UW’s Lindquist takes on new role in final season with Huskies

As August's fall football camp approaches, expectations are high for the Washington Huskies. A preseason Pac-12 media day poll predicted Washington will finish runner-up to Stanford in the Pac-12 North standings, leapfrogging the likes of division rivals Oregon and Washington State.

August 3, 2016 12:00 pm
University of Washington fifth-year senior Jeff Lindquist (5) is preparing for his final season with the Huskies at a new position on the field (photo courtesy of Jordan Stead/Red Box Pictures).
University of Washington fifth-year senior Jeff Lindquist (5) is preparing for his final season with the Huskies at a new position on the field (photo courtesy of Jordan Stead/Red Box Pictures).

As August’s fall football camp approaches, expectations are high for the Washington Huskies. A preseason Pac-12 media day poll predicted Washington will finish runner-up to Stanford in the Pac-12 North standings, leapfrogging the likes of division rivals Oregon and Washington State.

Fifth-year UW senior and former Mercer Island football standout Jeff Lindquist is getting in on the excitement for his final campaign as a Husky, with one added nuance: he will shift positions from quarterback to tight end.

It will be quite the change for the Mercer Island native, who played quarterback throughout his four years at Mercer Island High School and holds numerous program passing records, including most career completions (492), most career passing yards (6,142) and most career touchdown passes (60).

Lindquist acknowledged stepping back from quarterback duty, his position for the past eight years, wasn’t easy. He said he last played at tight end as a fifth-grader and last saw playing time as a lineman when he played left tackle in the sixth grade. But he appears ready to take on the challenge.

“It’s certainly been a transition because you’re really playing football from a different perspective,” Lindquist said in a phone conversation with the Reporter. “Aside from that, it’s been a fun one. I’m excited to get on the field and help the team and do what I can to put us in a position to be successful. It’s been a different learning curve for me learning the game from a tight end perspective rather than a quarterback perspective. But overall, it’s been a solid change.”

From his experiences playing quarterback, Lindquist said he was always aware of how savvy tight ends have to be, having to serve as blockers and yet also be agile, running routes and catching passes. Now, he’s experiencing it all firsthand and admits that it’s no walk in the park.

Lindquist said he hasn’t set any individual goals yet for the upcoming season other than doing his part on the field to help the Huskies succeed.

“I know I want to have an impact on our offense. I think I can bring a set of skills to the table that we may not necessarily have,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what that looks like, but being able to have a role in our offense that adds another layer. I think the more dynamic an offense can be, the better it will be, and so I’m gonna make sure to do my best to be another part of our offense that will help us score more points.”

Off the field, Lindquist graduated in June with a degree in business finance and was recently nominated for the Wuerffel Trophy, an award that recognizes a college football player who “best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.”

Along with teammates Michael Kneip and Siosifa Tufunga, Lindquist helped start UW’s nonprofit chapter of Uplifting Athletes, an organization that aims to use college football as a platform to raise funding and awareness for the research of rare diseases.

Lindquist said he hasn’t read any of the outsider expectations for the upcoming Husky season, but he and his teammates are aware of what they’re capable of accomplishing this fall.

“We know as a team we have the potential to be a really good football team this year. Where it falls is on us with how hard we work,” he said. “If we do the things we’re supposed to do, we’ll put ourselves in a position to have a really good year. But we haven’t earned it yet. It’s still a matter of working hard, working together and putting ourselves in the position to be successful.”