Oregon 6A State Runner-up Quarterback Will Walk On at UW
Quarterback Jackson Jones, who guided Tualatin High School to the Oregon 6A state championship game, will join the University of Washington football team as a walk-on player, a decision he posted on Thursday.
A week earlier, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Jones had agreed to become a non-scholarship player for Jackson State and its celebrity head coach Deion Sanders in Jackson, Mississippi, but he changed his mind.
As with any walk-on, Jones will face a significant challenge in simply getting on the field on game day let alone pulling meaningful practice snaps in Seattle.
Coach Kalen DeBoer has three scholarship quarterbacks who each have started college games and have multiple seasons of eligibility remaining.
DeBoer and his staff recently gave nearly all spring scrimmage snaps to Indiana transfer and four-year starter Michael Penix Jr., returning UW two-year starter Dylan Morris and touted redshirt freshman Sam Huard, who started last season's Apple Cup. These guys have two, three and four seasons of eligibility left, respectively.
The Huskies also have four walk-on quarterbacks on the roster in Teddy Purcell, Tyson Lang, Andrew Sirmon and Jake Kern, all redshirt freshmen. Each was relegated to support roles in practice, such as helping the defense run through its drills.
While leading Tualatin to a 12-2 record last season, Jones had his moments. He threw for 342 yards and 4 touchdowns in the Timberwolves' 49-14 victory over West Linn and 323 yards and 3 scores in a 44-33 win over California's Menlo-Atherton in a football game held the Bay Area.
However, Jones suffered a shoulder injury that kept him out of a couple of games at midseason and he later shared snaps with a run-oriented quarterback during Tualatin's postseason run.
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