Husky Roster Review: Faasolo Resets After Playing Before Ready

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Jul 6, 2025 12:20 PM ET

Soane Faasolo got better, not worse, in a year's time.

Yet from 2024 spring football to this past April and into early May, the University of Washington offensive tackle went from starter to second-teamer.

Such is the position-area upgrade for the Huskies up front, whereas they were down to bare bones when Jedd Fisch's coaching staff took over and forced to shove a young player such as Faasolo onto the field before he was probably ready.

The 6-foot-8, 325-pound Fassolo, now a sophomore, wound up playing in 10 games this past fall, starting four of them, and getting injured twice.

It was a bruising Husky baptism.

The UW since has restocked the offensive line with transfer portal pick-ups and a bevy of oversized freshmen to make things much more interesting.

"I love the fact that we now have competition with Max McCree and Soane Faasolo," Husky coach Jedd Fisch said ofhis two tackles.

This is one in a series of articles -- going from 0 to 99 on the Husky roster -- examining what each scholarship player and leading walk-on did this past spring and what to expect from them going forward.

This spring, Faasolo spent nearly all of his time on the No. 2 offense, flipping flipping back and forth from the right to the left side at tackle.

For the 11th practice, he briefly ran with a No. 1 line that consisted of McCree at left tackle, Geirean Hatchett at left guard, Landen Hatchett at center, Paki Finau at right guard and Fassolo bringing up the right tackle spot.

Sporting the thickest lower trunk of anyone on the roster, Faasolo can now continue to build upper body strength at a proper developmental pace rather be thrown to the wolves -- or Nittany Lions, Wolverines and Buckeyes as such -- as he was last season.

SOANE FAASOLO FILE

What he's done: Faasolo opened against Weber State, Eastern Michigan and Washington State before suffering an injury and giving way to McCree for four consecutive starts until McCree injured a hand on the first series at Iowa. That led to Faasolo playing nearly all of that outing and starting against Indiana before he left the starting lineup once more in favor of the departed Kahlee Tafai. McCree started five times at LT while Faasolo and Tafai drew four starts each.

Starter or not: Faasolo has those four starts to his name as a redshirt freshman, which should serve him well when he's ready to enter the lineup again as a more finished product.

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This article first appeared on Washington Huskies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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