Breaking Down the Huskies' Changing of the Guard

They resemble three ocean-going freighters, each stacked high with cargo containers, all jockeying for the same slip on the Seattle waterfront. 

One's going to tie up soon while the others have to drop anchor out in the bay.

Ulumoo Ale, Nate Kalepo and Julius Buelow represent these extra-large human beings traveling through local shipping lanes, finding themselves locked into the most intriguing position battle on the University of Washington football team.

One by one, they're trying to become the No. 1 left guard and make an enormous and experienced Husky offensive line coming back even better this season. 

Ale, the heaviest guy on this UW roster at 355 pounds, is the incumbent as a four-game starter from 2020.

Kalepo made his move for the first-team assignment during spring practice, forcing Ale to share reps for a couple of weeks.

Buelow, the tallest player for the Huskies at 6-foot-8, took turns as the starter with Kalepo before moving ahead of him and Ale in the past week. He still had the job for Wednesday's closed scrimmage.

Anything goes in this Seattle Beef Bowl over the next 10 days before the UW hosts Montana in the season opener.

"They're making each other better," said Luke Wattenberg, the starting center who can see everything taking place by glancing to his left. "It will be interesting to see who comes out on top."

What makes this tug-of-war different from other Husky positions up for grabs is this involves three rather than two leading candidates. Injuries have not been a factor in alternating bodies in and out. And the guy who has held the job for the longest time might have the longest odds in reclaiming it.

We take a look at these three candidates, who all play together on extra-point kicks, and offer our own forecast for each one, picking the eventual winner.

Ulumoo Ale

Clearly you don't discard this massive player, because he has shown he can dominate a Pac-12 opponent. Yet he needs to keep improving or step aside momentarily. He carried a 6-foot-6, 365-pound frame into spring football and both coach Jimmy Lake and offensive-line coach Scott Huff insisted this was a good weight for him, that he still could move adequately. Ale lists at 355 now. So it wasn't necessarily a good distribution of poundage for him. When asked about his recent play, the coaches give the stock answer that Ale needs to be more consistent. The big thing to remember about the native Samoan and former Australian resident is he's just a sophomore and he's already appeared in 17 games. He'll be back. With a little refinement, he could be a tackle before he's done with college ball. Projection: No. 3 at left guard.