Jayden Wayne, the Northwest's Next Big Thing, Makes the Recruiting Rounds
What is it about this place and edge rushers?
Joe Tryon, from suburban Hazen High School and the University of Washington and someone who was greatly under-estimated as a college football recruit, recently became a No. 1 NFL draft pick.
Sav'ell Smalls, a swashbuckling sort entering his second season with the Huskies after building a huge following while at Seattle's Kennedy Catholic and Garfield high schools, was a certifiable 5-star recruit.
J.T. Tuimoloau, currently a 5-star designee for suburban Eastside Catholic High School, is now visiting campuses coast to coast and choosing among Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon, USC and Washington.
Next up is Jayden Wayne.
That's Jayden, not John or Bruce, though he's becoming somewhat of a super hero in his own right.
Once recruiting restrictions came down on June 1, Wayne came up to Montlake for a visit.
At 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, the sophomore defender from Lincoln High School in Tacoma is considered one of the nation's top 2 or 3 players for the Class of 2023.
By all accounts, his UW inspection went well, according to his tweet.
It was even followed up by a little social-media interplay between Wayne and the Huskies' latest edge-rushing stalwart, Zion Tupuola-Fetui, who's recovering from a ruptured Achilles and surgery.
Compliments all around.
At the same, Wayne was off to Alabama a day later, headed for the Nick Saban football camp.
He has 26 scholarship offers and counting.
He has a busy schedule to keep.
Wayne comes from a high school that has sent a lot of talent to the Huskies, among them running back Donnie Moore, wide receiver Dave Williams, and defensive backs Ron Milus and Lawyer Milloy, to name just a few, with Wayne's teammate, tight end Chance Bogan, on the way.
The touted defender comes off a six-game spring season in which he accumulated 35 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 2 sacks, while catching 3 passes for 91 yards.
Wayne has a suffocating itinerary lined up as he continues down this road as one of the nation's most coveted players for 2023.
An elite Northwest edge rusher, no less.
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