Until Thursday, the most anyone had seen Mississippi State transfer Kai McClendon do ahead of his first season with the Washington Huskies was a lot of boxing.The 6-foot-2, 317-pound junior, who missed all of the 2025 season with the SEC program after suffering an ACL injury during spring practice, was usually heard before he was seen, working off to the side with director of sport science Ben Creamer, with gloves on, going through drills while rehabbing from his injury. Then on Thursday, he put on his jersey for the first time. While he was still limited and mainly worked off to the side during his first fully-suited practice, Jedd Fisch wasn't shy about his expectations for McClendon.Mississippi State transfer DT Kai McClendon is listed at 6-2 340lb. Started 5 games (played in 12) as a true freshman in 2024 with 30 TKL, 2 TFL, 0.5 SK, and 10 stops. pic.twitter.com/Myo9DlTt9T Nick Lemkau (@nicklemkaucfb) August 6, 2026I would expect him to be, if not a starter, absolutely a huge contributor to our defensive line, Fisch said on Thursday. We brought him in here to be a huge part of our defensive line rotation, and from what we saw on film, he can do that.As a true freshman for the Bulldogs in 2024, McClendon played in 12 games and made five starts, registering 30 tackles, including 2 for loss and half a sack. Now, he'll have a promising unit around him along the interior of defensive coordinator Ryan Walters' front that, with the addition of McClendon, could take a step forward and become one of the best in the Big Ten.Alongside senior Elinneus Davis, who the Huskies believe can ascend to stardom in 2026, fellow transfer portal acquisitions Darin Conley and DeSean Watts, and four-star freshmen Derek Colman-Brusa and TI Umu-Cais, Walters has the depth and talent he desires up front to run his not-so-traditional base defense that became his signature at Illinois, which includes a five-man "bear" look with three defensive tackles on the field.This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Jedd Fisch expects SEC transfer DT to contribute immediately in 2026