{"id":73526,"date":"2025-04-17T17:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T21:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=73526"},"modified":"2025-09-16T21:38:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T01:38:53","slug":"breaking-down-the-safety-position-in-washingtons-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/04\/17\/breaking-down-the-safety-position-in-washingtons-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking Down The Safety Position In Washington’s Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re learning more about the responsibilities of the safety position in <\/span>Ryan Walters\u2019 defense<\/span><\/a> as Spring practice progresses at Washington. In this new defense, there are two different safety positions, each with <\/span>their<\/span> own<\/span> responsibilities. One is the \u201cpost\u201d safety, also referred to as the single-high safety. The other is the “down” safety, or \u201cbox\u201d safety, which plays closer to the formation inside the box. We\u2019ve seen several Washington defensive backs rotate at each of these positions this Spring. Safeties coach Taylor Mays broke down his coaching philosophy towards this position, as well as some of the responsibilities of each.<\/span><\/p>\n

Breaking Down The Safety At Washington<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Post Safety<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Throughout the majority of Spring practice, FIU transfer <\/span>CJ Christian<\/span><\/a> has been the starter at the single-high, \u201cpost\u201d safety position. In Walters\u2019 defense, this player roams alone anywhere from 15 to 25 yards behind the line of scrimmage pre-snap. Their general responsibility is to not let anything get behind them. Their understanding of the assignments of the entire defense is critical, as it helps inform their decision making and pursuit angles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got to be able to get sideline to sideline, take good angles to eliminate explosive plays,\u201d Walters said of the post safety position player. \u201cThey\u2019ve got to be cerebral in some of our motion adjustments.\u201d At FIU, Christian\u2019s responsibilities mirrored what\u2019s being asked of him in the post safety position at Washington.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey brought me in to play that back post safety guy,\u201d Christian said on Tuesday. \u201cThat\u2019s what I played at FIU as well. At FIU we had kind of the same thing, I was always the post guy and we always had a down guy.” In three years with the Panthers, Christian tallied 152 tackles, five interceptions, and six pass breakups. Last season was his best, where he totaled 80 tackles (fifth most on the team) with three tackles for loss and three pass breakups. Vincent Holmes has been taking reps with the second team in the post safety position. He has unofficially tallied an interception and a pass breakup during team periods this Spring. We’ve also seen redshirt freshman <\/span>Paul Mencke Jr.<\/span><\/a> and true freshman Rylon Dillard-Allen repping at the post safety position this Spring.<\/span><\/p>\n

Box Safety<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The other safety spot in the Washington defense is considered the \u201cbox\u201d safety or “down” safety, and this player is typically going to line up closer to the formation. As such, this safety needs to be able to guard tight ends and slot receivers, while also getting involved in the run game with the ability to make tackles inside the box. Northern Arizona transfer Alex McLaughlin has been one of the players rotating at this position with the starting defense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of it is running and tackling.\u201d safeties coach Taylor Mays said after practice. \u201cAnd that is [McLaughlin\u2019s] game to a T.\u201d At Northern Arizona, McLaughlin could have been described as a \u201ctackling safety.\u201d He led his team in 2023 with 71 total tackles as a true freshman. The following season he tallied 96 total tackles. McLaughlin\u2019s physical style of play makes him an ideal contributor as a box safety in the Husky defense.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think Alex is used to playing a lot closer to the ball,\u201c Mays said this week. \u201cI think his ceiling is still even higher\u2026 He\u2019s a guy you want closer to the ball, running down the ball carrier.\u201d During last Saturday\u2019s practice, McLaughlin had a quality outing during team periods. He recorded a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, and a pass breakup on the goal line. Senior <\/span>Makell Esteen<\/span><\/a> has been the primary box safety with the first team thus far. But McLaughlin’s performance in the first half of Spring has earned him a lot more time with the starters. We’ve seen Mencke play this position as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Taylor Mays\u2019 Philosophy<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cTo me, you\u2019ve got to be able to do both,\u201d Mays explained. \u201cIf Alex is the box safety, he\u2019s got to be able to play in the post and play deep.\u201d The reasoning behind this idea is twofold. Primarily, Mays wants his players to always be prepared for any game situation that arises. \u201cI don’t ever want them to go into a situation where they feel uncomfortable with what they\u2019re being asked to do because they weren\u2019t prepared.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The other goal of teaching versatility in the safety room is to create different looks for the opposing offense. Christian explained it after Tuesday\u2019s practice, \u201cIf all of us are versatile enough to play at different positions, the [opposing] quarterback or the offense\u2026 they never know, \u2018This guy\u2019s back, now he\u2019s down.\u2019 They won\u2019t know what we\u2019re in.\u201d The various looks that the secondary can show have been a challenge for the Husky offense this Spring as well. Head coach and play caller Jedd Fisch detailed some of these challenges from the offensive perspective last week. \u201cThey give you a lot to deal with, they give you a lot of pressures, they give you a lot of different schemes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, the safety position in Washington’s defense requires a player who understands the assignments of everyone in front of them. The post-safety uses this understanding to inform pursuit angles and where to help. All while not allowing anything behind him. Playing more towards the formation, the box safety has to be a physical player who’s able to also communicate coverage assignments to the defense as the offense adjusts pre-snap. Mays is coaching his players to be able to do both. The results we’ve seen on the field this Spring indicate the group is adjusting well to the new defense at Washington.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo: Nick Lemkau Last Word on College Football 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re learning more about the responsibilities of the safety position in Ryan Walters\u2019 defense as Spring practice progresses at Washington. In this new defense, there are two different safety positions, each with their own responsibilities. One is the \u201cpost\u201d safety, also referred to as the single-high safety. The other is the “down” safety, or \u201cbox\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3944,"featured_media":73541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,10906,2,35612],"tags":[34555,34798,1666,10272,509,33385],"class_list":["post-73526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-cfb","category-featured","category-washington-huskies","tag-alex-mclaughlin","tag-cj-christian","tag-jedd-fisch","tag-ryan-walters","tag-washington-huskies","tag-washington-spring-practice"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3944"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73526"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73542,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73526\/revisions\/73542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}