Kai McClendon's Mad Dash to Football Relevance at UW

The Mississippi State transfer, with just a week of practice, turned up on the Husky depth chart for the Apple Cup.

Kai McClendon brings a big body to the UW defensive line. | Dan Raley

On Tuesday a week ago, Mississippi State transfer Kai McClendon made his first appearance for the University of Washington in a practice situation and it went well.

On his third snap in scrimmage play, the defensive tackle from the coastal city of Gulfport stuck up a meaty hand and deflected Demond Williams Jr.'s pass to linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah for a diving interception.

A day later, the 6-foot-2, 320-pound McClendon lined up with the No. 1 defense and got double-teamed while pass-rushing Williams and he helped force an incompletion with his pressure.

On the very next day, he raised both arms and knocked down a Dash Beierly pass and began jumping up and down in celebration after making contact.

On Monday in advance of the Apple Cup, McClendon turned up on the Husky depth chart as the back-up to Elinneus Davis, continuing to enjoy his meteoric rise through Montlake from an injured player to an early contributor in the making.

Things happen in a hurry to guys with a lot of football talent, even those such as McClendon, who's been dealing with a major knee injury that has kept him in recovery for the past 17 months.

"We understood we were going to be a part of the process of rehabilitating his knee and we also knew, if we could get that done, he was going to be an impact player right off the bat," UW coach Jedd Fisch said in his week-opening news conference.

This is the same McClendon who limped out to the very first Husky spring practice while using a crutch, weighed upward of 340 pounds and hardly looked like he would be ready to play this fall.

Yet thereafter, people could see this newcomer make steady advances.

While his new teammates practiced at the Seattle Seahawks' VMAC facility, McClendon continuously walked the exterior of the indoor field when he wasn't riding an exercise bike, getting in his first extensive workout.

Kai McClendon, shown stretching, had his first team snaps with the UW a week ago. | Dave Sizer photo

On the East field while his teammates ran through scrimmage plays, he boxed off to the side with Ben Creamer, director of sports science, and looked extremely quick and powerful.

Once fall camp began, he pulled on a full uniform for the first time, but continued his individual workouts and rehabilitation until getting the go-ahead last week.

"If he's the type of player that we saw on film, and if he's the type of player that we saw in individual and walkthroughs and then this past two weeks or so, or week and a half, of game-like reps or live team reps, he's going to be a big part of the plan this season," Fisch said.

Mississippi State transfer Kai McClendon proves fairly nimble during UW stretching exercises. | Dan Rale

McClendon, who started five times at the end of his freshman season for Mississippi State, last played in a game on Nov. 29, 2024, when his Bulldogs lost to rival Ole Miss 26-14 on the road and he shared in a tackle for loss.

Now he's ready to resume his football career in a concentrated manner with the Huskies, who have him for three seasons and hold high expectations for him, ultimately envisioning McClendon as a starter.

"The plays he was making at Mississippi State were really, really good and we brought him here because of that," Fisch said.