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UW Roster Review, No. 2-99: Greatness Awaits Ulumoo Ale; He Can't Settle for Average

The gigantic Husky offensive guard is being prodded to take the next step.
Dan Raley|
UW Roster Review, No. 2-99: Greatness Awaits Ulumoo Ale; He Can't Settle for Average
UW Roster Review, No. 2-99: Greatness Awaits Ulumoo Ale; He Can't Settle for Average

Ulumoo Ale was one of those spring-time experiments for the University of Washington football team, a test case, a litmus test.

Rather than offer him some sort of promotion, the Husky coaches demoted the returning sophomore starter at left guard at times in April. They basically made him alternate with redshirt freshman Nate Kalepo to see how he'd handle it.

Ale couldn't have been none too pleased. However, this move wouldn't have been done had someone not thought it was necessary.

The UW has one of the biggest players in the Pac-12 Conference, if not all of college football, in the 6-foot-6, 365-pound Ale. 

He offers glimpses of total domination, such as against Oregon State in this accompanying video that was posted on Twitter. Feel free to to view it a half-dozen times and let your jaw drop.

"I try my best ... I really do," Ale insisted on the post. 

Yet that might be the rub. The Huskies want more from him. They see him leveling the landscape at all times. They want him to step up and be more of a brawler, a leader, a fearsome presence.

He is part of a UW offensive line that returns all five starters. Four of them earned some sort of all-conference recognition last season. Left tackle Jaxson Kirkland received first-team honors. Right tackle Victor Curne, right guard Henry Bainivalu and center Luke Wattenberg each accepted All-Pac-12 honorable-mention rewards.

Ale took home a big-hit award for the four-game season, possibly for the damage inflicted in the video. That was it.

The Huskies view the gigantic blocker from Tacoma, Washington, by way of Australia and New Zealand as a game-wrecker, a destroyer of defenses. He's athletic enough, having been a rugby player and a boxer. 

With his size, Ale should be able to make one or more of his teammates rush for 1,000 yards and himself an All-America candidate and a desired pro prospect.

The body is there; the mind needs to follow.

He's got the necessary strength, turning in the team's second-highest bench press, along with Ryan Bowman at 405 pounds, to go with all that massive girth he possesses. 

Going down the roster in numerical order, this is another of our post-spring assessments of all of the Husky talent at hand, gleaned from a month of observations, as a way to keep everyone engaged during the offseason.

Ale wears No. 68, a number he has all to himself. They probably make it only in one size now, say 5XL.

He flashes all the signs of becoming an unforgettable character, but he hasn't reached that level yet.

The Huskies, led by offensive-line coach Scott Huff, figure they need to prod it out of him. Ale has been in the program for three seasons. It's time. 

Prior to last fall, Ale informed UW publicists that he wanted to be known by his Samoan birth name of Ulumoo, rather than his nickname of M.J. He wants to be different.

It's time for a complete transformation now. He doesn't need to add any weight. His coaches say 365 is a good size for him. 

Yet Ale should be scarier at all times, more decorated as a player, someone impossible to handle. 

Above all, he shouldn't be sharing his starting position with anyone.

2021 Outlook: Projected left guard starter

UW Service Time: Played in 17 games, started 4

Stats: None

Individual Honors: None

Pro prospects: 2023 NFL second-day draftee

Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven

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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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