Joseph Peko played soccer and basketball growing up. Also, as the son of a longtime NFL defensive lineman, he learned different hand drills and techniques in the backyard, instilling an early understanding of “how to work a d-line, how to play mentally.”
He didn’t actually play football, though, until his freshman year at Calabasas (Calif.) High, because his parents wanted him to preserve his body as it developed. By the end of his three-career at Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian, Peko had earned 18 scholarship offers and committed to the Colorado Buffaloes, for whom his father, Domata Peko, had spent the 2025 season as the d-line coach.
But Joseph never signed any paperwork with CU, and when his dad left in February for a job with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Joseph began reevaluating his options.
On Wednesday — the final day of his senior year of high school — the three-star prospect announced a commitment to Washington, becoming the 26th member and seventh d-lineman or edge rusher to join the Huskies’ 2026 recruiting class.
Peko already has been added to Washington’s 2026 roster, and will arrive this summer with the five other members of UW’s class who did not already enroll. A torn ACL limited him to five games as a senior at Oaks Christian, but he says he’s about seven-and-a-half months out from surgery and is doing cutting drills and heavy lifting.
“I’m feeling back to close to normal,” he said. “I’m definitely going to feel ready and in action when it comes to summertime.”
Now 6-foot-3 and 310 pounds, Peko hopes to do for the Huskies what his father, Domata Peko, did for 15 seasons in the pros, 11 of those spent with the Cincinnati Bengals before stints with the Broncos, Ravens and Cardinals.