Here's Most Competitive UW Position Battle That Lingers

Rub two nickels together, and you get Jeron Jones and Rahshawn Clark and change.

They're two guys who keep running into each other on the way to the University of Washington starting lineup, sharing in the Huskies' most competitive position battle that seems to linger week to week.

Jones, a freshman from Mission Viejo, California, started the season opener at nickelback against Washington State.

Clark, a second-year player from Seattle, reclaimed the nickel job for the second game of the season against Utah State.

Last weekend in a 48-16 win over Eastern Washington, they started side by side with Jones opening at cornerback for the injured Manny Karnley and Clark resuming his first-unit nickelback responsibilities.

This week, they're back at it, in competition again at nickel to see who starts Saturday night's game against Minnesota at Husky Stadium, with Karnley apparently healthy enough again to return to his cornerback spot.

"It's been competitive," UW defensive coordinator Ryan Walters said of the two younger defensive backs. "It's good to be able to rotate those guys, to have fresh legs out there."

Jeron Jones, left, and Rahshawn Clark (2) gather behind UW defensive coordinator Ryan Walters. | Dave Sizer phot

In their tale of the tape, the 6-foot, 200-pound Clark is the more experienced player with 15 game appearances and seven starts over two seasons.

Yet the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Jones started his very first game as a freshman cornerback, which not even recent UW secondary standouts and NFL-bound Trent McDuffie, Kyler Gordon and Elijah Molden, or even Clark, were able to do.

Clark tends to play a more physical brand of football.

Jones continues to show off his exceptional lateral quickness.

They even make mistakes almost on cue.

Against Eastern, Clark was flagged for pass interference in the opening quarter on a throw that fell incomplete while intended for wide receiver Jaxon Branch and the penalty moved the ball to the UW 48.

Two plays later into the second period, Jones drew his own PI call on a pass for tight end Oliver Lubekert that put the ball on the Husky 32 after the infraction was marched off.

Not to be outdone, Jones got penalized in the third quarter for pass interference a second time after getting too handsy with Lubekert again on a short pass that fell incomplete, setting up Eastern once more on the UW 32.

"Good learning experience for him," Walters of the twice-flagged newcomer. "Glad it happened this early in the season."

Each player emerged with 2 tackles in the most recent UW game while Jones also chipped in a second-quarter pass break-up on a ball intended for Eagles' wide receiver Jamai East.

The feverish competition continues between him and Clark.

"It's good to have two capable guys who can help us win," Walters said.

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