Inside The Huskies

Fruean's Body, Football Reputation Continue to Grow

The Husky freshman linebacker keeps collecting offseason accolades.
Dan Raley|
Ramzak Fruean on a UW visit during his recruitment.
Ramzak Fruean on a UW visit during his recruitment. | UW

Special.

Steal.

Heavier.

Each week, there seems to be a new description for incoming University of Washington freshman linebacker Ramzak Fruean, who has yet to pull on the pads for the Huskies but has been steadily enhancing his football reputation.

In December, UW coach Jedd Fisch singled out the Bethel High School standout among his 25 newcomers, noting Fruean previously was teammates with highly regarded Husky linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale and was similarly skilled.

"Getting Ramzak Fruean was a huge get for our program," Fisch said. "I think he is going to be a special linebacker. Him coming from the same high school as Zay, knowing Zay, I think is pretty awesome. We beat out some pretty good teams at the end for him."

Fruean next played in the Polynesian Bowl in Hawaii and was touted as one of the top performers, which led to Rivals naming him as one of the 10 biggest steals in the overall 2026 recruiting class.

And this week, Fisch relayed how Fruean now carries a 6-foot-4, 230-pound frame, up 22 pounds in a month's time of hard work in the weight room since reporting to Montlake.

"When we have our first padded practice in the spring, and you guys all walk out there, it's a different looking team -- it's a big team," the coach said, using the increased size of freshman linebacker Ezaya Tokio and Fruean as examples.

Fruean originally hailed from Nanakuli, Hawaii, and moved to the mainland with his family two years ago to enhance his college football recruitment, landing in Spanaway, Washington.

Initially committed to UCLA, he re-opened the process once the Bruins fired coach DeShaun Foster during the season and this eventually led to him settling on the UW.

Fruean seems to have the right attitude to play linebacker. On his social media account, he posted football highlights of himself and titled it, "10 minutes of violence." For that matter, his last name seems to suggest someone who loves contact.

He'll join a UW linebacker group that is bursting with high-level players, including a top four of Jacob Manu, Xe'ree Alexander, Buddah Al-Uqdah and Rainey-Sale, who each have been Husky starters.

Ramzak Fruean, middle, poses for a recruiting photo with his father and UW LB coach Brian Odom.
Ramzak Fruean, middle, poses for a recruiting photo with his father and UW LB coach Brian Odom. | UW

Manu once led the Pac-12 in tackles. Alexander was defensive MVP of the now shuttered LA Bowl. Al-Uqdah was once second in the nation in fumble recoveries. Rainey-Sale could be better than everyone.

It's clear that Fruean, with all the offseason work he's been doing, wants in on some of the action this coming season.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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