Washington football's final spring practice was all about linebackers

"You've got to be an idiot to not like being a player here," linebackers coach Brian Odom said after the Washington Huskies' final spring practice on Tuesday.

"The program treats you right, you get great work in, the scheme is right, the locker room is right. The players care about football. To me, it'd be foolish for just about anybody to walk away from this opportunity here."

While that response came after he was asked about Xe'ree Alexander's decision to return to Montlake for his senior year, a sales pitch like that sounds like a big reason Odom has pulled in four commits at the position in Washington's 2027 class. It has also helped him build one of the nation's best units at the position between Alexander, senior Jacob Manu, and sophomore Zaydrius Rainey-Sale.

"This is as good of a room that I’ve been around in my career, of guys willing to play at a high level," Odom said. "I’ve got a room that’s full of pro-possibility players. They’ve got a lot of experience, it’s well documented, and they’ve played like it this spring.”

As it has during every practice, that talent showed up during Tuesday's workout when Manu perfectly timed a punch out on tight end Decker DeGraaf to force a fumble during one of the team periods as the former All-Pac-12 First Team linebacker at Arizona looks fully healthy after he suffered a torn ACL in October 2024 and redshirted last season following his transfer to Washington.

Between the two seniors and Rainey-Sale, who impressed as a true freshman after coming off a torn ACL of his own, Washington's unit of linebackers offers plenty of versatility for defensive coordinator Ryan Walters to vary his looks in the front seven. In Alexander's opinion, that will help make the Huskies one of the nation's best defenses in 2026.

"I honestly think we’re a top ten defense in the nation right now," he said. "The confidence is just amazing.”

The inside linebackers weren't the only ones making plays during Tuesday's practice, as freshman outside linebacker Ramzak Fruean was also all over the place, as he has been all spring. The former four-star recruit who was teammates with Rainey-Sale at nearby Bethel High School, took reps with both the first and second team defenses, and showed off his elite athletic traits.