Jayvon Parker Had His Best and Worst Day at Rutgers

The Husky defensive tackle graded out high, suffered season-ending injury.

Huskies defensive lineman Jayvon Parker (94) celebrates with edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui (4) after the UW beat USC 52-42 in Los Angeles in 2023. / Jessica Alcheh-Imagn Images

Jayvon Parker repeatedly got in everyone's way at Rutgers and made plays, with the University of Washington defensive tackle performing as well as anyone at his position across college football this past weekend.

Unfortunately for him, the 6-foot-3, 297-pound junior from Detroit had no time to celebrate his good fortune.

While making a fourth-quarter tackle in the 21-18 loss, Parker tore his right Achilles tendon -- suffering a season-ending injury -- and needed to be helped off the field and, once the game ended, carried up an incline to the visiting locker room.

Parker thus joined his twin brother, Armon, another UW defensive tackle, on the sideline, with his sibling dealing with a second season-ending knee injury.

By appearing in just four games this fall, Jayvon Parker would be eligible to take a medical redshirt and play two more seasons.

"He's got more time left on his clock," coach Jedd Fisch said. "We will do everything that we can to allow him to play as much college football as he can, and his brother can, and hopefully wish them the best to get into pro football."

Of some consolation to this Parker, this Husky veteran graded out as the third-highest defensive tackle nationwide for his efforts in New Jersey, pulling an 88.2 grade to trail only Cincinnati's Dontay Corleone (89.9) and Notre Dame's Howard Cross III (89.2), according to Pro Football Focus, the recognized analytics leader, and ranking just ahead of Texas' Vernon Broughton (86.9).

Highest Graded Defensive Tackles from Week 5💪 pic.twitter.com/x67IsCpdHL

— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 1, 2024

PFF grades linemen on their consistency in doing their job -- such as controlling the gap each play, regularly getting upfield and how quickly they reach a ball carrier or passer -- rather than piling up sacks and other high-visibility stats.

To demonstrate this, Corleone collected 4 tackles, including a tackle for loss, and had a quarterback hurry in the Bearcats' 44-41 loss to Texas Tech; Cross came up with 2 tackles in the Fighting Irish's 31-24 win over Louisville; Parker had 5 tackles at Rutgers; and Broughton finished with 5 tackles, which included a TFL and a sack, and forced a fumble in the Longhorn's 35-13 victory over Mississippi State.

Parker was rated higher than Broughton because he did his job more efficiently rather than in a showy fashion, where guys might tend to freelance and sacrifice position control to chase electric plays. Parker was injured while bringing down Rutgers running back Samuel Brown V on a 3-yard gain, with four of his five tackles resulting in gains of 3 yards or fewer.

At one point, both Parkers were injured coming out of spring football, with Jayvon able to recover for this season while Armon was not.

"Hopefully timing-wise, these guys will be able to be ready for spring football -- that would be the hope -- and for them to have a really good spring together and then go into the fall both healthy," Fisch said. "Obviously, I feel for Jayvon. He worked extremely hard to get back and he really did a nice a nice job for us when he was in the game."

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