Zion Tupuola-Fetui might still be a monster.
But the sack-hunting Hawaiian is not the same man.
Most noticeably, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound pass rusher is 30 pounds lighter than he was two years (and one torn Achilles tendon) ago — when the Pearl City product led the nation with 1.75 sacks and 0.75 forced fumbles per game. He said this month: “I’m at a cool 250 right now, and I feel good. I feel light. I don’t feel like it’s getting in the way of anything. I’m flying off the ball. I’m playing the run. I’m sturdy. So I really like this weight.
“As far as the process of it all, the weight loss just came from not being as active. I only had one leg.”
At times, it looked like it. After erupting for 13 tackles, seven sacks and three forced fumbles — not to mention the rumbling 29-yard fumble return in a comeback win over Utah in November 2020 — ZTF tore his left Achilles tendon April 16, 2021. He made a medically miraculous return exactly six months later … but managed just eight tackles and a sack in five games last fall.
Still, following another healthy spring and summer, the enigmatic edge rusher might be as explosive as ever. “One of the things I asked when I got hurt,” Tupuola-Fetui explained, “was, ‘If I come back and I’m healthy, what is something that I could lose?’ They told me it was my explosiveness. So as soon as I could run, that was something I put a focal point on.”
Eric Schmidt, for one, doesn’t bother explaining his star pupil’s persevering burst.
“Some guys can bounce back and heal,” UW’s first-year edge coach offered. “He’s just a guy, I think, that has some of [those] genetics in him. Watching from where he was in 2020 to where he is right now, there’s nothing that would lead any of us to believe that he’s not at 100% right now.”
Whether via genetics or athletic intuition, Tupuola-Fetui can clearly play. He noted: “One of the things I have the upper hand with in the trenches is my flexibility. Then I think I just have some moves that are second nature to me, that I throw without ever thinking about. With confidence in the playbook comes confidence in my game. So I’m just able to go out there and play.”
To the detriment of opposing passers. Redshirt freshman right tackle Roger Rosengarten was mercilessly outmaneuvered in the first week of preseason camp, as ZTF bombarded the Husky backfield. Rosengarten said, “There’s a reason why he’s on all these preseason lists.”
UW coach Kalen DeBoer took it one step further.
“Pads off, he’s almost impossible to block, just because he’s so slippery,” DeBoer said. “The surface area is so little to get a hold of him. In practice two [of preseason camp], he was in the backfield every play. Then the last two practices he has still maintained that high level.
“He’s a problem. You have to have an answer for him, I know for sure, if you’re going against him. You can’t just let a tackle block him one-on-one. He’s got an attacking mindset. He’s really smart, sitting in the meetings and hearing him. He’s not just a guy that makes plays physically. He knows what’s going on. Whether it be scheme or fundamentals, he’s really working to become an elite player.”
Which brings us back to the original premise. Two years later, Tupuola-Fetui remains a tenacious pass rusher.
The Huskies need him to be so much more.
“He’s still working on some of the other details, as far as the drops, the calls, the stuff that maybe he hasn’t had to do in the past,” Schmidt said. “But he can’t be a niche guy where you’re just rushing the passer and that’s what you’re good at and the rest of the game is … you leave it up to somebody else. We need him to be a three-down guy that can make plays on first down, second down and third down.”
Which might be why a preseason All-Pac-12 second team performer is simultaneously not a guaranteed starter — stashed behind sophomore Bralen Trice and senior Jeremiah Martin for much of the spring/summer. Alongside Tupuola-Fetui, sophomore Sav’ell Smalls, junior Sekai Afoa-Asoau and redshirt freshman Maurice Heims are all competing for available reps.
“Zion is obviously an outstanding pass rusher,” Schmidt said. “Jeremiah is as strong and physical in the run game as anybody we have, and Bralen is really a combination of both. He’s a smooth athlete that’s really powerful, and he’s probably close to 270 pounds right now.
“So I think they all bring some variety, and you can plug those skill sets into different spots on our defense situationally. Ultimately all those guys are going to play a lot of football for us.”
But when asked how much starting actually matters, ZTF exhaled an exasperated, “Uhhhh.”
“I want to start, but that’s not my call,” he continued, selecting the politically savvy approach. “If I come off the bench, that’s what I have to do to help this team win. All I know is, I feel as healthy as I’ve been. I feel as strong as I’ve been. I’m playing the best ball [I’ve played]. That’s all I can do, is go out there and continue to put that on tape.”
One way or another, the tape will talk. On a day when representatives from the Bills, Jaguars, Dolphins, Steelers, Lions and Giants scribbled notes from the Husky Stadium sideline, Tupuola-Fetui was asked if he notices the NFL presence during practices.
“I try not to,” he said, “but they’re not wearing purple and gold. So they stick out a little bit.”
For Tupuola-Fetui to stick out, he needs to be more than a one-dimensional — albeit dominant — sack master.
“I kind of know what the book says on me. It says I don’t play the run,” he said. “So I’ve definitely been working on getting stronger. I always feel like I’ve played the run, so now I’ve just got to prove that to whoever doubts that part of me.”
UW’s defense as a whole has plenty to prove, after ranking 10th in the Pac-12 in opponent yards per carry and 11th in rushing defense, while finishing 4-8 last fall. And with a limited, one-legged ZTF, UW managed just 1.67 sacks per game — less than Tupuola-Fetui’s individual average the year before.
But Tupuola-Fetui is a new man in more ways than one. The fifth-year junior released his personal website (officialztf.com) and merchandise line this summer — featuring hats, pants, hoodies and shirts emblazoned with his intersecting initials. A different design portrayed the Pearl City torpedo as a red-eyed Terminator, accompanied by play-by-play man Tony Castricone’s trademark 2020 call: “Zion … Tupuola … Fetui is a monster!”
Explosively, he might be the same old monster.
But now, with a more professional approach.
“It’s a different type of intensity,” Tupuola-Fetui said of practice reps against two-time All-Pac-12 first team left tackle Jaxson Kirkland. “I’m not trying to belittle anyone else, but me and Jaxson have a common goal. We really see this as the year to prove ourselves. I know I have another year [of eligibility], but we’re definitely eyeing the draft.
“So for us to have that common goal to want to get better, it’s a different type of intensity when I line up with Jaxson. They’re quality reps, to say the least.”