Giles Jackson was the little guy at the University of Washington's first fall football practice, the one bouncing all over the place and looking like he could go the distance at any time.
He wore No. 0, becoming the first Husky player in school history to pull on that unusual jersey digit, an opportunity provided him by the NCAA making a rule change in 2020.
The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Jackson transferred in from Michigan as a kick returner extraordinaire and as someone who left the Big Ten powerhouse after two seasons because he wanted a bigger role as a wide receiver. In a month, he'll play against his former teammates when the Huskies travel to Ann Arbor for a nationally televised night game.
Coach Jimmy Lake took his first long look at the newcomer after catching only fleeting glimpses of him from afar after the California native officially changed schools in June.
"Today was the first day I got to see him run around at all," Lake said. "Everything I had seen was just in workouts in the summer, which I saw a lot of speed, a lot of great change of direction."
On three occasions on Friday, Jackson fully extended his body to try and haul in Husky passes that just eluded him each time. No doubt his new quarterbacks need to get used to the step-up in speed and how to take advantage of it more effectively.
For Michigan, he had electrifying kickoff returns of 95 yards against Rutgers in 2019 and 97 yards against Maryland last fall for touchdowns.
Jackson scored the first one while dressed in No. 15 for the Wolverines and he switched to 0 in 2020 once the NCAA decided to make the latter available to help teams ease the strain of using duplicate numbers.
No one asked for the number at the UW last year during the pandemic season.
Now properly attired, Jackson just needs to get comfortable in his new surroundings and wardrobe, and put his blazing speed to better use.
"I think he's going to get faster and faster the more confident he gets," Lake said, "in hearing the call and knowing what he's supposed to be doing."
And a zero contribution will become a good thing.
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