Washington Huskies Spring Camp: Who will replace Molden and Taylor?

Herb Nightengale   |  

Mar 16, 2021

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Washington Huskies stars Elijah Molden and Keith Taylor are headed to the NFL. There will be plenty of competition to replace them at spring practice.

During spring practice, the Washington Huskies have several spots where there will be competition for the 2021 season. The seniors last season had the option to return to the team, which many did. Defensive backs Elijah Molden and Keith Taylor decided to take their shot at the NFL.

Molden should be a high draft choice. Taylor was a starter his last two seasons at Washington but didn’t get the same recognition as other Husky defensive backs. Coming back to UW may have allowed his stock to go up, but now the Huskies will have to replace him too.

Today we look at the defensive backs fighting for jobs in spring practice. Especially the ones replacing Molden and Taylor.

Cornerback

Trent McDuffie returns for his junior season. Outside of Molden, he was the most seen Husky defensive back. It was not only because McDuffie was all over the field, but he was also the Huskies punt returner. McDuffie will be the one in 2021 to take a lead role with the departure of Molden. Pro Football Focus named McDuffie to the Pac-12 first team, while other services like Associated Press named him to the second team. 

Alex Cook is another defensive back coming back with experience. He became a starter in the first game of 2020. Though he has only four starts throughout his career at Washington coming into his senior season, Cook has played plenty of ball. He’s been in every game in three seasons after redshirting in 2017. 

Kyler Gordon is another returner at defensive back. Cook beat him out for the starting spot for 2020; however, Gordon did end up starting one game and was named All-Pac-12 honorable mention. Though Gordon and Cook played safety in spring camp, Gordon is shown as the backup at cornerback to McDuffie on the depth chart. His experience should allow him to go back and forth.

Dominique Hampton should start at the other cornerback spot from McDuffie. A junior going into the season, Hampton started all four games in 2020. In his redshirt season, Hampton played in eleven games.

Taking over for Molden at nickelback is Kamren Fabiculanan. Fabiculanan only played one game there as a redshirt freshman last year, so the question is will he be ready to go. The Huskies are confident in the youngster, but they have other players who can play there if necessary.

Safety

Expect Alex Cook to start at one safety spot while junior Asa Turner (nine starts) has the other. Cameron Williams, a fellow junior, will be Turner’s backup. Junior Julius Irvin expected to back up Alex Cook. 

Having eight players who could be moved around in the five positions, the competition could get fierce.  Also competing will be sophomores Mishael Powell, Nick Juran, redshirt freshmen Jacobe Covington, Makell Esteen, Elijah Jackson, Meki Pei, James Smith, and Kasen Kinchen, freshmen cornerbacks Zakhari Spears, Dyson McCutcheon, and safety Vincent Nunley.

In all, the Huskies have 19 defensive backs, with 11 fighting to be part of the primary eight defensive back rotation. This should be a great spring camp for a talented group of players. Go Dawgs!

What do you think about the Washington Huskies’ defensive backs? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.