Husky Roster Review: Healthy Armon Parker Holds Family Reunion

When the Alamo Bowl ended in San Antonio, University of Washington football players joined in an on-field celebration in which they held up trophies, posed for photos and hugged their moms following a 27-20 victory over the Texas Longhorns.

Meantime, freshman defensive tackle Armon Parker sort of shuffled aimlessly, all alone, through the sea of balloons unleashed inside the Alamodome, looking a little detached from it all.

The big defensive tackle from Detroit, part of a set of football-playing twins for the Huskies, couldn't be faulted for feeling a little on the outside. He missed the entire football season with a knee injury suffered at home while playing pick-up basketball.

That was December. However, in March and April, Armon Parker made his long-overdue UW debut during spring football practice and, by all accounts, it went well.

This Parker looked fully involved, more often than not lined up alongside his brother Jayvon, who had experienced a breakthrough season without him, playing in eight games.

"It went pretty good," Armon Parker said of spring ball. "Like It had some ups and downs and things like that. Like I had to get my wind up early. At the beginning of spring, I had to catch my breath. But now, I'm feeling way much better."

Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, this Parker, who wears No. 95 on defense, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.

Armon Parker wanders through the Huskies' Alamo Bowl celebration, still recovering from a knee injury.

Armon and Jayvon head to the Husky locker room following UW spring practice.

Armon Parker holds up a defender, while brother Jayvon works on a defensive-tackle stunt.

The Parker brothers drop down in stances, lining up alongside each other during spring ball.

Armon Parker (95) and twin Jayvon (94) get in a spring run with the departed Siaosi Finau (93) and Bralen Tice (8).

Armon and Jayvon Parker battle each other during spring football practice in Dempsey Indoor.

After a year in recovery from a knee injury, Armon Parker shares in the post-spring celebration with Jalen McMillan (11) and Ryan Cade (87).

Armon Parker calls his spring practice experience a success as he gets back into football shape following his knee injury.

These Parkers represent a typical Kalen DeBoer recruiting story. Coming out of Michigan's largest city, they weren't heavily recruited by Power 5 schools, possibly because they were determined to go as a package deal and programs at that level aren't necessarily willing to get pushed into that bulk arrangement.

Not the Huskies. They welcomed the twins with open arms and Jayvon showed up last fall physical enough to play right away while Armon spent time in the training room and dealt with his knee injury.

The Parkers sort of got ignored in recruiting, at least by Big Ten schools, by changing high schools as seniors and by pandemic limitations. The UW dug deep and found them.

"We got some guys who know that area well — Courtney obviously knows that area," said DeBoer, referring to recruiting coordinator Courtney Morgan, who was hired away from the University of Michigan.

At 6-foot-3, Armon Parker is just as tall as his brother, but he's a dozen pounds heavier at 316 pounds. He might be a little quicker than Jayvon, too, according to co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell, and the staff was notably pleased with the accelerated progress of the healthy Parker.

"They're both darn near identical," Morrell said. "We felt that Armon might be a half step faster than Jayvon. That's why we're so excited about them."

The Parkers are a feel-good UW football story. Somewhat overlooked as recruits, they're physically and mentally ready to play as Huskies, at least when healthy, needing no long, drawn-out development.

Loyal to each other, they bring plenty of personality to the UW defense and good feelings to their demanding position. They're finally together again.

"I'm so happy about that," Armon Parker said. "If me and my brother are on the field together, we can compete with each other so we can get back to the quarterback together — so we can cheer each other on being on the field together."

ARMON PARKER FILE

Service: Armon now has 15 spring practices under his belt after missing last season with an injury. He's still eight UW games behind his brother Jayvon.

Stats: He has no stats, which should change this season.

Role: Even running No. 3 behind four veterans, Armon and Jayvon are big enough and powerful enough that both will play this season, and play together.

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