Before the Washington Huskies put their pads on for the first time during fall camp on Sunday, they had to get through one more day of study hall.
However, for defensive coordinator Ryan Walters' unit, things feel a little easier going into his second year in Seattle. While the Huskies will be led by what is expected to be one of the nation's best trios of linebackers, Walters has shown off some versatility along his defensive line, switching between four- and five-man fronts in an effort to generate an improved pass rush.
That would also be a return to the scheme that he coined at Illinois in 2022, which he attempted to do early in his first year with the Huskies, but Walters has made some adjustments that could help his defense assert itself
as one of the nation's best, and most versatile, in 2026.
"It has been fun for me to kind of morph and evolve, and so now you feel like you've got really two or three different schemes that you can carry into every week, because we have a really savvy group that puts time and effort into the mental aspect of the game," Walters said on Friday. "So we'll figure out, I don't know what they can do yet, because we haven't put pads on, we haven't played football yet."
"We've just done a bunch of fundamentals, so I'm excited to get through camp, and sort of have, you know, some long evaluation of maybe this guy is better in man than zone, or maybe this guy is better in zone than man, and who gives us the best opportunity to win, and that's kind of what we'll do. But to be able to have a wide variety of different answers to both of the, for our offense, or whoever we're playing, and for our players, is a luxury."
Here are some other notes from another short practice.
Freshmen JD Hill and Ta’a Malu pic.twitter.com/YGMqkcw8iP
— Roman Tomashoff (@rtomashoff34) August 7, 2026
Fall camp notebook
- Walters confirmed that sophomore Victor Sanchez Hernandez has shifted inside to defensive tackle.
- When asked about his athleticism when speaking with the media after practice, sophomore linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale proudly proclaimed that he's the fastest linebacker in the country.
- There were no team periods once again on Friday, so most install periods are still a little unclear in terms of how things might shake up on the depth chart, but that should change on Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Ryan Walters brings more versatility to Washington football's defense
