Tag: Pro Dawgs

Next up on our Huskies Wire countdown of Washington’s best first-round picks is quarterback Jake Locker. Not only was Locker a glimmer of hope in a very dark time for Washington football, but he remains the only UW quarterback to be taken in the first round of the NFL draft, where he was selected by the Tennessee Titans at No. 8 overall in 2011.

Known to most Husky fans as “Montlake Jake,” he almost chose a different career path after being drafted by the Anaheim Angels during his senior year at Ferndale High School in Ferndale, Washington. Locker opted to spurn Major League Baseball, choosing to pursue football instead.

As a redshirt freshman in 2007, Locker was honored as the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, headlined by a legendary performance against the Arizona Wildcats where he passed for 300 yards and rushed for 100 in the game.

That year, Locker set the school’s all-time record for rushing and passing yards from a freshman, passing touchodwns from a freshman, and rushing yards from a quarterback.

2008 was a difficult year for Locker, headlined by a controversial call in a game against BYU where he threw the ball up in the air and was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, even though the act appeared to come from frustration. He later apologized for his actions, just a few weeks before his season ended prematurely following a broken thumb he suffered against the Stanford Cardinal.

2009 had many ups and downs, as Locker led the Huskies to knock off the No. 3 USC Trojans 16-13, which vaulted UW into the AP rankings for the first time since 2003. The rest of the year didn’t go quite as well and head coach Steve Sarkisian finished with a 5-7 record in his first year at the helm.

After the season, Locker had a difficult choice to make: enter the NFL draft or return to Washington. Even though many thought he could have been the No. 1 overall pick in 2010, it was reported that the NFL Collegiate Advisory Committee didn’t give him a first round grade before he ultimately made the decision to return to Montlake.

During his final year, he passed for 2,800 yards and 21 touchdowns, leading the Huskies to a 7-6 record, ending his career by leading Washington to a win against Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl in the team’s first bowl game since 2003.

He also earned the Guy Flaherty Most Inspirational Award at Washington’s annual postseason awards banquet in 2009 and 2010.

After being selected by the Titans, he signed a four-year, $12 million contract. He spent most of his rookie season as a backup to quarterback Matt Hasselback and finished the season with 5 touchdowns, 4 passing and 1 rushing, seeing action in five games in relief of Hasselback.

2012 started with a quarterback battle in Nashville between the two options. Locker won the starting job in August before suffering a tear in his non-throwing shoulder on September 30. He took the role back in November and went on to finish the season with 177 completions, 2,176 passing yards, 10 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, while rushing for 291 yards and 1 touchdown over 11 games.

Locker’s 2013 season was plagued by injuries after he got off to a great start with two big wins against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Chargers. In a late September matchup with the New York Jets, he was hit by two defenders and suffered a hip injury that kept him off the field for three games. Then in November, he experienced a Lisfranc injury against the Jacksonville Jaguars that ended his season.

2014 was also riddled by injuries and he found himself sidelined three times with different ailments before making the decision to retire in 2015, citing that he had lost his love for the game as his primary reason for stepping away.

He married former UW softball player Lauren Greer, and the couple resides in Ferndale with their four children.

Wide receiver Reggie Williams is one of the highest-rated recruits to ever play for the Washington Huskies, coming in at No. 2 according to 247Sports behind linebacker Shaq Thompson. He saw nothing but success during his time on Montlake before he was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars at No. 9 overall in the 2004 NFL draft, making him the highest-drafted Husky at wide receiver in program history.

Williams was born in West Germany into a military family. They eventually moved to Lakewood, Washington, where he would attend Lakes High School and lead his team to a state championship during his senior year, where he was named the AP’s Washington State Player of the Year.

During that final season, he caught 45 passes for 811 yards and 16 touchdowns, and took 34 carries for an additional 512 yards and 7 scores. He also played safety, where he grabbed 5 interceptions during his junior year and another 7 as a senior.

He also displayed his athleticism on the track in high school, where he ran a 10.76 100-meter dash to win the 3A state championship. His 6-foot-4, 210-pound frame gave him such impressive size and athleticism that it had many scouts wondering if he might switch to defense at the college level.

His recruitment rivaled that of a top NFL draft prospect, where he had an impressive list of schools courting him, including Washington, Florida State, UCLA and Michigan. There even was a late push by the newly hired Pete Carroll and the USC Trojans to get in the mix. Eventually, coach Rick Neuheisel’s tenacity and a helicopter ride to pick up Williams to bring him to campus for a visit won the high school standout over.

During his time on Montlake, to say his numbers were impressive would be an understatement. From 2001 – 2003, he set every receiving record at Washington. He totaled 16 100-yard games and three 1,000 yard seasons, the first of which made him the only freshman in school history to record 1,000 receiving yards in a year.

By his sophomore season, he was voted an All American before he declared for the 2004 NFL draft after his junior year.

His rookie season with the Jaguars was underwhelming and not up to the standard he had set for himself during his time at Washington. He impressed during the first half of his second season with the team, but after a concussion, he struggled to get back on track.

He broke out during his third season and was considered one of the top receivers in the NFL until Jacksonville quarterback Byron Leftwich suffered a season-ending injury, limiting Williams’ production.

He spent the 2009 season out of the league before signing with the Seattle Seahawks, where it seemed as if Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll had finally got his man. But he never saw the field, as Williams was released by the team in June, prior to the start of training camp.

He spent one year in the UFL and another in the CFL before hanging up his cleats. Now, Williams resides in San Antonio, Texas with his wife and three children.

Next on our Huskies Wire countdown of Washington’s best first-round picks is a two-sport athlete during his time on Montlake. Defensive tackle Danny Shelton wasn’t just the anchor of the defensive line, but a stand-out track athlete in the shot put, where he earned a spot on the Pac-12’s All-Academic Second Team.

Shelton is yet another homegrown Husky, as he was a four-star recruit out of Auburn High School in Auburn, Washington, where he was ranked as the No. 10 defensive lineman in the country.

During his senior year at Auburn, he won the 4A state championship in the shot put with a throw of 60-foot-1. Just before his graduation, Danny and his brothers were in an altercation where his brother Shennon was killed, which is why he wears No. 55, to honor him.

Once he got to Montlake, he played 13 games and started one as a true freshman. Over his next three seasons, he started every game and in is four years he accumulated 111 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, and 11.5 sacks.

Shelton, who was taken No. 12 overall by the Cleveland Browns, was the first defensive lineman taken from Washington selected in the first round since Steve Emtman was the No. 1 overall pick in 1992. In his rookie season, he played in all 16 games for the Browns, starting 15.

In 2016, he started every game, collecting 1.5 sacks that season before he suffered a wrist injury in 2017 that caused him to miss two games.

Prior to the 2018 NFL season, he was traded to the New England Patriots and helped lead the team to a victory in Super Bowl LIII over the Los Angeles Rams. The team declined his rookie contract’s fifth year option before the 2018 season, but re-signed him to a one year deal for 2019.

At the conclusion of 2019, he found signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Detroit Lions and was placed on the injured reserve list in December of 2020 and was eventually released in March of 2021.

Shelton spent the 2021 season with the New York Giants, playing in 13 games before he hit free agency one more time.

The Kansas City Chiefs signed him to their practice squad in 2022, and Shelton earned his second Super Bowl ring after the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII. Kansas City then re-signed him before the 2023 season, but released him in September and Shelton is still searching for his next team.