Washington football: 5 great players who didn’t live up to the NFL hype

For his first two seasons with the Huskies, Cody Pickett didn’t see the field hardly at all. In fact, the signal-caller earned a medical redshirt for the 1999 season due to a back injury and throwing only four pass attempts and then threw only two pass attempts in the 2000 campaign as he was healthy but again only a reserve for the Washington football offense. That paved the way for him to earn the starting job in the 2001 season.

Pickett wasn’t necessarily a star in his first season as the starter. He threw only 301 passes on the season but did throw for 2,403 yards. However, the quarterback also conceded 14 interceptions on the year with only 10 touchdowns.

The following year, however, Pickett was an absolute stud for the Huskies. He threw an unreal 612 pass attempts on the season and produced like you’d hope for him to. Pickett threw for 4,458 yards and 28 touchdowns with 14 interceptions. The yardage and touchdown marks were career-highs. He returned for one more year and, though he hit 3,000 yards again, he had only 15 touchdowns and 13 interceptions — but that season was marred by some injuries.

Pickett remains the all-time leader in career passing yards at Washington and is third in career touchdown passes as well, cementing his spot in Huskies history.

Even with his productive college career, the quarterback wasn’t selected until the seventh round by the San Francisco 49ers. He only played in six career games and threw only 45 career passes. He then bounced around the league and other professional leagues for his career but clearly never reached the heights he did while playing for Washington.

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