Washington’s Jake Locker returning for senior season

Washington junior quarterback Jake Locker will not enter the 2010 NFL Draft.

“After a great deal of careful thought and deliberation, I have decided to return to Washington and play my senior year,” Locker said in a release. “I am very excited about this team’s opportunities and potential for the upcoming season and I am looking forward to being a part of it.”

The potential for Locker is immense. He’ll immediately become the No. 1 prospect eligible for the 2011 NFL Draft should he stay healthy. He showed that this season and had the best year of his career.

On the season, Locker finished with 2,800 yards passing for 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He completed 58.2 percent of his passes. He also ran for 388 yards and seven touchdowns. Most impressively, he led the Huskies to five wins after the team went 0-12 in 2008.

From a prospect’s standpoint, this could be a sound move by Locker. Although he would likely have been a top 10 selection in April, he’ll greatly benefit from another year of head coach Steve Sarkisian’s pro-style offense.

Sarkisian will likely look to continue to improve Locker’s prescience in the pocket and his sometimes-shoddy throwing motion. Washington is also adding much more talent to help Locker next season. Chief among them is wide receiver Kevin Smith, who Rivals.com ranks as the 26th best athlete in the nation.

One player surely to be happy about Locker’s decision to go back to school is Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford. The former Heisman Trophy winner has seen the limelight taken from him by the likes of Locker, Jimmy Clausen and even sophomore Ryan Mallett. Now with Locker out of the equation, Bradford’s draft stock is sure to rise.

There seems to be no correlation between NFL Draft stardom and returning for another collegiate season, however. Bradford did it and got hurt twice. Matt Leinart did it and got overtaken as the top quarterback in the 2006 draft by Vince Young. Brian Brohm and Andre Woodson returned and seemingly fell further in the draft than they would have had they entered after their junior seasons.

The most obvious recent case of it working out for the player was with Matt Ryan. He was considered by most a second- or third-round talent at Boston College prior to his senior year. After a solid senior campaign, he went third overall to Atlanta in 2008.

Adjust your mock drafts accordingly.