Inside The Huskies

DeGraaf, House Receive Freshman All-America Honors

The first-year Husky tight end was named to the first team, the LB to honorable mention.

Dan Raley

Decker DeGraaf just missed catching a touchdown pass at Penn State.
Decker DeGraaf just missed catching a touchdown pass at Penn State. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Reaffirming that the University of Washington football rebuild is making steady progress, College Football Network on Wednesday selected Husky tight end Decker DeGraaf to its Freshman All-American Team while choosing his teammate Khmori House as an honorable-mention pick at linebacker.

The 6-foot-3, 240-pound DeGraaf from San Dimas, California, burst onto the scene for the Huskies in the season opener against Weber State by catching a 33-yard touchdown pass on his very first college play.

A five-game starter while frequently used in the UW's two-tight end formations to open games, DeGraaf has 14 receptions for 199 yards and 3 scores heading to the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 against Louisville.

He narrowly missed catching another TD pass at Penn State when fellow freshman Demond Williams Jr. overthrew a wide-open DeGraaf in the second half of that game.

House, a 6-foot, 213-pounder from Pasadena, California, likewise proved to be a precocious player for the Huskies, played in all 12 games and started four times during the regular season.

He's piled up 35 tackles, including a late fourth-down stop at the 1 of USC's Woody Marks by breaking through to drop the running back for a three-yard loss to help preserve a 26-21 victory over the Trojans.

House was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week after he came up with an interception and 3 tackles in a 24-5 victory over Northwestern.

For those asking, Florida's D.J. Lagway was chosen as the Freshman All-America quarterback after throwing for 1,610 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushing for 97 yards this season, in comparison to the UW's Williams, a first-year player who has 570 yards and 4 TDs passing and 234 yards and a score as a rusher while playing in 12 games and starting once.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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