Washington football: 5 great players who didn’t live up to the NFL hype
Former Washington football greats who were NFL busts.
Washington football is a tremendous program. The Huskies have four National Championships to their credit over the years, the last coming in 1991. Moreover, they have seven Rose Bowl victories and have won 17 conference championships as well.
Washington football has also never been short on talent. Though they’ve never produced a Heisman Trophy winner, numerous players have come through Seattle and put up big-time numbers that have made them college football staples. Unfortunately, that has not always translated to NFL success. Those players who flopped in the NFL are our focus here.
Full disclosure, quarterback Jake Browning, who played for the Huskies from 2015-18 almost made this list as he went undrafted despite his prolific career. However, given that he’s only had one year on an NFL practice squad, it’s a bit premature to include him. Now onto the actual five players who made this list.
Washington football NFL busts
In the early 2000s, Washington football was not in the best place and were looking for a player to reignite the fire on the gridiron in Seattle. The player ultimately tasked with that was quarterback Jake Locker. However, the signal-caller had to wait his turn to take the field as the signal-caller was a backup who didn’t see the field in the 2006 season, ultimately taking a redshirt year.
As a freshman, Locker was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year with a big year as he rushed for 986 yards with 2,062 passing yards and 14 touchdowns, all this despite suffering a season-ending injury early in November. Unfortunately, the struggles for UW continued in 2008 as he suffered a broken thumb in September and the Huskies went 0-12 on the year.
It was another rollercoaster season in the 2009 campaign as, though they upset USC, they finished at just 5-7 on the year. Even still, Locker threw for 2,800 yards and 21 touchdowns with seven rushing scores. He finished his career finally getting Washington to a bowl game and a 7-6 overall record. Locker is fourth all-time at Washington in career passing yards and tied for fourth in career passing touchdowns.
With all the physical tools in the world, Locker was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans. He flashed his potential as a backup in his rookie season and, though he had struggled in 11 games with spot starts in year two, there was hope. However, injuries and inconsistent play continued to haunt him over the next two seasons before he elected to retire.