Inside The Huskies

Epperson Latest to Leave UW Football Roster

The linebacker after his first season was well down the depth chart.
Dan Raley|
Jonathan Epperson Jr. got his college career launched in UW spring ball.
Jonathan Epperson Jr. got his college career launched in UW spring ball. | Skylar Lin Visuals

The linebacker room at the University of Washington just got a little too crowded for everyone's liking.

So top heavy with NFL prospects and highly experienced players that go at least four deep, redshirt freshman Jonathan Epperson Jr. revealed his plans to enter the transfer portal, according to CBS Sports.

The 6-foot, 225-pound Epperson, who appeared only in the LA Bowl as a first-year player while preserving his eligibility, will follow the same route as junior Deven Bryant, who's now at USC after starting 10 games for the Huskies this past fall but feeling squeezed.

Epperson from Auburn Riverside High School in Seattle's suburbs arrived with fellow linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, but found his progression much slower than the one-time 4-star recruit who played right away and finsihed the season in the starting lineup.

Epperson simply found himself well behind senior Jacob Manu, juniors Xe'ree Alexander and Budda Al-Uqdah and Rainey-Sale in the UW second-row hierarchy and will look to relocate.

It could have been two seasons before he played in a meaningful manner.

Jonathan Epperson and Griffin Miller tangle in a linebacker drill.
Jonathan Epperson and Griffin Miller tangle in a linebacker drill. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Besides getting a few snaps against Boise State, Epperson was named as the Huskies' Scout Team most valuable player when the season ended, so he had a few moments of progress.

It certainly wasn't for lack of a connection with Huskies linebacker coach Brian Odom.

The two had a connection going back to Epperson's recruitment when Odom was at USC and the linebacker was a three-time, first-team All-North Puget Sound League selection and a three-time team captain.

"He was a tremendous high school football player," Odom said. "I was really, really happy to see he was part of the team when I got hired. I loved his tape in high school. I loved being able to recruit him back then. Having a chance to coach him, and be what he can be, I'm excited about that."

However, patience is not part of the college football landscape anymore and Epperson will now join 17 other Huskies in the transfer portal, seeing if he spur up some interest over the next week.

IN CASE YOU MISSED:

Published
Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

Home/Football