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Husky Dynamic Duo Ranks Among Nation's Top WR Combos

Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan together on the flanks should go far.
Dan Raley|
Husky Dynamic Duo Ranks Among Nation's Top WR Combos
Husky Dynamic Duo Ranks Among Nation's Top WR Combos

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Washington Huskies

Meeting with Seattle media for the first time this past spring, Ryan Grubb, the new University of Washington offensive coordinator, was asked right off which players that were inherited would best fit the wide-open system about to be installed.

He didn't have to think about it. He didn't hesitate with his answer. He didn't mention a quarterback or a running back either.

"Jalen McMillan and Rome Odunze, obviously," Grubb said of the UW's top returning wide receivers. "[Ja'Lynn] Polk had limited reps, but saw a lot of promise. ... Those three guys I mentioned, for sure, match our system."

While Polk missed most of the season after suffering a chest injury in the opener against Montana and having surgery, Odunze and McMillan might have been the most wasted members of the Huskies' ill-fated attack put together by eventually fired offensive coordinator John Donovan.

In fact, the UW should consider itself lucky one or both of those receivers — who caught a modest 41 and 39 passes, respectively — didn't enter the transfer portal and leave in search of an offense that would appreciate them more.

Their reputation is such that tireless list-maker Big Game Boomer ranks this Husky duo as the 19th-best receiving pair in the nation, second in the Pac-12 only to short-timer USC, which has Jordan Addison and Gary Bryant Jr. slotted seventh.

Interestingly enough, Grubb's former wide receivers, Fresno State's Jalen Cropper and Josh Kelly, come in ninth in this collection of pass-catching talent.

With the promise of a wide-open spread offense, Odunze and McMillan should more than double their reception totals this coming season, ringing up numbers that better describe their talent levels.

Grubb, for one, feels fortunate that he and head coach Kalen DeBoer have receivers of this promise available for use. That hasn't always been the case. 

"It kind of starts with do you have the right guys or the ability to do that, to stretch a defense vertically," Grubb said. "I can think of situations in the past where Kalen and I went into things where we didn't have those kinds of players."

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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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