Malakai Lee

Physical Profile

Elite frame, and the growth curve is the story. He was listed at 6-6/318 during the evaluation period, measured 6-7 1/2 and 349 at the Navy All-American Bowl, and reported to Michigan near 359 — a 40-pound jump in roughly 12 months with, per multiple in-person evaluators at the Bowl, no bad weight. That combination of height, mass, and arm length gives him a natural anchor point and the length to keep edge rushers at the end of his reach in the pass set. The athletic tools match the size: 247Sports' Greg Biggins graded him as a fluid mover with the feet, balance and frame to play tackle on either side in college. The caution flag is the same one the weight creates — at 359 he is carrying more than his high school playing weight, and Michigan will need to find his optimal number (likely 335-345) before bend and lateral range become an issue in space.

Play Style

A power-first, tone-setting tackle who plays with heavy hands and a forward lean and looks to finish. In the run game he's a displacement blocker — down blocks, combos and duo-style double teams are where he does his best work, and his ability to climb after moving the first-level defender is what makes him a scheme asset rather than just a big body. Kamehameha effectively schemed around him; as one evaluator put it, you rarely have to gameplan around an offensive lineman, but he was the Warriors' most valuable offensive player. In pass protection he's a wall more than a technician right now: he takes away the edge with length, absorbs bull rushes with mass, and shows the presence to work back to the quarterback on scramble drills. He also handled a full week at left guard at the All-American Bowl without looking out of place, which is a positive indicator for interior flexibility even though tackle is the projection.

Strengths

• Overwhelming play strength at the point of attack — once he latches, the rep is over. On film he puts defenders on skates and drives them until the back has cleared into the second level, and he wears opponents down with a consistent forward lean over the course of a game.
• Rare frame-plus-mover combination for the position: 6-7, 349-359 with enough quickness and balance to mirror in the pass set, projecting to either tackle spot rather than being a right-side-only body.
• Run-game versatility and blocking IQ — excels as a combo blocker, gets to his landmark on down and angle blocks, and shows real awareness in extended plays, staying mobile and staying attached when the quarterback can't get the ball out on schedule.
• Verified against the best: named to the 247Sports All-Lobby Team at the Navy All-American Bowl and singled out among West offensive linemen during practice week, plus Gatorade POY and the Olin Kreutz Award — the résumé answers the usual 'Hawaii competition level' discount.

Areas to Improve

• Core strength and functional power in the weight room — flagged specifically by 247Sports' national evaluator. His dominance is currently mass-and-length driven; college edge rushers with counters will test whether the base can hold when the initial punch doesn't land.
• Pass-set footwork refinement. Evaluators are consistent that the feet are good for his size but not clean — kick slide consistency, hip drop out of his stance, and pad level against speed-to-power are the technical items. Related: conditioning and weight management at 359 pounds, so he can sustain that footwork into the fourth quarter of a Big Ten game.
• Hand placement and timing/independent hand usage — he wins by getting hands inside, so the reps where he lets defenders into his frame first are the ones to clean up against pros-in-waiting.

College Projection

Pure tackle at the next level with guard as an emergency fallback. As a late-enrolling true freshman in a room Michigan has stocked (Andrew Babalola and company), he should be a redshirt candidate in 2026 with any snaps coming in mop-up duty — that's a depth-chart reality, not an evaluation. Realistic timeline: developmental year under OL coach Jim Harding to rebuild his body composition and rebuild the pass set, rotational or swing-tackle role in year two, and multi-year starter at right or left tackle from year three. Ceiling is All-Big Ten; the floor, given the frame and the strength, is a starting-caliber Power Four tackle.

NFL Outlook

Legitimate day-two-or-better long-term potential, contingent almost entirely on development rather than traits. Height, length and natural power are already NFL-grade — 6-7 tackles who can bend at all are a scarce commodity — and the willingness to add and carry weight without softening is a good sign for pro durability. The path runs through footwork and body composition: if he plays a 3-4 year college career in the 340s with a refined kick slide, he's a mid-round-or-higher left-or-right tackle prospect. If the weight keeps climbing and the feet don't catch up, he kicks inside to guard and becomes a mid-to-late-round interior pick. Too early for a firm grade on a true freshman — but the traits floor is high.

Best Fit

A downhill, gap/duo-based run scheme with a play-action passing game — exactly what Michigan runs, which makes this a clean commitment fit rather than a recruiting-ranking win. He is best deployed where he can fire off the ball and displace a defender rather than in a wide-zone, reach-block-heavy system that asks him to run to the sideline every snap. He also needs a program with a developed strength/nutrition infrastructure and a technician of an offensive line coach — a place comfortable redshirting a top-150 player for a year rather than throwing him out there at 359 pounds as a freshman. Michigan checks every one of those boxes.