Inside The Huskies

Here's Who's Blocking for Adam Mohammed at Cal

Former Husky offensive tackle Kahlee Tafai will reunite with his old teammate in the Bay Area.
Dan Raley|
Kahlee Tafai started four games at left tackle for the Huskies.
Kahlee Tafai started four games at left tackle for the Huskies. | Skylar Lin Visuals

If they can all get on the football field at the same time, running back Adam Mohammed will take the handoff and scoot around the corner, where he'll pick up a block from offensive tackle and former and new teammate Kahlee Tafai

It will be a Husky reunion at California, with Tafai committing to the Golden Bears this past week not long after Mohammed did the same.

They played together at the University of Washington in 2024, often sharing the same huddle with Tafai pulling four starts and Mohammed backing up Jonah Coleman for the entire season.

The 6-foot-5, 340-pound Tafai comes to Cal after sort of a lost season at Minnesota. He appeared in just three games before hitting the transfer portal for the second consecutive year.

Actually, the Bears have a much deeper UW connection than that when adding in the defense, with edge rusher Jayden Wayne and safety Tristan Dunn pulling snaps on the other side.

Two seasons ago, Tafai stepped up as the Huskies' third starting left tackle, drawing four late-season starting assignments after teammates Soane Faasolo and Max McCree both went down with injuries.

At the UW, Tafai's biggest issue was his fitness. He seemed way too heavy. He threw up a few times during practice.

Minnesota wasn't the answer for him as he did more watching than playing.

Yet similar to Cal, Tafai found himself blocking for a former Husky running back in Cam Davis while in Minneapolis, with the two of them transferring in together.

Kahlee Tafai pass protects in the Huskies' 49-21 loss at Oregon.
Kahlee Tafai pass protects in the Huskies' 49-21 loss at Oregon. | Skylar Lin Visuals

By playing for the Bears, the Southern California native at least has moved much closer to home in Los Angeles.

At the UW, Tafai made his starting debut in the Huskies' 26-21 victory over USC. He also opened games against Penn State, UCLA and Oregon. So he's played against top-notch competition.

While sharing in wins over USC and UCLA -- both schools from his hometown -- Tafia got his come-uppence against Oregon, which shredded the Husky offensive line for 10 sacks in a 49-21 romp.

Now in his third stop, the big man will try and get his college career pointed in a promising direction. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

For now, he's probably seen the last of the Huskies, as the UW and Cal no longer have a conference affiliation together nor do they have any non-league games scheduled.

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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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