Class of 2024 Defense Recruiting Board

If you clicked on this article but haven’t read yesterdays piece on the offense then I recommend heading over there first at this link and reading through the methodology. If you’re confused about the numbers I give here, it’s explained there. But in summary it’s a likelihood score based on all the information we have right now that they end up committing to Washington. The higher the number, the more factors going in UW’s favor at the moment. Players can be compared relative to each other but other schools using the same methodology could end up with a higher score (a player could be from SoCal and taken 2 visits to USC even if they’ve taken a visit to UW and shown interest).

A way to try to interpret the numbers is to use this approximate scale.

— 3.0+ Recruit has multiple factors that point toward Washington being a significant player in their recruitment from here forward

— 2.0-3.0 Recruit either has visited UW campus already in 2023 or is a caliber of prospect where UW is likely to be among top few choices

— 1.0-2.0 Recruit is in-region but with low interest in UW or has visited campus in 2023 and is a 4/5-star prospect

— 0.0-1.0 Recruit has a Husky offer but has shown no sign of reciprocating the interest

Defensive Line

Uncommitted Offers Extended: 11

Expected Class Size: 2-3

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: CA 4-star Jericho Johnson (1.7), TX NR Legend Journey (1.28), CA 4-star TA Cunningham (1.20)

Things aren’t off to a rousing start for recruiting along the defensive line. Of Washington’s targets the only one that made it up to campus in January was Florida 5-star David Stone (-1.52) who named a top-ten before UW had officially offered and has CBs in to both Oklahoma and Michigan State leading to a negative likelihood score. Suffice to say that if he actually committed to UW it would be the most impressive/perplexing recruiting job in Husky history. Especially since he didn’t mention Washington in an interview this week.

The first two names on the above list are both planning on visiting this spring so that should help clarify who is a realistic target. Johnson has caught on in the Southeast as within the last month he’s reportedly added offers from Georgia, Alabama, and Auburn. Well see if the SEC interest is genuine but if so then Washington will be a clear underdog. Legend Journey (besides having an awesome name) is a little off the radar as he doesn’t yet have an official rating. He does though have offers from more local schools such as TCU, Houston, and Oklahoma State.

Washington will be losing Tuli Letuligasenoa and Ulumoo Ale to graduation so at a minimum both will need to be replaced. Grabbing an extra defensive lineman just in case also isn’t a bad idea.

Edge Rushers

Uncommitted Offers Extended: 9

Expected Class Size: 3-4

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: UT NR Devoux Tuataga (2.3), AZ 5-star Elijah Rushing (2.17), CA 3-star Ratumana Bulabaluvu (2.07)

For this upcoming season there’s an argument that the edge spot will be right up there among the strongest position groups once again for Washington. After next year though there’s the chance UW will lose at least 3 players. ZTF will graduate, Bralen Trice is a likely early draft pick, and Sekai Afoa-Asoau will be out of eligibility as well if he doesn’t redshirt after entering this past fall as a JUCO transfer.

Washington’s offer sheet at this spot so far is a mix of highly rated players and under the radar targets. The Huskies unfortunately lost one spot last month when Jaxson Jones decommitted and instantly switched his pledge to Oregon. The coaching staff would be okay with that if they can manage to replace Jones with Rushing. Like with Stone, that may be a stretch for the 5-star despite getting him on campus in January. In an interview a few weeks ago Rushing mentioned Miami, aOSU, Notre Dame, Colorado, and Oregon as spots getting spring visits from him. We’ll see if UW can end up added to that list.

Tuataga isn’t currently rated but has offers from over half the Pac-12 already so is definitely a prospect on the rise. Assuming he enters the rankings at least as a mid 3-star prospect would drop his score down quite a bit to a 1.8.

Bulabaluvu is the most recent offer after putting up monster numbers for a lower level school in the San Diego area (41.5 sacks the last 2 years). He has offers now from 5 schools in the Pac-12 and is just beginning to see his recruitment take off and we’ll see where it goes.

Beyond that group the most realistic targets are California 3-star Damarrion White (1.88) and Hawai’i 3-star Anelu Lafaele (1.77). Neither has made it up to campus yet but they’re in-region prospects and White has said he is planning to visit on April 10th. Meanwhile Lafaele has scheduled an official visit to Washington for June 23rd and also has officials set up to Notre Dame and Wisconsin for earlier in the month. Those two schools have both done a lot of quality recruiting in Hawai’i in recent years although UW’s Inoke Breckterfield was the lead recruiter for the islands back when Nick Herbig ended up at Wisconsin (Herbig’s expected to be a ~3rd draft pick this spring). If I either counted the official visit already or considered that to mean UW has made his final 3 (he hasn’t officially said that) then Lafaele would climb substantially up the list of potential signees.

Linebackers

Uncommitted Offers Extended: 13

Expected Class Size: 2-3

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: CA 4-star Kamar Mothudi (2.68), CA 4-star Dylan Williams (2.36), CA 3-star Logan Studt (2.28)

Washington has been active extending offers to linebackers considering they’re likely only replacing two outgoing players barring an unexpected portal entry. USC transfer Ralen Goforth is a grad transfer with only 1 year of eligibility while Edefuan Ulofoshio will be a senior. The Huskies though will lose another 3 linebackers the following year so they want to try to build up some depth before that happens while a sophomore/junior transfer option being added to this class makes sense.

The Huskies got a trio of 4-star California linebackers to visit back in January. Right now the most lightly recruited of the group from a national standpoint, Kamar Mothudi with 7 of 11 offers in the Pac-12, is also the only one working out a return visit right now. Mothudi was a stud on both sides of the ball as a junior rushing for 1300+ yards and notching 110+ tackles.

The name of Logan Studt is also an intriguing one as Fresno State and Washington are the only schools to have offered so far although with interest from several Pac-12 programs. He lived down the street from Coach Inge when Inge was at Fresno and has a long-standing relationship with the family so UW seems like the heavy favorites if they decide he’s a take.

Another name worth mentioning is high 3-star Stacy Bey (2.05) who has already narrowed down to a final 4 of UW, Cal, Wazzu, and Arizona. You would generally expect Washington to be able to win a recruiting battle against that competition but we’ll see how it goes once he starts taking visits.

The top defensive player in the state of Washington plays linebacker with Yelm’s Brayden Platt (2.09) who is a top-100 national recruit. Unfortunately he did not make it up to campus in January citing a scheduling conflict. That may be the case but it’s not an encouraging sign that he wants to stay in-state when he instead visited Oregon and mentions the desire to get out to UCLA and USC this spring.

Cornerbacks

Uncommitted Offers Extended: 16

Expected Class Size: 1-2

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: AZ NR Niko Clark (3.2), CA 3-star Phoenix Rose (3.04), CA 4-star Dakoda Fields (2.29)

As it currently stands there are no corners set to run out of eligibility following next season. It appears though that there’s still a lot of figuring out roles in the secondary and it could be that with some players getting moved to Husky or Safety that there are more openings at the corner spot than anticipated. The number of offers extended potentially means UW could end up taking more than it looks like they should given the class breakdown.

The inability to tell how real offers are makes the true math behind my system difficult. Niko Clark was offered by the coaching staff last spring but that’s currently his only offer and he’s unrated by the recruiting services. Did he incorrectly report that he had a scholarship offer? Did he fail to get better last fall and so that offer is no longer committable? This happened last year with one QB prospect who I eventually just removed but there’s a chance that Clark isn’t actually on the board anymore (if ever).

There’s more concrete interest for the other two names up above. Washington has been on Rose for a while as he visited for a game last fall and was up on campus in January as well. His offer list is light so far but clearly the coaching staff like what they’ve seen. Meanwhile Fields is a top-100 national recruit who was also on campus in January. He has offers from almost the entire Pac-12 plus Ohio State, Bama, and Notre Dame so it would be a major coup if the Huskies were able to get him in the boat.

Below that top group are a number of California or Arizona mid to high 3-star prospects that haven’t been on campus in 2023 yet and have 10-14 FBS offers. The highest in that group is Aundre Gibson (2.13) out of Goodyear, Arizona who put the Huskies in his top-4 of Washington, Oregon, Oregon State, and Kansas but is committing later today and there’s no indication he’s picking UW.

Safeties

Uncommitted Offers Extended: 13

Expected Class Size: 2-3

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: CA 3-star Turran Williams (2.95), WA 4-star Kyan McDonald (2.77), WA 4-star Marquawn McCraney (2.25)

The Huskies will definitely need to continue stocking the cupboard at the safety position with long-time starters/contributors Asa Turner and Dom Hampton both set to run out of eligibility after 2023.

The good news is that the safety spot appears to be the most loaded in-state position group this year. O’Dea’s Kyan McDonald recently cited Cal and Washington as the two schools recruiting him the hardest and he did take part in the Husky Experience in January. The Huskies appear to be in good shape there. McCraney is listed as a safety but seems to have a preference to play on offense at the next level as possible. Washington is recruiting him as a DB though and so whether he stays at his hometown school likely depends on which schools are willing to let him play receiver.

The name though at the top of the list right now is 6’3 Turran Williams who only has 5 reported offers at the moment but those include Utah and Washington. He hasn’t really done a lot of talking to the media but if he gets up to campus again this spring it’ll be a sign that he’s very interested.

Washington is expecting spring visits from the next 3 names in the likelihood rankings with CA 3-star Jaylen Smith 2.03), CA 3-star Sire Gaines (1.90), and AZ 3-star Kennedy Urlacher (1.88), son of hall-of-famer Brian Urlacher. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see the Huskies end up with at least one of the players in that grouping depending on where they wind up shaking out on the coaching staff’s board.

Athletes

Uncommitted Offers Extended: 11

Expected Class Size: ?

Highest Scoring Uncommitted: CA 4-star Peyton Waters (2.77), WA 4-star Rahshawn Clark (2.20), CA 3-star Cincere Rhaney (2.04)

It’s always hard to know how to treat the “Athlete” category in the 247 rankings. Wherever possible I tried to put someone listed as ATH at another position if it seemed very clear they were leaning towards one side of the ball or Washington very clearly was only recruiting them at the same position most other schools were. Since these players could end up on either side of the ball there’s no estimate for how many wind up a part of the class.

The most intriguing name above is Rahshawn Clark but there’s a problem with his recruitment. Washington is expected to get a visit and he’s open to playing defense (where UW seems to want him) but he recently told Brandon Huffman he’d really prefer to play receiver at the next level. If he and the Huskies agree on a plan for how to best utilize him in college then UW should be one of the favorites but that’s still a question mark.

The number one name on the list above is Peyton Waters who just this week earned a 4th star in the composite. He blew up with a tremendous junior season (1500+ all-purpose yards on offense plus 4 INTs on defense) and now has offers from most of the Pac-12. Waters is being recruited by the Huskies as a DB but it’s unclear if he’d be a corner, safety, or at the Husky spot. He is planning on taking an official visit in June.

Top-Ten Likelihood Scores on Defense (as of right now)

1. CB Niko Clark (3.20)*, read CB section above for info on the asterisk
2. CB Phoenix Rose (3.04)
3. S Turran Williams (2.95)
4. DB Peyton Waters (2.77)
5. S Kyan McDonald (2.77)
6. LB Kamar Mothudi (2.68)
7. LB Dylan Williams (2.36)
8. Edge Devoux Tuataga (2.30)
9. CB Dakoda Fields (2.29)
10. CB Jakobi Spence (2.29)