Inside The Huskies

Huskies Extend Scholarship Offer to Versatile Lynden Tight End

Kade Eldridge hails from same high school that sent Cole Bajema to UW basketball team.
Dan Raley|
Huskies Extend Scholarship Offer to Versatile Lynden Tight End
Huskies Extend Scholarship Offer to Versatile Lynden Tight End

In this story:

Washington Huskies

On a football recruiting trip this weekend to Michigan, Kade Eldridge still found time on Friday night to post his latest scholarship offer.

Three time zones away, he received it from the University of Washington, one of his home state schools.

Eldridge hails from Lynden Christian High School in rural Lynden, Washington, not far from the Canadian border -- and not exactly a hotbed for unearthing Power 5 football prospects.

In fact, Lynden Christian is a tiny 1A school that tends to favor basketball, most recently sending 6-foot-7 swingman Cole Bajema first to Michigan and then to the UW, where he is now.

Yet Eldridge is the exception to the geographical limitations and sporting preferences presented by his hometown.

He's a 6-foot-5, 240-pound junior and member of the Class of 2023 who recruiting analysts list as a tight end or a defensive end.

There's a lot more to Eldridge's football skill set than simply blocking or rushing off the edge, which makes him an intriguing recruit.

In a bind because of a backfield injury during the season, Lynden Christian had no qualms about moving Eldridge to starting running back.

Now no major-college football program is going to put him at running back, but the fact he could do it says a lot about his athleticism.

In his first outing, the hulking Eldridge crashed through the line over and over for 142 yards rushing on 12 carries against Granite Falls in a state playoff game in Bellingham, Washington. He ran for three first-half touchdowns of 24, 44 and 57 yards.

Over the course of the season, he finished with a combined 794 yards rushing and receiving and scored 11 times. He averaged 8.3 yards per carry and 10.6 yards per reception for a 7-3 team.

While the Huskies appear to want him as a tight end, Eldridge also plays defense. He came up with 62.5 tackles, including 15 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. He also forced a pair of fumbles. 

He currently holds scholarship offers from USC, Washington State, Oregon State, Colorado State, Nevada and the Huskies. 

And Michigan likely didn't invite him back to Ann Arbor to send him home without a Wolverines offer.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Husky FanNation stories as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Husky FanNation on Facebook by searching: Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated

Follow Dan Raley of Husky FanNation on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven

Published
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.

Home/Recruiting