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The Washington Huskies coaching staff is extremely confident in its unit of linebackers heading into the 2026 season, and college football analyst Phil Steele agrees.
In his annual ranking of each position group, he placed position coach Brian Odom's unit, which will be headlined by seniors Xe'ree Alexander and Jacob Manu, along with sophomore Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, as the No. 20 group in the nation.
Even though Manu was limited to just five games in 2025 to retain a year of eligibility, while Rainey-Sale played in eight games as both recovered from torn ACLs they suffered in 2024, the unit showed its elite potential throughout the 2025 season.
"This is as good of a room that I’ve been around in my career, of guys willing to play at a high level," inside linebackers coach Brian Odom said during spring practice. "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.”
Alexander led the way from a production standpoint, totaling 70 tackles, 5 for loss, with a sack, 3 pass breakups, and an interception, while displaying his versatility, shifting between inside and outside linebacker. With three starting-caliber linebackers and four when Buddah Al-Uqdah returns from his ACL tear, defensive coordinator Ryan Walters has several different options on how to deploy his linebackers this fall.
One of the most promising options is to lean on three linebackers instead of a traditional two. When that happens, the Huskies will deploy the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Rainey-Sale as a de facto nickel cornerback, where he proved to be a disruptive player in coverage during the 2025 season with a pair of pass breakups and an interception.
"The only thing is Zay will play how our nickel is," Alexander said of playing with three backers on the field during spring practice. "That's the only difference when all three of us are out there. He's just playing the nickel."
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Phil Steele ranks Washington football's LB unit among nation's top 20
