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Husky Roster Review: ZTF Ready to Reclaim What Was Once His

Originally posted on FanNation Husky Maven | By Dan Raley | Last updated 5/8/23

For three games in 2020, Zion Tupuola-Fetui was as disruptive as any defensive college football player in the country. His personal bounty: 7 sacks, including 3 strip sacks.

With the pandemic raging and fans prevented from entering Husky Stadium, almost no one witnessed this University of Washington edge rusher's football heroics in person, but this stuff clearly happened and was duly recorded.

Starting for the first time and playing like an absolute madman, this guy from Hawaii, Pearl Harbor no less, repeatedly terrorized quarterbacks from Oregon State, Arizona and Utah before Stanford chose to double-team him to slow the assault.

His short sample but electrifying football performance was enough for this new Husky sensation to receive first-team All-Pac-12 and third-team AP All-America honors, plus all sorts of suggestions that he someday would become a first-round draft pick.

Then like Cinderella, everything was stripped from Tupola-Fetui — the horse-drawn carriage, the party dress, his sense of Montlake invincibility.

He tore an Achilles tendon in spring ball, recovered and suffered a season-ending concussion in 2021, and last season was deemed a back-up player behind Bralen Trice and Jeremiah Martin, who were both first-team All-Pac-12 selections.

These days, however, Tupuola-Fetui is completely healthy and he has a firm grip on his starting job coming out of spring ball while patiently waiting for his second act to begin.

Just the other day, CBSSports.com came out with a mock NFL draft and put ZTF at No. 11 overall going to the Seattle Seahawks, so college football and those surrounding it are beginning to remember him and what he's capable of doing.

You can almost hear his football engines revving in the stadium tunnel.

"I've had an up and down journey during my time here, but it's really sculpted me in how to approach the game," Tupola-Fetui said. "Yeah, I feel confident in my abilities and confident in my understanding of what's going on so far."

Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, ZTF, in jersey No. 4 on defense, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, where we sum up their spring football performances and surmise what might come next for them.

ZTF has been around the UW football program so long, he's played for three coaches in Chris Petersen, Jimmy Lake and now Kalen DeBoer.

He and linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio remain the only Huskies on the roster who played against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl to cap off the 2018 season.

While his elusiveness coming off the edge has been impressive, ZTF's overly mature approach in dealing with plenty of personal challenges has won him a lot of favor with the current coaching staff if not the pro scouts looking him over.

"I had a great talk with my coach as to how he felt about my game and how they see me," ZTF said of his role. "While it may have been a step back, I think it was for the better. I was behind two All-Pac-12 guys. At the end of the day, I'm not going to be mad about that."

He didn't overreact, panic or sulk when things continually changed and even went south for him. He stayed the course, regained his health, listened to suggestions about becoming more of a team leader and he's continued to work toward a pro career.

ZTF came out of spring football doing everything right as a seasoned veteran, ready to hold down the edge opposite Trice, an All-America candidate. He wears jersey No. 4, having traded in his 58 for it.

He has a chance to return to his 2020 glory, only do it over a 12- or 13-game schedule, and win over the NFL people looking him over. He's in a position to succeed again.

"This offseason, and with the position I've been put in to start and to lead, I've definitely taken a more serious approach to how I come into things," he said. "I feel really good."

ZION TUPUOLA-FETUI FILE

Service: ZTF has played in at least two Husky games over each of the past five seasons. He has 36 appearances and 9 starts.

Stats: He has 59 career tackles, which include 13.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks, plus add in 4 forced fumbles, 2 pass break-ups and a fumble recovery.

Role: ZTF has never started more than four games in a season because of the pandemic, his Achilles and a resurgent Jeremiah Martin. Here's his chance. He comes into the fall as the starter, which has only happened to him once before in that germ-infested but magical 2020 campaign.

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 FanNation Husky Maven and was syndicated with permission.

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