A Future UW Starting Offensive Line to Consider

The mark of a top-flight college football offensive line, it seems, is one that has great nicknames and given names.

Champ, meet Moose.

It also has a super-sized approach to it.

Consider this one would average nearly 6-foot-6 and 305 pounds per man if it played today, and it likely will have grow quite a bit if or when it all comes together, say, in 2027.

It is all California-bred, with three coming from the Bay Area and the other two from SoCal.

No slighting Zach Henning, Soane Faasolo, Elishah Jackett or Kahlee Tafai, who each have four seasons of eligibility remaining in Montlake, but Champ Taulealea's oral commitment to the University of Washington football program on Thursday got us envisioning what a more futuristic Huskies' starting O-line -- all rubber-stamped by Jedd Fisch and made-to-order for fully establishing membership in the overly physical Big Ten -- might look like.

Consider, from left to right, the following game-opening five: Justin "Moose" Hylkema, Taulealea, Jake Flores, Paki Finau and Davit Boyajyan.

Fisch signed one of them, has oral commitments from two others, welcomed another to the UW for the first time for spring practice and has the fifth newcomer arriving over the weekend. Yet another candidate not on our first five is Michael Levelle Watkins, a freshman from Arizona who is much more compact in size at 6-foot-2 and 315 pounds, and we were going for a giant-sized group in this particular daydream.

Here's what these five selected guys might provide four years from now in a season that opens at home against Fresno State -- call it the Kalen DeBoer Bowl -- and involves games against Nebraska, Penn State, USC and Oregon, but not Michigan or Ohio State:

Moose Hylkema, LT, 6-8, 315 -- This Santa Clara product showed up to watch a couple of spring practices and he looked every bit of his extra-large dimensions, if not sporting a frame more expanded than all of the veterans in uniform who were surrounding him at the time. He arrives this weekend with a chance to play right away if he can physically adjust to the demands of the Big Ten. Fisch has been known to start true freshmen.

Champ Taulealea, LG, 6-4, 325 -- This guy is a blue-chipper and a 4-star prospect because he can pull and run the line like Troy Fautanu and major powers such as Georgia, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Penn State, Oregon and USC wanted him. Another Bay Area recruit yet for the Class of 2025, this guy is so athletic for someone his size, his San Jose high school Valley Christian has used him as a defensive tackle and he has video of getting to the quarterback in a hurry at times and totally leveling him.

Jake Flores, C, 6-6, 280 -- Another 2025 arrival, Flores from San Juan Capistrano will come to the UW with the ability to play all five positions up front. He has a list of pursuers similar to Taulealea's, with offers from Michigan, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Florida, Florida State, USC and Ole Miss among 22 scholarship proposals before settling on Fisch and the Huskies. He hails from the same JSerra Catholic High School that sent Nick Harris and Luke Wattenberg to the Huskies and then to the NFL. His versatility should take him a long way.

Paki Finau, RG, 6-5, 285 -- This is the only one of the group who is already battle-tested after enrolling early and taking part in Husky spring practices and running with the No. 1 offensive line throughout. Another 4-star prospect from the Mojave Desert town of Hesperia, he was recruited by Miami, Nebraska, Florida State, Penn State, Auburn and Oregon among others. His reputation precedes him, with one media outlet ranking him among the top 30 freshmen entering the college game this fall.

Davit Boyajyan, RT, 6-6, 305 -- DeBoer found this guy in his Fresno backyard, a sleeper recruit who didn't play football until high school and even missed his sophomore season because of COVID. He previously was a basketball player carrying a lot of excess weight, since dropping down from 335 pounds. Lightly recruited because of his inexperience, Boyajyan arrives in Montlake over the weekend ready to show everyone he indeed belongs at the FBS level and in the Big Ten.