A closer look at Colson Yankoff

As the names for Washington’s undrafted free agent signings rolled in during the days after the draft, I was a little surprised when one of the last players named was someone I had heard of before.

“Colson Yankoff” was not a name that I had heard of before April, but it was a name I came across as we moved into the “deep cuts” phase of the SBNation mock draft this year.

After the seven round draft is over, a free-for-all ensues for the remaining players, and fantasy GMs scour all available resources for any glimmer of a potential diamond in the rough.

After locking up prior 18 UDFAs (whose names can be found at the link above), I grabbed two more: Yankoff, and Virginia Tech’s Cole Beck, a championship sprinter. I chose Yankoff, in part, because he was a guy Dane Brugler (of The Athletic) highlighted.

So who is Colson Yankoff?

As I’ve dug into it, Yankoff’s story is actually one of the more interesting of the offseason. Coming out of high school, he was considered to be, perhaps, the best quarterback prospect ever developed in the state of Idaho. He was originally recruited by the University of Oregon, but decommitted once the head coach who had tried to bring him there was fired.

Choosing to stay in the Pac 12, Yankoff then committed to the University of Washington, where he would enter a QB room with six other prospects. He redshirted his freshman year with the Huskies and eventually decided it wasn’t a good match, again seeking another Pac 12 destination.

This time though, Washington would force Yankoff to sit out a year, invoking the conference’s transfer rules. In 2020, Yankoff would give it a brief shot attempting to be the Bruins QB, but would eventually move to wide receiver, and then, again, to running back.

Throughout his first three years at UCLA, he played sparsely, and then, last season, head coach Chip Kelly decided to lean on Yankoff on special teams, where he played well enough to garner national attention:

“I think Colson’s done a really good job,” Kelly said at a news conference earlier this season. “We have to do a better job blocking for him. It hasn’t been blocked up the way it’s supposed to be blocked up. … He’s big, he’s fast, he’s got great vision, one of our fastest kids on our team. He’s a pretty good player.”

In the pros, it appears that Yankoff is going to be deployed as a tight end with fullback characteristics. He may need to put on a bit of weight (he’s played up to 230 lbs in the past), but he’s quite athletic, as one might surmise from his ability to play a variety of different positions.

Is Yankoff going to amount to anything in the NFL? It’s very difficult to say, and the odds are certainly stacked against it, but plus special teams ability is probably the quickest ticket to the back of an NFL roster, or at least an NFL practice squad.

Washington’s tight end unit, while shored up for 2024, will also likely have some opportunities in 2025. So, if Yankoff can make himself relevant on special teams this season, he may keep the door open for an expanded role in the future. Good luck to him, and to all of the young men trying to make this team.