UW's Giles Jackson Is Resource Few Pac-12 Teams Have
Entering his second season at the University of Washington, wide receiver and kick returner Giles Jackson is like a Ferrari idling outside Husky Stadium.
The engine is humming, with someone occasionally stepping on the gas pedal to rev it just to hear it turn over.
After transferring in from the University of Michigan a year ago, Jackson turned out to be another one of those nagging little misappropriations of the Lake era.
Jimmy and his staff simply couldn't figure out how to take full advantage of this speedster with proven Big Ten credentials. They put the ball in his hands early on and let him run it, catch it and return it, and then forgot about him. They couldn't unleash this well-traveled Californian and get any instant points.
Meantime, new Husky coach Kalen DeBoer and his guys assumed control, took one look at Jackson and have been salivating ever since at the prospect of getting him out in the open field.
Every which way they can.
"He's really impressed me through workouts with some of his versatility and his ability to change directions," offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said.
The Huskies talk about getting him the ball using different handoffs, putting him in the slot and throwing the ball to him frequently — and, of course, have Jackson the kick returner streak to the end zone from long distance.
Jackson is a proven talent with 95- and 97-yard kickoff returns for touchdowns for Michigan. Yet once in Seattle, he traveled no farther than 43 yards with a kickoff return and just 21 on his longest punt return while using Husky blocking schemes.
He was a resource definitely wasted. Consider how conference teams have someone like him.
TD KICKOFF RETURNS
Only four current Pac-12 players have scored on kickoff runbacks:
UCLA's Kazmeir Allen (100 yards, against USC, 2020)
Arizona State's DJ Taylor (100 yards, Arizona, 2020)
Colorado's Nikko Reed (100 yards, Utah, 2021)
UW's Giles Jackson (95 yards, Rutgers, 2020, and 97 yards, Maryland, 2019, for Michigan)
TD PUNT RETURNS
Just two returning Pac-12 players have punt-return TDs on their ledger:
UCLA's Kyle Philips, twice (82 yards, Colorado, 2021, and 69 yards, WSU, 2019)
USC transfer Brenden Rice (81 yards, Utah, 2020, for Colorado)
It's been a while for the UW to find the end zone on a kick return. The Huskies haven't scored on a punt runback since 2019, when Aaron Fuller went 88 yards against BYU, and on a kickoff return since 2016, when John Ross dashed 92 yards against Rutgers.
Returns for points used to be a UW specialty, a distinct advantage, in fact, with Dante Pettis (2014-17) setting an NCAA record with 9 touchdowns on punt returns and John Ross (2013-16) taking 4 kickoffs all the way back in their careers.
Both of those guys were wide receivers, too, same as Jackson. They did considerable damage in a lot of ways.
During spring ball, DeBoer and his coaches took great pains to praise Jackson and his ability. All of them continuously used the word "versatile" to describe him. You could almost see them working overtime to figure out how many ways they can get him loose.
"You know, I came in thinking that maybe he was more of a kick-returner guy," Grubb said of the multi-use player, "but I've been very impressed with what I've seen of him so far."
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