UW Roster Review, No. 2-99: Miki Ah You Brings Grace and Emotion to ILB
Miki Ah You was the slender one during spring football practice, but he stood out by moving with a gracefulness unmatched by any of the University of Washington's other inside linebackers.
Coming off a knee injury that robbed him of most of his senior high school season in Hawaii, the 6-foot-1, 225-pounder has needed extra time to bounce back physically and navigate the Husky depth chart.
Ah You spent much of April running with the third team, though he missed a number of those spring practices for undisclosed reasons.
It wasn't until inside the final two minutes of the Husky spring game that he offered the first real glimpse of what he could do as a defensive playmaker and it was noteworthy.
After Texas A&M transfer Jeremiah Martin rushed in to separate freshman quarterback Sam Huard from the football, Ah You picked up the fumble and raced 34 yards before he was brought down.
Last fall, he made his Husky football debut against Arizona, appearing briefly in just one of the four outings in the pandemic-shortened season. It shouldn't be long now before he pulls regular assignments, most likely as a special-teamer at first.
Going down the roster in numerical order, this is another of our post-spring assessments of all of the UW talent at hand, gleaned from a month of observations, as a way to keep everyone engaged during the offseason.
Ah You wears No. 10, finding himself on the roster as the defensive numerical opposite at different times of three Husky quarterbacks in Jacob Eason, Ethan Garbers and now Patrick O'Brien.
His Hawaiian lineage suggests something far more rough and tumble. He's the namesake and grandson of Miki "Junior" Ah You, a defensive end who is one of the greatest football players to leave the islands and became a legendary figure at Arizona State and in the Canadian Football League.
This younger Ah You should provide the Huskies with a decided emotional boost when ready. The linebacker has a fiery side that is absolutely mesmerizing.
Just watch this video of him leading the "Haka" while a high schooler in the islands and getting his teammates ready to go to battle.
Fiery and graceful could make for a highly intriguing Husky football player.
Ah You's 2021 Outlook: Projected reserve inside linebacker
UW Service Time: 1 game
Stats: None
Individual Honors: None
Pro prospects: Not yet
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