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Inside The Huskies

McMillan Leaves No Suspense, Declares for NFL Draft Entry

The junior joins fellow Husky wide receiver Ja'Lynn Polk as pro-bound players.
Dan Raley|
McMillan Leaves No Suspense, Declares for NFL Draft Entry
McMillan Leaves No Suspense, Declares for NFL Draft Entry

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Washington Huskies

Jalen McMillan became the second of the University of Washington's gifted receiving trio to enter the NFL draft, joining Ja'Lynn Polk on Wednesday, which was a busy day for Husky roster changes.

McMillan leaves for the pros after a trying yet satisfying season, missing much of it with an injured knee before returning in time for the postseason games.

In fact, the 6-foot-1, 192-pound junior from Fresno, California, scored the Huskies' only touchdown against Michigan on Monday night on a 3-yard scoring toss from Michael Penix Jr. in the second quarter of a 34-13 loss.

Also on Wednesday, junior offensive tackle Troy Fautanu declared he would enter the NFL draft, while sophomore cornerback Jaivion Green and redshirt freshman walk-on linebacker Austin Harnetiaux entered the transfer portal.

Of the Huskies' starting wide receivers, only junior Rome Odunze hasn't made his departure announcement official, but it's coming. 

In his abbreviated season, McMillan still caught 45 passes for 599 yards and 5 touchdowns, giving him career totals of 164 for 2,143 yards and 17 touchdowns.

In mid-December, the receiver had acknowledged he was undecided on whether to return for the 2024 season or not to solidify his NFL prospects.

"It depends on how I do with these next two games," McMillan said at the time. "I think it's a good situation if I stay or if I leave."

He came to the UW in the same class with Odunze and they seemed to mirror each other in talent and accomplishments. 

Each started one time as freshmen in 2020 against Stanford, when COVID wiped out the veteran receiving corps.

 McMillan and Odunze were both injured to begin the 2021 season, missing multiple games.

In 2022, McMillan led the Huskies in receiving with 79 catches, then the fourth most in school history, while Odunze backed him with 75 receptions.

Now each should be headed for long NFL careers, with McMillan getting at least a day or two head start on his pass-catching buddy.  

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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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