Former Washington Receivers Begin NFL Career Together in Oakland
Teammates through high school and college, former Washington wide receivers Jaydon Mickens and Marvin Hall are set to begin their NFL careers together with the Oakland Raiders.
Hall spent the three-day extravaganza known as the 2016 NFL Draft watching with his father and uncle while Mickens spent it with his family, feeling good about his chances. When neither of the former Huskies' names were called, the phones began ringing off the hook for both players and their agent Brian Brundage all evening Saturday.
"Basically it was just like recruiting but at something that’s not your pace," Mickens said Saturday of the draft process in a phone interview with Rivals.com. "Waiting for my name to get called was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever endured. But it’s an experience that lets me know that you don’t take anything for granted to strive for greatness."
That pace became increasingly slow, a speed the electric receiver rarely experiences, as the night pushed on without being signed. While Mickens saw several of his former college teammates announced their undrafted free agent contracts, including Hall, he was still waiting to find out his fate.
Several teams expressed interest in Mickens throughout the draft process, including the Raiders. However, Oakland did not anticipate the speedy-receiver becoming an undrafted free agent. But once the two sides were able to connect it made the decision an easy one.
Mickens will head into rookie camp and organized team activities as a kick return, punt return specialist in addition to a slot receiver. Hall, on the other hand, is just ready to unleash his skill set wherever he is placed.
"I consider myself an athletic weapon," Hall said in a phone interview with Rivals.com Saturday. "I can play wherever you need me to play and whatever I can do to help. I’ll run down as a gunner, I'll play receiver, kick return, punt return, you name it."
While competing for one of 53 spots on an NFL roster could turn ugly, Mickens and Hall have used their previous time as teammates in high school and college to motivate and push each other. Higher the stakes brings higher motivation to push each other.
"It’s huge for me and Jaydon," Hall said, "we feed off each other, so at the end of the day he makes me better and I make him better. We’re going to do whatever we need to do to make sure we both make this team. I understand we have to compete for it and I’m up for the challenge.”
Under former Head Coach Steve Sarkisian, who both players signed to out of Dorsey HS, Mickens was a prime target in a pass-heavy and up-tempo offense. The openness of the program also allowed Hall to play multiple positions including receiver and quarterback on trick plays.
However, the offense run by current UW Head Coach Chris Petersen and offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jonathan Smith is different. Dickens saw his receiving yards drop in year one under Petersen to 617 yards while his touchdowns decreased to four.
His senior season the numbers flipped, with Mickens having a career year with 692 receiving yards. Having the learning curve of two different coaches helped shape Mickens into a leader while adding more to his rwepitware.
"You have to run your route the hardest in both systems," Mickens said. "But coach Steve Sarkisian deep down, I knew he was going to get me the ball as much as he could. But it was a good experience for me because I learned a lot about being a leader and coaching under two different coaching staffs with two different mentalities.”
Hall added as much, "Well it prepared me for life. Having all these different coaching changes and all the different atmosphere it just taught me to stay the course. I believed in Coach Pete whatever he had going and I just took it all in and grinded.”
But in the end, through drops and overthrows, touchdowns and wins, both players enjoyed their four years at Washington and look forward to playing together in the NFL.
"They’re one of the most loyal if not the loyalist fanbases in the country and it was a great experience," Mickens said. "It was the most amazing time I’ve had in my life – it’s awesome. I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. It’s the greatest place to be in college football in the country."