Inside The Huskies

After Glimpses of Him, Huskies Await Full Season of Ja'Lynn Polk

The former Texas Tech receiver was injured on his first play in Montlake.

Dan Raley

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Ja'Lynn Polk hasn't offered any public opinion about a suggested Pac-12 and Big 12 merger/alliance/first date, and he would know about these things.

He left one for the other.

In 2020, Polk sampled the Big 12 for 10 games at Texas Tech, long enough to start seven outings as a true freshman and catch 28 passes for 264 yards and a pair of scores.

He found the end zone with a 60-yard catch against TCU and a 10-yarder against Oklahoma. 

Yet the Texas native didn't like the Big 12 well enough to stick around and try to dominate it.

Polk entered the transfer portal and signed on with the University of Washington — and eerily became the first ominous sign of unwieldy misfortune to come for a Husky team that would have more than its share.

On the first play of last year's season opener against Montana, Polk caught a pass over the middle for a 13-yard gain and was hit high and low. He stayed in for a few more plays though he shouldn't have.

"I knew something was wrong but I didn't want to believe it," he said.

Before the day was done, Polk was pulled from the game, taken across the street from Husky Stadium to the UW Medical Center and subjected to surgery to repair a broken collarbone. He missed the next nine football games. Yet he wasn't finished with the season.

Polk returned for games against Colorado and Washington State, caught four passes and zipped to the end zone on a 55-yarder against the Buffaloes, offering the UW an overdue preview of what's possible with him on the field.

Ja'Lynn Polk goes 60 yards to score against TCU.
Ja'Lynn Polk went 60 yards against TCU to score in 2020 / USA TODAY Sports

With fall camp opening on Aug. 4, we're looking at each starting position and now turning to the three No. 1 wide receivers pegged for Kalen DeBoer's up-tempo offense, and creating a depth chart.

Husky pass-catchers Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Polk were singled out almost immediately by the coaching staff as playmakers who best fit DeBoer's pass-first attack. 

While some might automatically assume that Polk will be the third option to Odunze and McMillan, that's not a given. He might be better than that.

Polk caught a career 131 passes for 2,412 yards and 24 scores for an East Texas high school, Lufkin, that previously produced future NFL receivers in Dez Bryant and Keke Coulee.

Then there's the matter of who's the deep threat on this UW team. McMillan's longest Husky touchdown catch has covered 33 yards, with Odunze's best going 26. Polk, with 55- and 60-yard strikes at his two schools, currently holds the edge. 

Whether or not he unseats the other two for the most catches or scores, Polk still has four seasons of eligibility remaining because of his collarbone injury and pandemic allowances. He likely will be the Huskies' No. 1 passing target sometime before he leaves Seattle.

Whether that's in the Pac-12 or a reconfigured conference, nobody knows.

UW THIRD WR DEPTH

1) Ja'Lynn Polk, 6-2, 193, R-Fresh., Lufkin, Texas

2) Taj Davis, 6-2, 188, Soph., Upland, Calif. 

3) Will Nixon, 5-11, 194, R-Fresh., Waco, Texas

Conclusion: A full season of Polk in DeBoer's offense could be fun to watch, especially if teams first try to take away Odunze and McMillan. Polk has plus speed and height, and, of course, collarbone toughness. We've lumped him here ahead of Taj Davis, who started six times last season largely in Polk's absence, and caught 26 passes for 329 yards and a TD. He'll play a lot. Add to them Will Nixon, a Nebraska transfer who caught a couple balls for the Cornhuskers while dealing with injuries. Nixon comes advertised as a receiver/running back and it will be curious to see if plays both positions.

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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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