![\"Zach](\"https:\/\/cdn.forumcomm.com\/dims4\/default\/e6b0d36\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/1838x2450+781+0\/resize\/330x440!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F0b%2F38%2F8ea7e28f4e8d877505e3d87ce44c%2Fzach-durfee-nfl-com.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSEATTLE \u2014 Zach Durfee\u2019s football journey started at Dawson-Boyd High School. Now, it\u2019s headed to Duval County.<\/p>\n
Durfee, a 2020 D-B grad and University of Washington defensive end, was taken in the seventh round with the 233rd overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL Draft on Saturday.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the latest twist in Durfee\u2019s unlikely career.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Zach Durfee<\/p>\n
Contributed \/ National Football League<\/p>\n
He played quarterback and wide receiver at D-B. He originally was going to play college basketball at Division III Gustavus Adolphus College but decided to give athletics up and go to North Dakota State University as a student. He went back to football and walked on at Division II University of Sioux Falls where he became an all-conference defensive lineman. He transferred to Washington for the 2023 season.<\/p>\n
Listed at 6-foot-5 and 256 pounds, Durfee missed the bulk of the 2023 season after having his eligibility waivers denied. Injuries limited Durfee to six games in 2024 where he recorded 16 tackles (three-and-a-half for loss) and two-and-a-half sacks.<\/p>\n
In 2025, Durfee played in 10 games for the 9-4 Huskies. He tallied 37 tackles (five for loss), four sacks and one forced fumble. In the Huskies\u2019 38-10 win over Boise State in the L.A. Bowl, Durfee had five tackles, one sack and a pass breakup.<\/p>\n
He was named UW\u2019s Don James Perseverance Award winner at the team\u2019s postseason banquet.<\/p>\n
Now, Durfee joins a Jaguars team that is coming off a 13-4 season and an AFC South Division championship. Jacksonville lost in the wild-card round of the playoffs to Buffalo, 27-24.<\/p>\n
![\"Dawson-Boyd](\"https:\/\/cdn.forumcomm.com\/dims4\/default\/2f52fc9\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4320x2880+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F42%2F4a%2F75b480394433822e00b287bedc29%2Fuw-fball-ucla.JPG\")
<\/p>\n
Dawson-Boyd grad and Washington defensive end Zach Durfee had 37 tackles, four sacks and one forced fumble for the Huskies in 2025.<\/p>\n
Contributed \/ Washington Athletics<\/p>\n
Other Minnesota high school alumni who were taken in this weekend\u2019s draft include:<\/p>\n
Bryce Lance from Marshall. The North Dakota State wide receiver went in the fourth round (136th overall) to the New Orleans Saints;Emmett Johnson from Holy Angels. The Nebraska running back went in the fifth round (161st overall) to the Kansas City Chiefs;Bobby Jamison-Travis from Minneapolis North. The Auburn defensive tackle went in the sixth round (186th) to the New York Giants;\u00a0Namdi Obiazor from Eden Prairie. The Texas Christian linebacker went in the sixth round (212th overall) to the New England Patriots;And Deven Eastern of Shakopee. The University of Minnesota defensive tackle went in the seventh round (242nd overall) to the Seattle Seahawks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Joe Brown is a sports reporter for the West Central Tribune.<\/p>\n He can be reached via email at: jbrown@wctrib.com<\/a> or his office number: 320-214-4332<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEATTLE \u2014 Zach Durfee\u2019s football journey started at Dawson-Boyd High School. Now, it\u2019s headed to Duval County. Durfee,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-248280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/cdn.forumcomm.com\/dims4\/default\/e4c78f9\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3783x3783+947+0\/resize\/100x100!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffcc-cue-exports-brightspot.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fwctrib%2Fbinary%2FJoeBrown_0005%20%282%29_binary_6944777.jpg\")
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