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UW's McMillan, Odunze Earn Biletnikoff Watch List Attention

The Huskies have not won this award in its three decades.
Dan Raley|
UW's McMillan, Odunze Earn Biletnikoff Watch List Attention
UW's McMillan, Odunze Earn Biletnikoff Watch List Attention

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Washington Huskies

Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan literally run in a lot of the same circles these days. 

Flanked outside for opposing secondaries to worry about. Running deep for Michael Penix Jr. to choose from. Turning up on the same award lists for voters to decide.

On Monday, this pair of dazzling University of Washington receivers were among 49 college players named to the watch list of the Biletnikoff Award given to the nation's top pass-catcher.

No Husky has won this individual reward, which is in its 30th year and was named for former Florida State University and Oakland Raiders receiver Fred Biletnikoff.

McMillan, a 6-foot-1, 192-pound junior from Fresno, California, comes off a season in which he finished with a UW-leading 79 receptions for 1,098 yards and 9 touchdowns.

Odunze, a 6-foot-3, 21-pound junior from Las Vegas, will try to better a 75-catch, 1,145-yard and 7-TD performance in 2022.

Ironically, the Pac-12, which is on borrowed time, provides 10 of the watch-list candidates, while the Big Ten, the Huskies and Oregon's new home, offers just five candidates.

The conference hasn't had a Biletnikoff winner since 2013, when Oregon State's Brandin Cooks  topped the field, one of two Beavers to claim the reward. OSU's Mike Haas in 2005 was the other.

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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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