Husky Roster Review: Polk Provides More Than Support Role

The mistake, when scouting the University of Washington football team, is to buy into the label that Ja'Lynn Polk merely is the Huskies' No. 3 receiver.

The stats might indicate that, but ask Michigan State about the guy who shredded its secondary for three touchdown catches last September in Husky Stadium.

While Taj Davis' game-tying, 62-yard scoring catch in Eugene forever will live in infamy, quiz Oregon about the guy who went 76 yards against it the quarter before.

Better yet, press the long-departed Jimmy Lake about Ja'Lynn Polk.

The coach and the receiver had maybe three plays together, with Polk's absence just one of the many reasons, but still an important one, for why Lake's Husky coaching career didn't last longer.

"All love to coach Lake for allowing me to come here and play at this university," said the ever respectful Polk, who transferred in from Texas Tech in 2021. "I appreciate the opportunity."

His reception totals might put him at No. 3 behind teammates Jalen McMillan and Rome Odunze, and his jersey number says 2, but he remains No. 1 among those who helped the Kalen DeBoer coaching tenure get off the ground.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Polk was the first high-profile Husky player to publicly commit on social media to the new staff, urging others to join him.

"We trusted everything he had," the receiver said of DeBoer, "and here we are."

Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Polk is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, where we sum up their spring football performances and surmise what might come next for them.

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One thing you can say about Polk is this: he clearly is a deceptive player.

While it seems as if he's been around Montlake forever after playing in the Big 12, he was named as a third-team Freshman All-America recipient last season by College Football News.

Huh?

In 2020, he played 10 games for Texas Tech, starting seven, but the pandemic made that a freebie.

The next season, Polk broke his collarbone on the first offensive play of the Montana opener, stayed on the field for a couple more snaps knowing something was wrong, had surgery that day and missed nine games before returning for the final two outings.

Call that a redshirt season.

And, when he came back, Lake was long gone, fired for multiple reasons.

A year ago as a third-year freshman for the new staff, Polk finally got fully charged for his college service after catching 41 passes for 694 yards and 6 scores.

Ja'Lynn Polk hails from Lufkin High in east Texas, a school known for producing elite wide receivers who played in the NFL such as Dez Bryant and Keke Coutee.

A talented receiver, Ja'Lynn Polk can make every difficult catch, come up with the ball in traffic and go deep whenever needed by the Huskies.

Ja'Lynn Polk gets ready to run in a spring practice drill held inside Husky Stadium, as his fellow UW wide receivers line up behind him.

Ja'Lynn Polk is part of an overly talented group of receivers, among them Jalen McMillan (11), Giles Jackson (0) and Rome Odunze (1).

Ja'Lynn Polk prepares to put a move on fellow UW wide receiver Cam Sirmon during this spring football practice drill in Husky Stadium.

Ja'Lynn Polk chats up fellow wide receiver Germie Bernard, who transferred in this spring from Michigan State, while Rome Odunze hangs with them.

Receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard urges Ja'Lynn Polk to go as hard as he can during this footwork drill in spring practice in Husky Stadium.

Ja'Lynn Polk got a free season at Texas Tech because of the pandemic, played in just three games and redshirted his first year at the UW before getting in a full season ... and finally becoming a football sophomore.

Ja'Lynn Polk was at his best against Michigan State last fall, catching 6 passes for 153 yards and 3 touchdowns on receptions of 8, 17 and 53 yards in a 39-28 victory.

As a freshman in 2020, Ja'Lynn Polk played for Texas Tech and went 60 yards with this lightning-strike reception to score against TCU.

He remains as elusive as any receiver on this Husky team after going 53 yards to score against Michigan State last fall, 55 against Colorado in 2021 with a new collarbone, 60 against TCU for Texas Tech in 2020 and those 76 momentum-changing yards against the Ducks last November.

This past spring, Polk acted like a No. 1 receiver by standing in front of his teammates and offering motivational messages.

Numbers-wise, he'll likely have to wait until Odunze and McMillan move on without him before he owns the stat column, as well.

Unless he chooses to leave early for the NFL, Husky fans are probably looking at their future No. 1 receiver maybe in 2024.

JA'LYNN POLK FILE

Service: Polk has appeared in a combined 26 games and started 17 for the UW and Tech, with 16 outings and 10 game-opening assignments coming with the Huskies.

Stats: The Lufkin, Texas, product has 72 receptions for 1,072 yards and 9 touchdowns in his two college stops, with 46 catches for 808 yards and 7 scores in Montlake.

Role: Polk can be the UW's leading target whenever he needs to be. Teams simply can't ignore him in order to concentrate on Odunze and McMillan or, as Michigan State found out, or he'll hurt them.

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