Washington Football: How Has Huskies QB Jake Locker's Play Improved

The Washington Huskies are having a worse than expected start to the 2010 season (3-3 overall, 2-1 in conference), with disappointing losses against Brigham Young (2-5 overall) and Arizona State (2-3).

Last year, the Huskies finished 5-7 overall and 4-5 in conference. However, the Huskies played well under first year head coach Steve Sarkisian. They had big wins over the Southern Cal Trojans and Arizona Wildcats in 2009.

They also had a star in quarterback Jake Locker. Locker was deemed by many analyst as the best quarterback in college football last season, ahead of players like Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow and Jimmy Clausen.

Locker had a very impressive season in 2009. He threw for 2800 yards, had a completion percentage of 58.2, threw 21 touchdowns against just 11 interceptions and had a QB Rating of 129.75.

Bradford, McCoy, Tebow and Clausen all had better QB Ratings in 2009, but it was the intangibles that Locker possessed that made him seem like a better prospect.

He can make all the throws that are expected of a good quarterback. He is accurate and he can hit the long ball. Not only is his arm spectacular, but Locker has shown mobility running with the football.

In 2009, he rushed for 388 yards and seven touchdowns,with a long of 56 yards. So far this season, Locker is already at 276 yards and three touchdowns through six games.

Even with Washington's lackluster record so far, Locker has had only one bad game (against No. 8 Nebraska, which resulted in a 56-21 loss). Locker went 4-20 for 71 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions.

However, in every other game this season, Locker has thrown for over 200 yards with at least one touchdown.

Locker's best game came against the USC Trojans, where he threw and rushed for season highs of 310 and 110 yards, respectively.

In the Huskies last game, Locker also had a great performance, getting 286 yards through the air with a season high five touchdowns.

Halfway through the 2010 season, Locker has 1431 yards, a 56.2 completion percentage, 13 touchdowns and four interceptions, for a QB Rating of 132.56.

His numbers are up across the board from last year, except for completion percentage. But, there are some tough match-ups on the horizon.

In their next three games, they face No. 18 Arizona, No. 12 Stanford and No. 2 Oregon, with only the game against Stanford being at home.

This will be a true test of Jake Locker's improvement since 2009. He can make all the analysts who said he was the best quarterback look smart with great games against those three teams.

How great Locker will be is up to him and so far it looks like he will only get better.

Follow Brandon on Twitter: @jeffeb91 

Follow Brandon on Tumblr: http://i-w-r-i-t-e.tumblr.com/