That didn’t take long.
Nine days after declaring he would carefully consider his options, quarterback Jake Locker has decided to return to the Washington Huskies for his senior season.
He announced Monday he would not enter his name in the 2010 NFL Draft pool.
“After a great deal of careful thought and deliberation, I have decided to return to Washington and play my senior year,” said Locker in a statement released by the university. “I am very excited about this team’s opportunities and potential for the upcoming season and I am looking forward to being a part of it.”
ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit was the first to report the news live on the air Monday at noon.
Locker, a native of Ferndale, passed for 2,800 yards and 21 touchdowns, and led the Huskies’ remarkable turnaround under first-year coach Steve Sarkisian – from 0-12 in 2008 to a 5-7 mark this season.
His 5,374 career passing yards rank No. 6 all-time on the UW list. If he duplicated what he did this season, he would move into the No. 2 slot behind Cody Pickett.
At his end-of-the-season press conference last week, Sarkisian – not offering anything definitively about which way Locker was leaning in his decision – listed all the elements that would factor in his decision to stay or turn professional.
Yet, in subtle ways, the coach made a couple of inferences where he felt confident Locker would return.
At one point, he said he was “very optimistic” his star player would come back, reminded the media how much Locker loved the UW.
Turns out, Sarkisian was right on.
YES!
I am not so pollyanna as to believe that we are now set for the Rose Bowl, but I selfishly just wanted to see the kid suit up for another season. He’s such a high character guy who also happens to be an off-the-charts outlier type freak, you just want to see him continue to blossom as Brandon Roy did in hoops. This will also allow for the maturation of the younger QB’s on the roster, a luxury we have not had since Cody Pickett was playing.
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Someone the Seahawks should be looking at for possible draft next year…….Hasselbeck has one, two years if he’s lucky left and then they are stuck without a QB.
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Locker has a great opportunity to improve his short passes accuracy.Improve his mechanics & improve his reading Defenses& when to audible out of a call.Don`t fixate on receivers.. Go Dawgs, a Bowl game here we come….
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Great news! The other 9 Pac 10 teams must be hating this!
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Merry Christmas to all and to all a good year.
Thanks Jake.
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And there was much rejoicing……
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This is huge on many levels. It’s great for the Husky program- it doesn’t leave a vastly improved team in the lurch, and it keeps the unit together. All while giving the next QB time to learn the system and learn from Jake. It’s big for the NFL- it shows that not all college QBs are in it for the money, and that some of them want to learn as much as possible in the NCAA. And lastly, it shows a lot about the character of Jake Locker- he started something as a highly touted prospect and wants to finish what he started the best way he can. That, ladies in gentleman, is a man our own kids will be able to look up to for many years to come in the NFL
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Jake Locker coming back and Nick Montana arriving from Oakes Christian, looks like the UW program is really back on track!! Good luck in 2010!!
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Ok, so Locker comes back, yippee. But is he really NFL compatable? He’s no McCoy and sure not a Tebow. He’s AFL material (or CFL), at that.
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Interesting what kolanojr thinks, because, the real NFL analysts projected Jake to be the #1 overall pick. As for Tebow, he probably won’t even be a QB in the NFL- look for him to be used as some sort of RB. Colt McCoy? Yeah….ok. I think you just think the name is cool, because he’s a flash in the pan
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AWESOME!!!!!!!!! he’s like our very own tim tebow except jake is an actual quarterback. lol.
it’s a no brainer really, mr. locker has a bit of work to do still to be successful in the nfl.
GO HUSKIES!
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“Ok, so Locker comes back, yippee. But is he really NFL compatable? He’s no McCoy and sure not a Tebow. He’s AFL material (or CFL), at that.”
Boy it’s a good thing Jake decided to return.
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