There should be more love going around for the Washington football defense in 2018, especially for a standout linebacker in Tevis Bartlett.
Washington football has one of the nation’s best defenses entering the 2018 regular season. As long as the Huskies can stay healthy this season, especially in the secondary, this defense can carry them to College Football Playoff contention in 2018. It was a largely disappointing result for the Huskies in 2017, following a Pac-12 Championship and CFB Playoff appearance in 2016.
Possibly the thinnest area of the defense for Washington in 2018 lies with the linebackers. The departure of star defensive tackle Vita Vea could make the defensive line the weak point of a very experienced defense all-around, but every linebacker still needs to do their part to contribute to the success of the team altogether.
That includes a rising senior linebacker Tevis Bartlett, who had a big 2017 for the Huskies. Last year was the first time Bartlett picked off an opposing quarterback during the course of his three season college career. Bartlett also set, or tied, career highs in multiple stat categories including total tackles, tackles for loss, sacks, interceptions, pass deflections, and fumble recoveries.
Other big name defensive players that need a huge 2018 includes inside linebackers like rising senior Ben Burr-Kirven and rising junior Brandon Wellington. Washington head coach Chris Petersen has quite the deep roster of talent on the defensive side of the ball to make all this happen.
However, no player is more important to this group of linebackers than Bartlett. He sparked a few different momentum swings for the Huskies last year. Bartlett helped the Huskies carry momentum in big Pac-12 victories over the Oregon Ducks, Washington State Cougars, and Utah Utes.
The fact that Bartlett is not considered among the Pac-12’s best linebackers entering the 2018 campaign serves as a lack of respect that will get more exposure soon. Once the college football world gets more exposure to the skill set of Bartlett, with an improved Washington squad in 2018, he’ll get more of the respect he deserves across the nation.
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We’ll all get a taste of just exactly what this Huskies’ defense can do with a huge Week 1 matchup with the Auburn Tigers, out of the SEC West. Auburn returns a greatly talented defense themselves, and it’ll be possibly the best contest to watch in the opening week of the 2018 college football season. Bartlett has the huge opportunity to make a big name for himself in the first week.