge and inside, and brings 23 games of experience with him from Arizona. He has 3.5 career sacks, including one in the Alamo Bowl against Oklahoma. His dad was an NFL defensive lineman who played for the Seahawks.

Maurice Heims -- The 6-foot-5, 249-pound junior from Hamburg, Germany, has played a lot, appearing in 21 games for the Huskies. The only thing that's held him back is he was a late-bloomer in picking up the game of American football.

Anthony James -- The one-time Texas A&M commit and considered the prize of the UW's 2023 recruiting class when coming in likely will take his 6-foot-5, 272-pound frame and move inside, but who knows what Fisch's staff will prefer. He redshirted last season.

Milton Hopkins Jr. -- The 6-foot-4, 226-pound walk-on continues to push for playing time after appearing in five games last season, including drawing snaps against Fisch's Arizona team in Tucson.

Jake Jennings -- Another walk-on, the 6-foot-4, 229-pounder enters his fourth season in the program seeking his first game time.

Jacob Mason -- Yet another walk-on, the 6-foot-2, 245-pounder showed up with center Landen Hatchett from Ferndale High School and redshirted.

For the latest news on Husky football and basketball, go to si.com/college/washington, and you can find us on Twitter and Facebook.