Henry Bainivalu, Washington Huskies.
The Washington Huskies are in the middle of Spring Practice, working toward the annual Spring Game on April 30. By far, the biggest question mark among position groups is the offensive line. That’s partially due to the unit’s disappointing 2021 and partially because of turnover.
It is hard to know whether last season’s disappointment had to do with the scheme or just bad performance. Their poor play was a big reason why UW fired offensive coordinator John Donovan before the season ended. Although
They weren’t much better after he left, either. That’s why it was interesting that offensive line coach Scott Huff was the only assistant coach under Jimmy Lake’s regime to return under Kaelen DeBoer.
The Huskies have 15 players competing for the five offensive line positions, with seven listed as redshirt freshmen and one true freshman, Parker Brailsford, out of Mesa, Arizona.
Last season’s backup Corey Luciano takes over at center after starter Luke Wattenberg used up his college eligibility. Luciano played in all 12 games last season, bringing his career appearances to 22 in three seasons.
Fifth-year junior Matteo Mele is the backup as of now. After missing the first two games of 2021, he played in the last 10. Additionally, Mete played six games at center, including a start, in the two prior seasons. He’s also in the mix at left tackle.
Inexperienced redshirt freshman Geirean Hatchett is third and hopes to see his first game action this year. According to Mike Vorel of the Seattle Times, Brailsford was number four to start spring practice. But he could move to another position before it’s over.
At this moment, Troy Fautanu is at the top of the depth chart. Fautanu played in nine games last year, starting two games at left tackle against Arizona and Stanford. He started another game at left guard against WSU in the Apple Cup. This will be Fauntanu’s fourth year at Washington, though listed as a sophomore. He played in all four games in 2020 after redshirting in 2019.
His spot at LT is far from guaranteed. The NCAA may allow Jaxson Kirkland to return for a sixth season. Kirkland was headed to the NFL before ankle issues caused him to withdraw his name. He petitioned to come back to Washington, but there is no word yet on his status.
Roger Rosengarten is number two and is one of the redshirt freshmen, although he is going into his third year. Rosengarten could see time and maybe start at right tackle. As mentioned earlier, Mele is third.
Nate Kalepo is the Washington Huskies starting left guard for now. An all-state at Rainier Beach as a senior in 2018, last year, he played in every game except in the final game against WSU.
Julius Buelow is number two but started the first five games last year, playing in all games except the Apple Cup. It will be a good battle between the two hog mollies, which might go all the way until Opening Day. The “loser” could move to right guard. O’Dea High School grad Owen Prentice fills the third spot right now.
Last year’s starter Henry Bainivalu returns to the Washington Huskies for his sixth season. He’s by far the team’s most experienced lineman, with 39 games played since 2019. His return came as a sort of a surprise since he was eligible for the NFL draft. This season Bainvalu may be the anchor who keeps the offensive line together.
Bainivalu is backed up by a pair of redshirt freshmen, Myles Murao and Gaard Memmelaar. Neither has played for Washington Huskies thus far, but the duo is fighting it out for number two in the pecking order.
Junior Victor Curne returns to start at right tackle. Over the last two seasons, Curne all 16 games. Whether or not he’s a good player is somewhat debatable. How the line worked last season it’s hard to know if his play was a cause of the problems or the result of a poor unit as a whole.
Samuel Peacock is Curne’s understudy right now. The Gig Harbor, Washington native, is another of the Huskies’ redshirt freshmen linemen and has been in the program for two years. Neither he or redshirt frosh Robert Wyrsch, the third-stringer, have played in a college game. Due to the lack of experience at this critical position, it won’t be a surprise if Rosengarten comes over to stabilize the depth.
This spring camp is all about putting the best players in the best spots, so there could be quite a bit of shuffling among the linemen.