Inside The Huskies

Kahlee Tafai Appears to Hold High Value in Transfer Portal

The former Husky offensive lineman has an offer from Alabama and DeBoer.

Dan Raley

Kahlee Tafai is in the transfer portal after starting 4 games at offensive tackle for the UW.
Kahlee Tafai is in the transfer portal after starting 4 games at offensive tackle for the UW. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Of the more than a dozen University of Washington football players who entered the transfer portal since it reopened, none of them elicited a real negative reaction over their departure, that their leaving was deeply wounding the program in some manner.

They were either Huskies who weren't playing enough to their liking or guys maybe who were going to be replaced next season.

However, redshirt freshman offensive tackle Kahlee Tafai, after revealing that he has an Alabama offer from former Husky coach Kalen DeBoer and his staff, now makes you wonder about his talent level and long-term projection.

In the present, the 6-foot-5, 338-pound Tafai from Los Angeles was the third of three players who started at left tackle for the UW during the regular season. He moved up only after fellow redshirt freshman Soane Faasolo and JC transfer Maximus McCree were injured, necessitating his first-team usage.

Frankly, Tafai was not in good physical shape either, carrying a lot of excess body weight. His UW position coach Brennan Carroll even acknowledged that he preferred to have the lineman under 330 pounds.

Also, Taifai was part of an offensive line that laid down at Oregon and enabled the Ducks to sack Demond Williams Jr. 10 times, to which everyone up front must share in the blame for that happening.

Yet DeBoer and his recruiting director Courtney Morgan, who recruited Tafai to Montlake, apparently still hold him in high regard.

They no doubt see the great size in the California native, even if he needs to be tone up quite a bit.

Everyone would concur he's versatile enough as a lineman after working at guard and tackle during his time with the Huskies.

And in what probably led him away from the UW, Tafai could have been informed in what became his exit interview is that, even after pulling those four starts, he might still be at least two seasons away from becoming a finished product and someone trustworthy in maintaining the pocket -- and he didn't want to hear it.

If this Alabama offer translates into a commitment for Tafai, he'll no doubt still have to remain in development and do more watching than playing, but he'll be doing it for a more established SEC program and for the coach who initially recruited him.

Tafai's college football career arc, no matter where he goes, will be worth monitoring.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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