30-Day Countdown: Day 17 - House of Highlights

We’re almost halfway through the countdown. That means maybe it’s time you take a break. Sit down. Watch a movie. Or...maybe instead you go back and watch some of the highlight film from this current Husky roster from when they were back in high school. Which Husky had the best film? Here are some candidates for you. And if you disagree then share it in the comments. There’s no way that we don’t all win from watching more tape of UW players.

OLB Laiatu Latu

One of the best part about high school highlight tapes is when the highlighted player is just physically a tier above everyone else on the field. Latu looks like he’s playing against a school for ants in some of the clips. Especially when at about 0:53 he gets the pooch kick on the return team and runs it back about 40 yards. It’s also a lot of fun to see a player dominant in all phases of the game. Latu is a monster pass rusher but his highlight reel includes that run-back, taking a fake punt for a first down, and a layout 40-yard reception. All in about the first minute. That’s in addition to some Jadaveon Clowney-esque bone crushing hits where he almost takes the handoff from the quarterback. It’s not exactly a mystery why he’s a breakout candidate this season.

WR Puka Nacua

For some reason when you try to embed MaxPrep’s video it defaults to more recent ones rather than the one you’re trying to link to so you can go here to see it. Nacua led the nation in receiving yards his senior season so you would certainly expect him to have a quality highlight reel. There are a fair share of leaping catches and taking a screen pass 80 yards to the house but there’s one aspect that I love about Nacua’s film (from a highlight perspective rather than a sound football perspective). Puka goes up on jump balls and essentially body catches the ball over defenders and yet still manages to out jump them. His hops are unreal and he repeatedly manages to leap straight into a waiting defender and yet come down with the ball soundly snuggled into his chest.

Another great aspect of the Puka highlight reel is how often he catches the ball and comes to a complete stop facing his defender as if he’s a point guard figuring out how to take his man off the dribble and get to the hole. That seemingly never pays off in football and yet time and time again Puka beats his man from a standstill at a 3 yard disadvantage and goes untouched to paydirt.

2020 has been one hell of a drug but there aren’t many things more cruel then only letting us get to see essentially 2 games worth of Puka last year.

RB Jay’Veon Sunday

It’s likely the many years of watching Marshawn Lynch as a Hawks fan but I do enjoy a battle cruiser of a running back who still has some giddy up. That’s Sunday who isn’t the most highly rated of UW’s backs but who I loved watching his high school film. In particular check out the run at 1:06 when he appears dead to rights 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage and makes about 8 guys miss turning it into a 15 yard gain. Washington seemingly has their power back situation figured out for a little while with Richard Newton in house but I won’t mind getting to see Sunday in action on Saturdays.

CB Kyler Gordon

There’s a reason why Husky fans are excited at the possibility of Gordon being heavily involved in the return game this season. He was an absolute dynamo in high school with the ball in his hands and that’s evident from the numerous ridiculous jump cuts and spin moves he displays in the video above. It is a little bit disappointing that they don’t make an effort to splice in his defensive highlights until the last minute or two of the video given that’s where he ended up in college. The video is almost done before we see the first interception. Still, it’s dazzling to see the ball in Gordon’s hands and even if you don’t get a sense for his skills as a corner in these highlights it’s easy to see why he was such a highly rated prospect.