Husky Roster Review: Jabez Tinae Appears Lost in the Process

The wide receiver has played in just one UW football game.

Jabez Tinae was last spotted in a University of Washington football jersey five months ago but otherwise he was in street clothes for the Alamo Bowl against Texas.

In 2021, the wide receiver from Seattle appeared in his only Husky game, perhaps a half-dozen snaps late in a 52-3 victory over Arkansas State.

Tinae was targeted three times that day, with the passes resulting, in order, in a pass-interference call, an incompletion and a pass break-up.

That was so long ago that current UW defensive tackle Ulumoo Ale was playing offensive guard and Ale jumped offsides on the drive. Each of the passes sent in Tinae's direction at Husky Stadium that afternoon came from quarterback Sam Huard, also his high school teammate and someone who transferred out this past winter. 

In other words, Tinae's UW career has never gotten off the ground and some question remains whether it ever will, more so because he presumably can't stay healthy.

Jabez Tinae missed all of UW spring practice with an injury / Skylar Lin Visuals

Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Tinae, who wears No. 15 on offense, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.

During the end of spring practice, coach Kalen DeBoer confirmed that Tinae was still part of the UW football team but out for the entire spring, though he didn't elaborate. 

Tinae was one of four very highly regarded players from Seattle's Kennedy Catholic High School who joined the Huskies in recent years, but the only one left on the roster after the departures following last season of edge rusher Sav'ell Smalls (Colorado), wide receiver Lonyatta Alexander Jr. (Montana State) and Huard (Cal Poly). 

All were 4- or 5-star recruits for the Huskies who couldn't find what they were looking for as football players at the hometown school. All except Tinae have moved on and he might not be that far behind them.

Tinae remains the last veteran UW player not in the two-deeps who hasn't left the program on his own or been encouraged to do so. 

It's also unclear whether his injury — possibly a back issue, but unconfirmed — will even permit him to continue in college football or force him to medically retire. 

---

JABEZ TINAE FILE

Service: If he returns this fall, Tinae will enter his third season in Montlake. He has one game appearance, coming at the end of that 49-point victory over Arkansas State two seasons ago.

Stats: Tinae arrived at the UW with gaudy career high school numbers of 163 catches for 3,463 yards and 28 touchdowns. It's all zeroes on the next level.

Role: It's still not clear if this wide receiver has a skill set that works at the Power 5 level. Either way, he's probably so far behind everyone else in his Husky position group a change of football scenery might be best for him.

---

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley3

Have a question, direct message me on Facebook or Twitter.