Jackson Return to Huskies Should Include Kickoff Returns

The UW senior is now almost exclusively known as a wide receiver and it doesn't seem to bother him.

No one questioned Kalen DeBoer or his University of Washington coaching staff over personnel matters because they always seemed to have all the right answers when moving players around.

Giles Jackson, however, might have been the exception.

For whatever reason, the DeBoer staff preferred to use Daniyel Ngata and Germie Bernard in the Huskies' primary kickoff-return role, not Jackson — a guy who has 97- and 95-yard runbacks for touchdowns from his time spent at Michigan.

Granted, the 5-foot-9, 178-pound senior from Antioch, California, played less than half of last season after breaking a thumb and then was held out to preserve another year of eligibility. 

Yet even when healthy and available, the previous UW staff didn't use Jackson once on kickoff returns in 2023 — the first time that's happened in his five-year college football career — and sent him out for just three punts.

The year before, Jackson was much busier for DeBoer's special teams, returning a team-high 15 kickoffs for the Huskies and 5 punts, with a long runback of 33 yards.

Giles Jackson touches down in the end zone after returning a kickoff 97 yards for a score against Maryland in 2019 :: Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports

Nothing against Ngata or the since departed Bernard, with the latter following DeBoer to Alabama, but it just seemed unfathomable to not use a breakaway threat with a proven track record for going the distance.

Jackson didn't just travel 90-plus yards to score against Maryland, he backed it up with second special-teams lightning bolt a year later against Rutgers.

The funny thing is, Jackson hasn't registered any outward complaints about his lack of Husky special-teams usage. He actually left Michigan after two seasons because he wanted to be known as more than just a return man.

At the UW, that's exactly what's happened to him in three seasons of answering to Jimmy Lake and DeBoer as coach.

Giles Jackson looks for an opening to score on a 95-yard kickoff return against Rutgers in 2020 :: Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports

He will come back for a fourth UW season to compete for a starting wide receiver job with Jedd Fisch's new coaching staff, having pulled in 74 passes for 830 yards and 3 scores in his two-school career.

Kickoff-wise, Jackson has piled up 71 returns for 1,730 yards and those 2 scores over five seasons. Add in 25 punt runbacks for 181 yards and no TDs.

Whether or not he's interested in kickoffs anymore, the least Jackson can do his mention this electrifying talent of his to Fisch and company and see what they think.

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