ASJ goes 38th to Tampa, Sankey 54th to Titans

The two biggest stars of the University of Washington’s 2013 football season, TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins and RB Bishop Sankey, were rewarded in the second round of the NFL draft Friday afternoon. Seferian-Jenkins was chosen 38th by Tampa Bay and Sankey was the first running back taken in the draft, going 54th to Tennessee.

Seferian-Jenkins will join three other former Huskies with the Bucs: LB Mason Foster, DE Daniel Te’o-Nesheim and SS Dashon Goldson. The offensive coordinator is former Cal head coach Jeff Tedford.

At 6-5 and 262 pounds, Seferian-Jenkins was pro-sized from his first day on campus after a stellar career at Gig Harbor High School.  In three years, he broke almost all career records for a UW tight end.

He was the first Husky to win the John Mackey Award, presented to the nation’s top tight end, and was Washington’s highest selection the draft since QB Jake Locker in 2011 was taken No. 8 overall by Tennessee.

He was the second tight end taken in the draft, behind Eric Ebron of North Carolina, No. 10 overall Thursday. ASJ was the 10th TE drafted in UW history, first since Jerramy Stevens by the Seahawks in 2002.

Locker will be happy to have a durable, relentless running back in Sankey, who is already in the NFL record books as the latest a running back has been taken in the draft. The old mark came last year when the Bengals took Giovani Bernard with the 37th pick.

Sankey set the Washington season rushing record with 1,870 yards as a junior. His 37 career rushing touchdowns, 38 total touchdowns and 327 rushing attempts in 2013 are also UW records.

At the February combine, he ran a 4.49-second 40-yard dash and bench-pressed 225 pounds 26 times.

Sankey, from Gonzaga High in Spokane, is the first Huskies running back drafted since 1998, when Rashaan Shehee went in the third round to Kansas City.