Husky Roster Review: Azzopardi Keeps His Job, Yet Has Plenty of Work To Do

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.

Whereas his predecessor Brennan Carroll generally provided a glowing weekly report, even suggesting that offensive guard Enokk Vimahi would be playing on Sundays someday not long before yanking the Ohio State transfer from the Husky lineup, Switzer gives a fairly unvarnished look at things.

The players can relate to Switzer because he was a four-year starting offensive guard at Ball State, earned conference honors and went to training camp with the Buffalo Bills, which makes him someone who knows what it takes to be successful at the college level.

By all accounts, he's making Azzopardi a much better player, too.

"[It's] just his ability to be aggressive and go get it and strain," Switzer said. "He was in position to make a lot of his plays last year, but it's just like finishing that play. That's the mindset and mentality of the whole offensive line in the room -- to have that attacking mentality."

Midway through spring ball, Switzer insisted the right tackle position was open to competition, but he never jumped anyone over Azzopardi during the 15 practices.

Senior left tackle Carver Willis, the Kansas State transfer, junior center Landen Hatchett and Azzopardi seemed to establish themselves as solid starters entering fall camp. At the guards, redshirt freshman Paki Finau appears to have the inside track on the left side while right guard remains in competition.

"I've worked really hard this offseason to get bigger, get faster, get stronger, and I think it's really working out well right now, so I'm excited for this year," Azzopardi said.

Still, the Huskies gave up 39 sacks during the 2024 season, or three per game on the average, with Oregon greatly inflating those numbers by piling up 10 sacks against them in Eugene to close out the regular schedule.

With that nightmare behind these linemen but never far everyone's memory banks, Switzer has built the line fully expecting improved play from Azzopardi entering fall camp.

"With Drew, he's improved dramatically from last year," Switzer said.

DREW AZZOPARDI FILE

What he's done: With two seasons of eligibility remaining, Azzopardi is probably right on schedule with where he should be. He's appeared in 25 games at his two schools and started 19. He's had his ups and downs as a young player. He has ideal size to become an NFL player. He has a coach who wants to get him there.

Starter or not: Azzopardi started six games at San Diego State as a redshirt freshman and an entire season as a Big Ten player for the UW. The Husky tackle play looks to be fairly sound with Azzopardi and Willis entering the season with 19 starts each. A strong indicator will be how many sacks they give up to Oregon this time.

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