Jake Locker and the Heisman Hype

Jake Locker was first recruited by Tyrone Willingham in 2006 when he was a 4 star quarterback coming out of Ferndale High School.

Locker had the ability to be one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. Locker had received scholarship offers from Michigan, USC and California but decided to play for the University of Washington Huskies. 

Good choice?

The verdict is still up in the air and could be decided this year. Lockers freshman year was decent for a freshman. Locker would make exciting runs that made him look like the best athlete on the field.

The problem was that he completed only 47.3% of his passes and threw more interceptions than touchdowns.

So even if he was the greatest athlete on the field he had trouble passing the ball. Going into his sophomore year it was on Lockers shoulders to be a more prolific passer.

The season started off well with a good game against Oregon and a almost near win against BYU. 

Only problem was the injury bug caught up with Locker. He broke his thumb in the 4th game of the season against Stanford. His season was done. 

His junior year Tyrone Willingham was fired and Steve Sarkisian was hired to restore the old glory to the Huskies program. Sarkisian had groomed many USC quarterbacks in earlier years such as Carson Palmer, Matt Leinhart and Mark Sanchez. Locker was to be his next project.

The Sarkisian-Locker era had started against LSU at Husky Stadium. Locker completed 25-45 passes for 321 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. The Huskies barely lost and Locker looked like a brand new quarterback. 

Under the new Locker and Sarkisian's new coaching the Huskies improved from a 0-12 record to a 5-7 record with notable wins against California, Arizona and a monumental upset against USC. By the end of the year Locker was Todd McShay's and Mel Kipers first pick in their mock drafts.

Locker who was junior had a decision: go to the NFL and make millions or stay at the University of Washington. He decided to stay at the University of Washington and improve under the guidance of Sarkisian. 

Locker wants to live up to his potential and his teams potential. He wants to lead them to a season where the Huskies can win a bowl game and start up a new Huskies tradition. 

Now in his senior year, Locker is a early Heisman favorite. But putting up last years number won't even get him close to winning the Heisman. Fortunately under Sarkisians coaching Locker has room to improve and be a winner. 

So does Jake Locker have the skills to win the Heisman, for sure yes. Does he have the stats to win it, we won't know yet but under Sarkisians coaching he should only improve and be a serious consideration to win the Heisman. 

And if Locker doesn't win the Heisman he came back to help the Huskies program instead of taking millions of dollars in the NFL, which in my mind and probably most Husky fans minds is bigger than winning the Heisman any day.