Why the UW Is So Enthused About Kai McClendon

Two weeks before the season opener, defensive tackle Kai McClendon became a bonus player for the University of Washington football team, getting into a stance at the last minute to offer something new and intriguing for a team already well fortified on defense.

In a short amount of time, the Mississippi State transfer, in coming back from a knee injury suffered in spring 2025, got cleared to practice for the first time in 17 months and showed he can play.

McClendon deflected a pair of passes during week-long scrimmaging, including one on his third snap on the field -- a ball that turned into a diving interception for linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah.

He alternated with the first- and second-team defenses. No one pushed him off the ball. Everyone seemed to like what they saw.

"I came here for everything," McClendon said. "They tell me they like my game, my physicality and like my experience."

Kai McClendon, shown stretching, made his practice debut this past week. | Dave Sizer photo

Truthfully though in five months, he's gone through a Peter Parker to Spiderman transformation.

Five months ago, McClendon came out for the first UW spring practice using a crutch. He looked wobbly on his feet, real lumpy around the midsection. He resembled anything but an impending force on the Husky defensive line.

Then modern medicine and the training room stepped in and he embraced it.

Kai McClendon began practicing with the UW just this week. | Dan Rale

Since then, he has shed 20 pounds and checks in with a 6-foot-2, 320-pound frame. He seems extra light on his feet. He has been highly motivated to get back.

"From the outside looking at his recovery, he was a dog in the training room," said fellow defensive tackle Darin Conley, the Ball State transfer. "He literally was the first guy at the facility with his car. He got the best parking spot."

While McClendon works his way into optimum football shape, the Huskies appear ready to use him in spurts, in situational downs, in ways to shake things up.

At a freshman from Gulfport, Mississippi, he played in all 12 games in 2024 for the SEC's last-place team that went 2-10 and he started the final five outings, with the school no doubt hoping he would remain part of the rebuild.

Yet in the aftermath of his injury, he became the third Mississippi State player in four seasons to transfer to the UW, making the move after running back Dillon Johnson and quarterback Matt Rogers previously signed on with the Huskies.

"I know those guys, but I didn't follow them really," McClendon said. "It's a small world."

Jedd Fisch's staff continually has talked about tapping into the South's groundswell of disruptive and game-changing defensive linemen that keep feeding into the SEC.

Mississippi State Kai McClendon (90) and Stone Blanton (7) tackle Tennesee's Dylan Sampson in 2024. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Last year, the Huskies even brought in Caleb Smith from Birmingham, Alabama, and put the freshmen in development before he turned around this past winter and went home, transferring to Alabama and joining Kalen DeBoer's team.

Fisch has said he expects McClendon, with three seasons to play for the UW, to be a major contributor if not ultimately a starter.

"They want me to keep going, keep elevating off that, so I can be a big part of Washington," he said.

Everyone should be so lucky to have a player with McClendon's past credentials and future potential show up ready to play at the last minute.

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