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Huskies add ex-WSU LB Taariq Al-Uqdah from transfer portal
The Seattle Times
Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
Dec. 26, 2024
Taariq Al-Uqdah didn’t make the game-winning tackle during Washington State’s 24-19 win against Washington in the 2024 Apple Cup.
However, the play doesn’t get blown up without him.
With Washington facing fourth-and-goal from Washington State’s two-yard line, UW coach Jedd Fisch called a speed option to the short side of the field. Al-Uqdah, lined up on the left edge, was supposed to be the WSU defender whose decision dictated whether UW quarterback Will Rogers held the ball or pitched it to running back Jonah Coleman.
Al-Uqdah set the edge. UW missed its blocking assignments. WSU linebacker Kyle Thornton raced through the hole to tackle Coleman after Rogers made a late toss. The Cougar defense spun away in celebration. The Huskies watched the Apple Cup change hands for the first time since 2021.
Now, Al-Uqdah will potentially play a role in bringing the Apple Cup back to Seattle. The 6-foot, 232-pound linebacker announced he will transfer to UW for the 2025 season in a post on his social media accounts after spending the past three years at WSU. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
Al-Uqdah made 76 tackles including five for a loss. He also had three interceptions, five pass breakups, three forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries in 12 games during an extremely productive 2024 season. He played in 23 games during his Cougar career, registering 116 tackles.
The Los Angeles native was a particularly strong coverage linebacker in 2024. According to Pro Football Focus, Al-Uqdah surrendered 24 catches on 34 targets for 218 yards and a touchdown in his final season at Washington State.
His 70.6% of targets caught was better than UW linebackers Carson Bruener (71%) and Alphonzo Tuputala (81.8%) allowed in 2024 according to PFF. Al-Uqdah also allowed fewer yards than Tuputala and only six more than Bruener despite being targeted three more times.
However, Al-Uqdah wasn’t as good of a tackler as Bruener and Tuputala were in 2024. He missed a career-high 18.9% of his tackles during the past season, while Bruener and Tuputala each whiffed on less than 10% of their tackles in 2024.
Al-Uqdah is the third linebacker to join Washington and position coach Robert Bala from the transfer portal so far. Jacob Manu, a captain at Arizona under coach Jedd Fisch, committed to UW on Dec. 20. Xe’ree Alexander, a former Kennedy Catholic High School linebacker who spent the past season at Central Florida, pledged to join UW on Dec. 21.
The influx of linebacker talent was needed.
Bruener, Tuputala and sixth-year senior Drew Fowler, a key special teamer, will run out of eligibility following the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31. Khmori House transferred to North Carolina after a standout freshman season at UW, while Bryun Parham, who redshirted the season after playing four games, departed for Connecticut.
Losing Bruener, Tuputala, Fowler, House and Parham left the Huskies with Anthony Ward, Deven Bryant and Hayden Moore as returners for 2025.
Ward, the nephew of former Seahawk linebacker Bobby Wagner and brother of UW edge rusher Isaiah Ward, was a walk-on at Arizona who earned a scholarship from Fisch and mainly plays special teams. Bryant committed to former UW coach Kalen DeBoer and dealt with injuries during his first two years at UW, while Moore transferred to Washington from Michigan before the 2024 season but played sparingly.
Bala also signed three freshmen as part of UW’s 2025 recruiting class: Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, Jonathan Epperson Jr. and Donovan Robinson.
Rainey-Sale, from Bethel High in Spanaway, was UW’s highest-rated recruit. Epperson was also considered a four-star prospect by the 247Sports composite ratings after playing at Auburn Riverside High School. Robinson, who hails from Illinois, is a hybrid defender who is slated to start his career at linebacker.
Andy Yamashita: ayamashita@seattletimes.com. Seattle Times staff reporter Andy Yamashita covers UW football.
Yo what's your name former LB at WSU...out of sight out of mind. yes, I always think it is a great idea to love a soon to be an ex-girlfriend while banging a best friend and then leaving for the best friend....of course we no longer love you....
Last I checked, the money you received from the evil empire was from someone who it wasn't about.....just take the money and the dislike...the money spends better...
That's a kid who doesn't get it at all. He's going to find out that it ain't about him unless he's playing great. Way better players than him never amounted to anything in the NFL.
This……
Thomas Hobbes: Believed that laws are essential to maintain social order in a society where individuals are naturally self-interested, as without laws, life would be a "war of all against all".
Thomas Hobbes: Believed that laws are essential to maintain social order in a society where individuals are naturally self-interested, as without laws, life would be a "war of all against all".
I wonder how much he sold out for?
Pretty clear Dickert whiffed on him. Brought in a me-first guy to a team-first team.
Pretty clear Dickert whiffed on him. Brought in a me-first guy to a team-first team.
What a bitch. I don’t GAF what he graded, he whiffed on more run fits than any middle backer I can remember.
Congrats to UW I guess for paying for a mid MWC linebacker.
Fck this kid.
He's rubbing it in, that's fcking low in any book. He 100% knows the score and what's going on. Talk about kicking and entire fanbase when they're down...
Never wished injury on anyone before, but I'm not going to be sad if he gets turf toe that sidelines him all year.
He's rubbing it in, that's fcking low in any book. He 100% knows the score and what's going on. Talk about kicking and entire fanbase when they're down...
Never wished injury on anyone before, but I'm not going to be sad if he gets turf toe that sidelines him all year.
He already had his nuts removed, turf toe would be an upgrade on the injury report.
This is definitely pointing towards a Top 10 "F you" for ex-Cougs who bailed.
But he/she will probably try to play volleyball over there as well.
But he/she will probably try to play volleyball over there as well.
Don't worry fellas...seen this bad movie before. Ten years from now, no mo' money, multiple kids by multiple hoes, no job, big pot belly. Hell, maybe he's even doing time. It's an urban thing, I'm tired of urban things. Professional sports (which this is) is dead to me.
He’s not. I watched him multiple times this year be completely out of position while an average back behind a below average line broke a huge run.
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