Washington's Jake Locker returning for senior season
by Mocking Dan on Dec 14, 2009 3:40 PM EST
20 comments
Washington junior quarterback Jake Locker will not enter the 2010 NFL Draft.
"After a great deal of careful thought and deliberation, I have decided to return to Washington and play my senior year," Locker said in a release. "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."
The potential for Locker is immense. He'll immediately become the No. 1 prospect eligible for the 2011 NFL Draft should he stay healthy. He showed that this season and had the best year of his career.
On the season, Locker finished with 2,800 yards passing for 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He completed 58.2 percent of his passes. He also ran for 388 yards and seven touchdowns. Most impressively, he led the Huskies to five wins after the team went 0-12 in 2008.
From a prospect's standpoint, this could be a sound move by Locker. Although he would likely have been a top 10 selection in April, he'll greatly benefit from another year of head coach Steve Sarkisian's pro-style offense.
Sarkisian will likely look to continue to improve Locker's prescience in the pocket and his sometimes-shoddy throwing motion. Washington is also adding much more talent to help Locker next season. Chief among them is wide receiver Kevin Smith, who Rivals.com ranks as the 26th best athlete in the nation.
One player surely to be happy about Locker's decision to go back to school is Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford. The former Heisman Trophy winner has seen the limelight taken from him by the likes of Locker, Jimmy Clausen and even sophomore Ryan Mallett. Now with Locker out of the equation, Bradford's draft stock is sure to rise.
There seems to be no correlation between NFL Draft stardom and returning for another collegiate season, however. Bradford did it and got hurt twice. Matt Leinart did it and got overtaken as the top quarterback in the 2006 draft by Vince Young. Brian Brohm and Andre Woodson returned and seemingly fell further in the draft than they would have had they entered after their junior seasons.
The most obvious recent case of it working out for the player was with Matt Ryan. He was considered by most a second- or third-round talent at Boston College prior to his senior year. After a solid senior campaign, he went third overall to Atlanta in 2008.
Adjust your mock drafts accordingly.
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I think Locker is going to get Brian Brohm syndrome
He’s going to get picked apart next year and if he doesn’t light the world on fire, will regret not coming out
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by Jonathan Loesche on Dec 14, 2009 4:01 PM EST reply actions
Specially that
we don’t know what will happen with the NFL in 2011….
Life without knowledge is death in disguise
by Zoltan from Budapest on Dec 14, 2009 6:48 PM EST up reply actions
There is too much money to be lost by both sides to hold out
The almighty Dollar Solves al Problems
by maritimebronco on Dec 14, 2009 6:51 PM EST up reply actions
Let's hope so.
Life without knowledge is death in disguise
by Zoltan from Budapest on Dec 14, 2009 6:52 PM EST up reply actions
the same thing happened to Drew Stanton
Current Phinsider Feud Points: 23
T.Lex doesn't want to be fed, he wants to hunt. Can't just suppress sixty five million years of gut instinct.
this is a serious risk
and roll of the dice. Hopefully for him he doesnt fall to Bradford’s fate
Confidence breeds success, self-doubt breeds failure
I predicted this. My latest mock alreadly had him staying
by TheRealSlimShady on Dec 14, 2009 5:07 PM EST reply actions
for it is.....the prophecy.
"It ain't over till its over"---
How come no one covers Steve Smith?
by FreeBradshaw on Dec 14, 2009 6:48 PM EST up reply actions
Junior Hype
Brohm and Woodson might have been first rounds picks if they came out early or the problems that became present over the course of the evaluation process might have driven their stock down as it did when they came out anyway. This is in no way a bad decision. He is choosing to remain in school and work with a well respected QB coach (Sarkisian) to be better prepared for the NFL. Leinart was surrond by some very good talent at USC which helped his stock. Brohm didn’t have Peterino at Louisville his last year and Ryan made very crappy Offensive Dynamic. Locker just has to come out a played the way he did in ’09 and take his team to the next level.
Could he use one year of seasoning?
Yes.
Could he start next year…probably not right away, but maybe by mid-season.
Should he declare and sit for a year or 2?….Yes.
He dropped the ball here, his stock probably couldn’t be higher next year. He’s a top 10 pick now…with next year’s class, he may not be.
Also, with a stink senior year (re: worse than this above average year…), he could fall even farther.
HE was always an athlete with a big arm.
Does he become a QB next year? Dunno. At least I hope more Wazzou games are on….
"It ain't over till its over"---
How come no one covers Steve Smith?
Don't like it
I think this has Sam Bradford part 2 written all over it. Locker has suffered through injuries before and I could see it happening next year. Not to mention a possible rookie cap which COULD make his rookie contract sh!t, compared to this years #10 pick.
He was a top 10 pick this year, and now will have to compete with Jevan Snead, Christian Ponder, Jerrod Johnson, Pat Devlin, Ricky Stanzi, Ryan Mallett, Blaine Gabbert, etc..
Don’t like the move.
Bears suck, Cubs suck, Bulls suck, Illini suck, who would have thought the Blackhawks would be my best shot at a title.
Snead?
Even if Snead had a better senior season and Locker’s was just average, Snead wouldn’t get the benefit of the doubt because of the stinker of a season he put up this year.
Fearless Frog jokes are the new black!
by Fearless Frog on Dec 15, 2009 2:11 AM EST up reply actions
How about Locker’s injury history and what if he gets hurt again next year? That could be enough to drop him.
Bears suck, Cubs suck, Bulls suck, Illini suck, who would have thought the Blackhawks would be my best shot at a title.
by tj.hendricks on Dec 15, 2009 11:17 PM EST up reply actions
Well, yeah. Injuries are different.
But if it’s just performance based, I don’t really see Snead pulling ahead of Locker.
Holmgren would have drafted Crabtree.
by Fearless Frog on Dec 17, 2009 8:14 PM EST up reply actions
bad decision
This is an awful decision. I bet Bradford wishes he would have came out last year., Locker should take a good look at the bradford situation When you are a projected 1st round pick I think you have to come out. Take the money while you can because you dont know what will happen in the future.
I'm sort of uneasy about this,
but I can see it working out for Jake, seeing as Washington is only going to get better and they are definitely on the upswing now.
And the difference between Locker and Bradford is that Locker hasn’t ever had the luxury of an offensive line filled with NFL prospects and actually faced real pressure before. Bradford being injured this season shouldn’t have surprised anyone and that was a truly dumb move by him to stay considering he was practically guaranteed to go #1, and after winning a Heisman!
Fearless Frog jokes are the new black!
Not surprised his Coach has a big smile on his face.
Sarkasian has no business advising him on this decision. As if he can be objective about this decision. Let’s see what the University of Washington does for him if [and I pray nothing happens] he is injured.
He MAY improve his draft position from #5 [#10?] to #1[depends on who is picking there] at the best. With an injury or mediocre performance he will be a mid round first at best, not to mention there may be a rookie salary structure in place in 2011.
But its all good for the University of Washington, they will get their money out of him and his Coach may end up getting a better job because of him.
I admire Jake Locker’s generous, selfless actions.
Funny you say all that
Because Sark actually gave him no advice, just gave him the facts. He left up to Jake Locker completely.
Also, Locker has been a Husky fan since he was young and considering he already has a considerate amount of money from his baseball contract, I find it nothing but honorable that he would want to see through his role in the rebuilding of the UW football program.
And Sark isn’t jumping to another job as soon as Locker is gone. Washington is a great coaching job. In the days of Don James it was as good as any job in the Pac-10.
And I will never, ever fault a man who has values that transcends money, even though that doesn’t necessarily apply in this case.
Dan, Your example of Matt Ryan improving his draft standing is not applicable.
If a Junior QB was ranked in the second to third round range, I would agree that coming back to play another year of college makes sense. But if you are already in the Top Ten, and that is a conservative estimate, what do you have to improve?
Is there any other example of a QB ranked in the top ten who improved his draft standing? ie. consensus top five? Bradford may still pull that off despite what has happened to him in 2009.
According to profootballtalk.com (take it for what it’s worth) a source told them that Locker didn’t even receive a 1st round grade from the advisory board.
I find that shocking if (big IF) that is true.
Bears suck, Cubs suck, Bulls suck, Illini suck, who would have thought the Blackhawks would be my best shot at a title.
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