Inside The Huskies

Jayvon Parker Joins His Twin In the Transfer Portal

The defensive tackle played in 26 Husky games before injuries took their toll.
Dan Raley|
UW defensive tackle Jayvon Parker celebrates an Apple Cup moment.
UW defensive tackle Jayvon Parker celebrates an Apple Cup moment. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Jayvon Parker was on the verge of greatness for the University of Washington football team, of becoming a starter, a playmaker, someone who would control the line of scrimmage on the defensive side for the Huskies

And then his Achilles tendon ripped on him at Rutgers, ruining what had been his finest UW performance to date and for all intents and purposes ending his Husky career right then and there.

That was 22 games and 17 months ago, and the 6-foot-3, 330-pound defensive tackle never really recovered, never was the same again.

He drew only three more snaps thereafter, playing alongside his twin brother Armon at Michigan in October in what was a symbolic gesture more than anything, figuring he wouldn't damage himself in the short stint.

So on Saturday, Jayvon Parker revealed he has entered the transfer portal, one day after his sibling did the same, with each twin no doubt tired of being continually injured in Montlake and maybe thinking somewhere else might be healthier.

Of these twins from Detroit, Jayvon was the one who played right away as a true freshman while his brother recovered from knee surgery suffered playing pick-up basketball before they reported to the UW.

Jayvon appeared in eight games during that 2022 season, with one of his appearances coming against a Jedd Fisch-coached Arizona team that lost 49-39 at Husky Stadium. He had a sack against Washington State in the Apple Cup and pulled steady shifts against Texas in the Alamo Bowl.

In 2023, he played in 13 of the 15 outings as a reserve, giving the Huskies a steady game-day presence on the way to the CFP national championship game while his brother continued to battle injuries.

On September 27, 2024, Jayvon was enjoying his finest performance at Rutgers, coming up with a career-best 5 tackles in just over three quarters, when he tore his Achilles and was done.

He was never better for the UW than that day with Pro Football Focus assigning him an 88.2 grade from that game that singled him out as having the third-best defensive tackle performance nationwide that weekend.

This past season, Jayvon battled all season to try and come back, only to suffer another injury that negated everything. Both Parker brothers together were injured and out for the final three games, including the LA Bowl.

Jayvon finished his UW career with 19 tackles, including 2.5 sacks, appearing in 26 games.

Armon and Jayvon Parker were at the 2024 Sun Bowl together, though they were injured and didn't play.
Armon and Jayvon Parker were at the 2024 Sun Bowl together, though they were injured and didn't play. | UW

Jayvon was said to be the strongest Husky player on the team, yet it's unclear what his repeated injuries might have done to his playmaking ability.

It will be interesting to see where the Parkers end up and if they play somewhere together or go their separate ways.

The brothers are the 16th and 17th Huskies to enter the transfer portal.

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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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