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Husky Roster Review: Tuitele Has Been Solid, Needs to Be Great

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated 7/21/23

The thing that strikes you when first encountering Faatui Tuitele is he looks and sounds a lot older than he is.

College kid?

He better resembles someone 10 years removed from walking down the isle with a University of Washington diploma. He tends to speak in wise, measured terms. He's the grown-up in the room.

That said, the Husky football team expects to have him mixing with the kids in Montlake for another season or two while he fulfills his all-important role as this mature 6-foot-3, 314-pound defensive tackle from Honolulu, Hawaii.

Like a grad student, Tuitele is one of just two defensive players who return after starting all 13 games during the 2022 season, with junior linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala the other.

While he's a respected and a seasoned player, Tuitele's next step would be to perform at a level where he's regarded as all-conference worthy of some sort. As for any previous accolades, he's made the Pac-12 academic honor roll three times, which shouldn't really surprise anyone. He's a serious guy.

Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Tuitele, who wears No. 99 all to himself, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.

Tuitele comes to play but he's been physically beat up to the point it's cost him game and practice time. Nursing a foot injury, he missed the final three outings of the 2021 season and all of the ensuing spring football when Kalen DeBoer's coaching staff took over. He also was held out of some of the recent spring ball with an undisclosed ailment from the 2022 season.

Over the past decade, the Huskies have had some of the highest-profile defensive tackles in school history in Vita Vea, Danny Shelton and Greg Gaines, all eventual NFL players, and they set the bar pretty high for Tuitele and the others who've followed them.

"We're just trying to make a name for ourselves and be our own person," Tuitele said after becoming a starter and downplaying any comparison to the others.

Before getting hurt the first time, Tuitele showed flashes of becoming a high-level playmaker. Against Arkansas State in 2021, he knocked the ball out of the quarterback's hands to enable teammate Bralen Trice to scoop it up and run 72 yards for a touchdown. Against Oregon State, Tuitele stripped the ball from the quarterback and the since-departed Taki Taimani picked it up and nearly scored.

Yet he's been more of a space-filler rather than a fearsome rusher. In his 30-game career, he's had no more than three tackles in a game and he had just a half sack last season, giving him 3.5 in his UW tenure.

Tuitele, with high-level edge rushers all around him again and more help coming at linebacker with Edefuan Ulofoshio's return, has the chance to take his game up a notch with production and earn those elusive individual accolades that don't involve homework and class attendance.

Not only is he older than he looks, Tuitele probably is better than he's shown so far, too.

FAATUI TUITELE FILE

Service: He's appeared in 30 games over four seasons, and started 18, with 13 opening assignments coming in 2022.

Stats: Tuitele has career numbers of 25 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 2 pass deflections, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries.

Role: There's no reason to think Tuitele won't start on a full-time basis for a second consecutive season. He's a veteran player capable of providing even more of an impact.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.

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

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