Report: Washington tackle Jaxson Kirkland requests to withdraw from 2022 NFL draft
Washington offensive tackle Jaxson Kirkland is reportedly wanting to return to school instead of entering the 2022 NFL draft.
According to ESPN, Kirkland is requesting to withdraw his name from the draft after discovering that an ankle injury he suffered during the 2021 season is more serious than initially realized. Kirkland wants to return to school for the 2022 season before entering the 2023 NFL draft.
Jaxson Kirkland plans to petition the NCAA to play college football next season and then will be eyeing the 2023 Draft.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 1, 2022
A request to withdraw from the draft and come back to college may be easier to get in the new era of college athletics. Players are now allowed to negotiate endorsement agreements via agents, something they were unable to do a year ago. Financial agreements with agents had typically nullified a player's eligibility until the NCAA finally changed its rules over the summer.
Kirkland played in 10 games for Washington in 2021 and missed the team’s games against Arizona and Stanford to end the season. He was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection after he was chosen on the first team in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
Kirkland moved to left tackle after he started 25 games at right guard in his first two seasons on the active roster. A redshirt in 2017, Kirkland would be returning for a sixth season at Washington because of the extra season granted to all players due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
If healthy, Kirkland could have been picked in the second or third round on the second day of this spring’s draft.
His potential return to Washington would be a boost for a Huskies team looking to forget a tumultuous 2021 season. Washington struggled on the field and coach Jimmy Lake was fired after he was suspended for a game when he hit and grabbed the facemask of linebacker Ruperake Fuavai on the sideline.
Fresno State coach Kalen DeBoer was hired to replace Lake at the end of the season and the team has also added a new quarterback. After Dylan Morris served as the team’s starter in 2021, former Indiana QB Michael Penix Jr. joined the team in the offseason via the transfer portal.
With Penix’s arrival and Kirkland potentially back, Washington’s offense could take a needed step forward in 2022. The Huskies averaged just 3.3 yards per carry on the ground and 21.5 points per game in a 4-8 campaign in 2021.
