Top prospect Jake Locker skipping baseball this summer

by Dan Kadar on May 22, 2010 11:04 AM EDT in 2011 NFL Draft

Jake Locker, a probable top-five pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, has chosen to not play baseball for Washington this summer.

Speaking with 710 Seattle on Friday, Locker said he wanted to get a better rapport with his offense.

"I'm going to concentrate on getting ready for this coming football season," Locker said. "It's a big summer for us as far as making sure that we're here spending time with each other, getting cohesion between me and the receivers and the running backs and the line, able to work with everybody as a unit and getting comfortable with each other. So I think it's an important summer for us. I'll be here spending time with those guys."

This is a smart move by Locker. There were times last season when his timing looked off and he overthrew the ball on too many passes.

Still, Locker did enough last season to be considered by many the top senior prospect in the nation. In 2009, Locker finished with 2,800 yards passing and 21 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. He completed 58.2 percent of his throws, a number many want to see increase by at least 5 percent.

Get more thoughts from Locker from ESPN.com.

Tweet Comment 2 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Oh Jake

You could have been Drew Henson or Chad Hutchinson. So close.

You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In *St. Louis* his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well, *Steven Jackson* was the best.

by 3k on May 22, 2010 3:10 PM EDT reply actions

To nit pick just a little bit.

Jake Locker never played baseball for UW. He was drafted by the Angels out of highschool and turned down a contract to go to UW to play football. Heading into last year he again was drafted by the Angels in the 10th round and they worked out a contract. His contract was in the area of 300,000$ for 6 years and he would have no commitment to them. If he wanted to pursue baseball he could. However, given his year last year he apparently has decided against it.

During Spring Training Locker went down to the Angels camp for 2 days to check it out and take some BP but he’s always said the NFL was his dream.

by Patton on May 23, 2010 12:22 PM EDT reply actions