Recruiting Roundup: Looking At The Defensive Recruiting Board

Happy Sunday Husky fans. First if you might want to stay tuned tonight when 4 star wide receiver Jabez Tinae from Kennedy Catholic HS, WA who will be deciding between WSU, Oregon, USC, Cal, and UW. It sounds like UW is the favorite and we will see if Tinae ends up committing to UW to play with his quarterback Sam Huard at UW.

Last weekend we took a look at the offensive recruiting board, and this weekend I wanted to look at the defensive board for the Huskies.

At defensive tackle the Huskies have already landed 2 commits in Voi Tunuufi and Kuao Peihopa who are both rated as 3 stars by 247sports. The Huskies have also added Siaosi Finau who projects as a defensive end/defensive tackle for the Huskies (he doesn’t have a current 247sports rating). The Huskies are still recruiting 4 star tackle Jacob Schuster from Tumwater HS, WA and also 5 star JT Tuimoloau from Eastside Catholic HS, WA (who is being recruited as a tackle and end). The Huskies are battling Ohio state, Oregon, and USC for Tuimoloau (who is going to wait to decide until closer to signing day). Schuster is looking the most at Cal, Stanford, and UW. The Huskies will more than likely try and add at least 1 defensive tackle after not taking 1 last year. If I had to predict right now I do think the Huskies will end up landing Tuimoloau and running out of room for Schuster. Here are some of Tuimoloau’s highlights:

At rush end the Huskies already have Maurice Heims from Santa Margarita HS, CA who is rated as a 3 star defensive end by 247sports. The Huskies are also after a couple of other rush ends in Logan Fano from Timpview HS, UT (who is planning on taking a mission) and Velltray Jefferson from Edison HS, CA. Fano is rated as a 4 star outside linebacker who is considering Utah, BYU and several other schools but in reality his recruitment is a Utah and UW battle. Jefferson is a 3 star athlete who is being recruited by Tennessee, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and UW. The Huskies would love to add both Jefferson and Fano to their class (with Fano delaying his enrollment 2 years to serve a mission). If I had to guess I would say the Huskies will land Jefferson and miss out on Fano. With Jefferson and Heims in the boat the Huskies will have 2 rush ends who have good length (both listed at 6’4” or bigger), and look like good developmental prospects. Here are some of Jefferson’s highlights:

At linebacker (inside backer is what we are referring to as inside backer) the Huskies have already landed Will Latu from Bethel HS, WA. Latu is rated as a 4 star linebacker by 247sports. The Huskies are trying to add another linebacker and they are after a few good players. Ethan Calvert from Oaks Christian HS, CA is a highly ranked linebacker who the Huskies are battling for. USC, UCLA, and UW are the schools that are fighting for Calvert’s commitment who is rated as a 4 star by 247sports. The Huskies are also recruiting and after Wynden Ho’ohuli from Mililani HS, HI. The Huskies have backed off a little from Ho’ohuli and are going full in on Calvert. Right now I’m not sure if the Huskies will be able to land Calvert but they have put themselves in a good position to potentially land him. Here are some of Calvert’s highlights:

At defensive back the Huskies have already landed Zakhari Spears from Loyola HS, CA and Dyson McCutchen from Bishop Amat HS, CA. Both McCutchen and Spears are rated as 3 stars by 247sports and are projected to play cornerback for the Huskies. The Huskies want to add at least another 2 defensive backs in the class (at least 1 safety and 1 cornerback). Chance Tucker from Crespi HS, CA is looking very heavily at the Huskies along with Notre Dame. Rated as a 3 star cornerback Tucker is looking to commit soon and the Huskies look like the leader in his recruitment as of right now. At safety the Huskies are after Mitch Leigber from Laguna HS, CA, Placide Djungu-Sungu from Martin HS, TX and Titus Mokiao-Atimalala from James Campbell HS, HI. Leigber, who is rated as a 3 star safety reminds me a lot of from Husky Taylor Rapp and the Huskies are battling UCLA, and Stanford for his commitment. Djungu-Sungu who is also rated as a 3 Star is looking at Duke and UW. Mokiao-Atimalala, who is rated as a 4 star by 247sports, is currently leaning towards Notre Dame but the Huskies are fighting away for him. If I had to guess I would say the Huskies will land Chance Tucker to complete their cornerback recruiting and land Placide-Djungu-Sungu who is a ballhawk at the safety position. Here are some of Djungu-Sungu’s highlights:

In the end I see the defensive class looking like:

DT- Tunuufi, Peihopa, Finau, and Tuimoloau

Rush End- Heims, and Jefferson

Linebacker- Latu and ?

Defensive back- Spears, McCutchen, Tucker, and Djungu-Sungu

That is all for now and as always follow me @asieverkropp and tune in on twitter around 6pm to see if Tinae does in fact commit to UW.