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.