Washington Football: 5 Huskies Making an Impact in 2016

Joe Mathis

Is he a linebacker? Is he a defensive end? He’s fast enough to be one. He’s powerful enough to be the other. Either way, he’s in the other team’s backfield almost as often as they are.

In six games, Joe Mathis has 5 sacks (which leads the Pac-12) and 7.5 tackles for a loss. The 6’2″, 255 lb wrecking ball is a senior leader on the Washington defense.

On a defense that features many talented players, Mathis has shined. Just don’t mention his name around Stanford players. They don’t want to hear it. They’re still having nightmares about him. They’re still seeing his jersey, the stretched-wide number 5, growing larger and larger, until it completely engulfs them.

In Washington’s Week 5 punishment of Stanford’s offense, Mathis had 2 sacks, 2 tackles for a loss, and 4 total tackles. All of which doesn’t say enough about the impact he had on the game. He pushed the Cardinal offensive line around, corralled Christian McCaffrey, and sent Ryan Burns to the turf.

Mathis continues to establish himself on the line of scrimmage, and at this rate he’ll record double digit sacks for an already imposing Husky defense.