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Heading into the 2026 season, the Washington Huskies are looking to generate an improved pass rush after tallying just 24 sacks in 2025, good for No. 12 in the Big Ten.
With fall camp underway, defensive coordinator Ryan Walters has put together a room of outside linebackers that, led by senior Jacob Lane, who led the team with 8.5 tackles for loss and 4 sacks in 2025. Now, he's expected to lead a veteran group as Walters expects a big step forward from his unit in his second year on Montlake.
"Lane's back; he's a program guy, and he's always going to do the right thing," Walters said on Tuesday. "He's always going to be where he's supposed to be, and he's bigger, stronger, faster than he was a year ago."
But behind Lane, the Huskies have built significant depth that should help Walters develop different combinations to get after opposing quarterbacks and create more havoc plays.
"We get Isaiah Ward back, you add a Logan George, you add a Ramzak (Fruean) who I thought had a hell of a spring, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does this fall camp," he continued. "Then you have a healthy (Russell) Davis, so there's going to be a healthy rotation, and I think that we'll be able to be more situational-specific with those guys and develop certain packages personnel-wise depending on the situation, so I think that will be the biggest difference between this year and last year in terms of the edge room."
On top of that, Washington has high hopes for sophomore Devin Hyde, while four-star freshman J.D. Hill arrived on campus in June with plenty of pedigree. If the Huskies want to take another step forward in the Big Ten to potentially reach double-digit wins and the College Football Playoff in Jedd Fisch's third year at the helm, the outside linebacker position is going to need to increase its production, and with more depth and health, a boost on the edge could be transformational for Walters' unit.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington football confident in added depth at outside linebacker
Continue reading...
With fall camp underway, defensive coordinator Ryan Walters has put together a room of outside linebackers that, led by senior Jacob Lane, who led the team with 8.5 tackles for loss and 4 sacks in 2025. Now, he's expected to lead a veteran group as Walters expects a big step forward from his unit in his second year on Montlake.
"Lane's back; he's a program guy, and he's always going to do the right thing," Walters said on Tuesday. "He's always going to be where he's supposed to be, and he's bigger, stronger, faster than he was a year ago."
But behind Lane, the Huskies have built significant depth that should help Walters develop different combinations to get after opposing quarterbacks and create more havoc plays.
"We get Isaiah Ward back, you add a Logan George, you add a Ramzak (Fruean) who I thought had a hell of a spring, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does this fall camp," he continued. "Then you have a healthy (Russell) Davis, so there's going to be a healthy rotation, and I think that we'll be able to be more situational-specific with those guys and develop certain packages personnel-wise depending on the situation, so I think that will be the biggest difference between this year and last year in terms of the edge room."
On top of that, Washington has high hopes for sophomore Devin Hyde, while four-star freshman J.D. Hill arrived on campus in June with plenty of pedigree. If the Huskies want to take another step forward in the Big Ten to potentially reach double-digit wins and the College Football Playoff in Jedd Fisch's third year at the helm, the outside linebacker position is going to need to increase its production, and with more depth and health, a boost on the edge could be transformational for Walters' unit.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington football confident in added depth at outside linebacker
Continue reading...
