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Possible Top NFL Pick Jake Locker Added to Manning Watch List

Friday, August 6, 2010

Tabbed by many as the likely No. 1 overall pick in next spring's NFL Draft, Washington's Jake Locker (official bio) is the 25th quarterback named to the Manning Award Watch List for 2010-11. The Washington product missed the bulk of his sophomore season in 2008 with a thumb injury but came back for an outstanding junior season after which many expected him to leave early for the NFL. Instead, he has returned looking to close his career with a major bowl appearance. The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, is releasing the Watch List one player per day through its official Facebook and Twitter pages. The award has honored the top quarterback in the nation for the past six years.

Allstate Sugar Bowl on Facebook

Allstate Sugar Bowl on Twitter

The leading returning player in the Pac-10 in total offense and points responsible for, Locker is also a touted baseball player - he was drafted twice by Major League Baseball and, in 2009, signed a six-year rights agreement with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Locker finished the 2009 season with 2,800 passing yards, the third-highest single-season total in UW history, and his 3,188 yards of total offense ranked second in UW history and led the Pac-10. In terms of passing, his season ranked fourth in total attempts (394), fourth in completions (230), 11th in completion percentage (.584), and fourth in touchdown passes (21) in the Husky annals. Two of his top performances came against nationally-ranked teams: he threw for 237 yards and directed the game-winning drive in the final minutes of a shocking upset of USC early in the year, then in the final game of season, Locker completed 19-of-23 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns, while running for two more scores, in a victory over Cal. His 1,554 career rushing yards are already a UW record for quarterbacks. Locker and the Huskies open the 2010 season with a challenging game at BYU on Sept. 4.

Official Jake Locker highlight video

April 20 New York Times feature on Locker's decision to return to Washington

July 24 story on his hometown's love of Locker

July 28 SI.com video with Jake Locker outside of Radio City Music Hall in NYC

June 29 Q&A with Locker from AOL Fanhouse

2010-11 Manning Award Watch List Photo Gallery

The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in 2004 to honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that takes into consideration the candidates' bowl performances. Ten finalists will be selected in late-November and the winner will be announced after the bowls in January and will be honored at a ceremony in New Orleans.

The preseason Watch List recognizes some of the top quarterbacks in the nation based on previous collegiate performance, however, every quarterback in the nation remains eligible for the honor. Additional quarterbacks may be added to the Watch List after the start of the season. The list of 10 finalists will be released on Monday, Nov. 29. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, Jan. 19.

The Manning Award will be recognizing its seventh winner this year. USC's Matt Leinart was the inaugural winner of the award in 2005, followed by Texas' Vince Young in 2006. Both went on to be top 10 NFL draft picks. In 2007, LSU's JaMarcus Russell earned the award and was the NFL's No. 1 draft pick. Boston College's Matt Ryan claimed the award in 2008 and was drafted No. 3, quickly becoming the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. In 2009, Florida star Tim Tebow earned the honor - he also went on to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Last year's winner was Texas signal-caller Colt McCoy, the winningest quarterback in college football history. McCoy was picked by the Cleveland Browns in the 2010 NFL Draft.

-AllstateSugarBowl.org-