Husky Roster Review: Visiting the Corner of First and Jackson
In this story:
The cornerback room for the University of Washington football team met a fate like so many of those outdated Seattle homes from Queen Anne to Montlake — it got demolished and underwent a massive rebuild.
Most players from last season either graduated, changed positions, transferred or went into a lengthy injury recovery. Six new corners ultimately will arrive from Power 5, junior college and high school teams.
It was like someone put a blindfold on UW cornerbacks coach Juice Brown, walked him up to the old address and recorded his utter disbelief as he looked over the extensive remodel and was brought to tears.
Yet one fixture wouldn't come out, wouldn't budge and was left alone, and the Huskies decided it was best to build around him: Elijah Jackson.
The 6-foot-1, 191-pound sophomore from Carson, California, showed up for spring football practice as healthy as he's been in some time, claimed a starting job opposite Oklahoma State transfer Jabbar Muhammad and ended his April exploits by intercepting a Michael Penix Jr. pass in the final scrimmage. Over 15 practices, he was one of the breakout players.
"We've been really impressed with him," UW coach Kalen DeBoer said.
Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Jackson, who wears No. 25 all to himself, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.
JACKSON STREET STATION
Jackson is the last focus cornerback remnant of the Jimmy Lake era, someone who was pursued aggressively by the defensive-backs guru before Husky coach Chris Petersen stepped down and made Jimmy the short-term boss.
The Southern California native remains as one of just two veteran corners still on the Husky roster, joined by Davon Banks, who was discovered by accident at an offseason camp by former UW defensive-backs coach Will Harris, who, of course, was one of Lake's guys.
Jackson and Banks, that's it. Banks, for that matter, was held out of all spring ball contact drills as he convalesces from a season-ending injury. Jacobe Covington transferred to USC, Zakhari Spears to Connecticut. Jordan Perryman is an NFL free agent. Mishael Powell now plays Husky hybrid.
Enter Oklahoma State's Muhammad and Oregon's Darren Barkins, JC transfer Thaddeus Dixon, and high school signees Caleb Presley, Curley Reed and Leroy Bryant.
And in the middle of this Husky Grand Central Station cornerback hustle and bustle is Jackson.
"I definitely look at myself as the old guy now," Jackson said. "I've been here the longest in the corner room."
He brings some of those extraordinary physical traits that past UW cornerbacks possessed, with his long, thin frame reminding some of Kevin King. This spring, Jackson turned in a 40-inch vertical leap in testing and lamented how it once was 43 inches before he put on 10 pounds of additional football weight.
Jackson was injured when last season began and the new coaching staff wasn't able to put him on the field until the fourth game against Stanford. He later started twice, against the Arizona schools. He ended up playing in seven outings, including the Alamo Bowl against Texas, and finished up strong.
This spring, the Huskies let play him exclusively with the No. 1 defense, watched him stay healthy and play well at all times, and everyone came away encouraged by what they saw.
"He's got length, he's got athleticism," DeBoer said of Jackson. "That's super exciting."
So the UW cornerback position will be a partial rather than a total remodel after all, and no one's complaining.
ELIJAH JACKSON FILE
Service: He's appeared in 10 Husky games, seven this past season. Jimmy Lake was only able to get him on the field twice in 2021 before he was fired and interim coach Bob Gregory used Jackson just once that season, thus preserving a redshirt year. Jackson earned a pandemic freebie before that. The DeBoer staff expects to have him on the field a lot over the next three seasons.
Stats: Jackson picked up 10 tackles and forced a fumble last season in his seven outings. Like most everyone in the secondary, he's looking for his first game-day Husky interception.
Role: Jackson is a starter entering fall camp, a situation enhanced by the fact he stayed healthy and played well throughout spring ball.
Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.
Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.
Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12
Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley3
Have a question, direct message me on Facebook or Twitter.
