Inside The Huskies

Had He Entered Recent NFL Draft, Coleman Felt He Would Have Been Picked

The Husky running back continues to be a talking point for the upcoming college season.

Dan Raley

Jonah Coleman goes charging up the field during UW spring football.
Jonah Coleman goes charging up the field during UW spring football. / Skylar Lin Visuals

College football is, and always has been, a process. That's why more freshmen take a redshirt year and preserve eligibility than not. That's why often slender offensive lineman, in particular, have to live in the weight room for much of their first and even second years in a program rather than play immediately.

Unless you're Jonah Coleman.

While the University of Washington running back no doubt could have put his name in the recent NFL draft and heard some franchise call it out recently in Green Bay, the 5-foot-9, 223-pound Coleman chose to play a fourth college season, and a second with the Huskies.

Asked if he felt he had a chance to get drafted recently, the senior running back from Stockton, California, paused for a moment and the responded this way, "I think I'm good enough to get drafted, so I would say yes."

Coleman, however, is the smart one, choosing to wait another year to improve his draft standing. Rather than be a third-day pick, he's on a pace to make himself into a first- or second-day selection.

Coming off an 1,053-yard rushing season, which was highly admirable considering the patched-up offensive line he had to run behind, Coleman possibly is looking at something more in the 1,500-yard range.

Besides, he seems to be gaining more and more attention now in the run-up to the coming season, which is just over three months away.

Pro Football Focus over the weekend pointed out that Coleman is the nation's second-highest graded running back, with his 86.3 assessment second only to Notre Dame's Jeremiyah Love's 91.1.

An outfit named the Chicago Football Connection just pointed out that Coleman's 4.63 yards after contact over the last two seasons on 319 carries would have been second best among the rushers taken in the recent draft, trailing only Ashton Jeanty, who went from Boise State to the Las Vegas Raiders with the No. 6 overall pick.

Again, Coleman will just a little longer to cash in on pro money, which should be worth the wait.

To get the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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.

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