Lucas Andrew Falk (born December 28, 1994) is an American former professional football quarterback. He played college football at Washington State, and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL draft. He was also a member of the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Luke Falk
refer to caption
Falk with the Tennessee Titans in 2018
No. 8
Position:Quarterback
Personal information
Born: (1994-12-28) December 28, 1994 (age 29)
Logan, Utah, U.S.
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school:Logan (UT)
College:Washington State (2013–2017)
NFL draft:2018 / round: 6 / pick: 199
Career history
As a player:
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
As a coach:
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Passing completions:47
Passing attempts:73
Passing yards:416
TDINT:0–3
Passer rating:62.4
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Falk started the 2019 season as the third quarterback on the roster of the Jets and played in three games, due to an illness affecting starting quarterback Sam Darnold and an injury to Trevor Siemian sustained in week two of the regular season. Falk struggled with the Jets and was released mid-season following Darnold's return.

Early life

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Falk was born in Logan, Utah and moved to California where he attended Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village.[1] He has two older sisters, Alexa Shea Falk Johns and Natalee Marie Falk, who formed a sibling country music duo Falk. Prior to his junior year, he moved back to Logan and attended Logan High School.[2] As a senior, he threw for 3,618 yards with 36 touchdowns and broke Utah records for pass attempts (562) and pass completions (330).[3]

College career

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Falk originally committed to Cornell University but de-committed following the departure of head coach Kent Austin.[4] Falk then joined Washington State University as a walk-on.[5][6] After redshirting in 2013, Falk entered 2014 as the backup to Connor Halliday. After Halliday was injured, Falk took over as the starter for the final three games.[7][8] In his first career start he threw for 471 yards and five touchdowns and earned conference offensive player and national quarterback of the week honors.[9][10] Overall, he appeared in six games, completing 156 of 243 passes for 1,859 yards with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions.[11][12][13] He retained his starting job for the 2015 season and proceeded to lead the nation in passing yards per game (380.5), while finishing second in the nation in pass completion percentage (69.45), and earning first-team all-Pac-12 Conference honors, becoming the ninth Washington State quarterback in the 100-year of the conference to be named first-team.[14] He guided the 2015 Cougars to a 9–3 record that included a Sun Bowl win over Miami and dramatic, come-from-behind victories over UCLA, Oregon and Rutgers. Falk adheres to a strict diet to enhance performance,[15] and wears a signature wristband in every game to salute his favorite youth basketball coach who died unexpectedly.[16] As of week 12 of the 2017 season, Falk holds Pac-12 Football records for career passing attempts, completions, completion percentage, passing yards, and passing touchdowns.[17] On January 26, 2018, Falk announced that he would forgo the Senior Bowl to attend the funeral for Tyler Hilinski.[18]

College statistics

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Washington State Cougars
Season Team Games Passing
GP Record Cmp Att Pct Yds TD Int Rtg
2014 Washington State 5 2–3 156 243 64.2 1,859 13 7 140.4
2015 Washington State 13 9–4 447 644 69.4 4,561 38 8 145.9
2016 Washington State 13 8–5 443 633 70.0 4,468 38 11 145.6
2017 Washington State 12 9–3 357 534 66.9 3,593 30 13 137.0
Total 42 28–15 1,403 2,054 68.3 14,481 119 39 142.8

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span Vertical jump Broad jump Wonderlic
6 ft 3+58 in
(1.92 m)
215 lb
(98 kg)
32 in
(0.81 m)
9+14 in
(0.23 m)
26.5 in
(0.67 m)
8 ft 7 in
(2.62 m)
29
All values from NFL Combine[19]

Tennessee Titans

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Falk was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round (199th overall) of the 2018 NFL draft.[20] He played in every preseason game while starting the final game against the Minnesota Vikings.[21] On September 1, 2018, Falk was waived by the Titans.[22]

Miami Dolphins

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On September 2, 2018, Falk was claimed off waivers by the Miami Dolphins.[23] He was placed on injured reserve on October 5, 2018, with a wrist injury.[24] On May 1, 2019, the Dolphins waived Falk.[25]

New York Jets

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On May 2, 2019, Falk was claimed off waivers by the New York Jets.[26] He was waived on August 31, 2019, and was signed to the practice squad the next day.[27][28] On September 12, 2019, Falk was promoted to the active roster.[29] He made his NFL regular season debut on Monday Night Football against the Cleveland Browns on September 16, 2019, after an injury to backup quarterback Trevor Siemian, who himself made the start in place of Sam Darnold, who was out with mononucleosis. Falk finished his first NFL game 20-of-25 with 198 yards and a quarterback rating of 99.7.[30] Making his first career start against the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in Week 3, Falk was only able to pull off 98 passing yards on 12 out of 22 completions with an interception as the Jets lost 30–14.[31] Following a bye week, Falk made his second career start against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 5, where he finished with 120 passing yards and 2 interceptions as the Jets lost 31–6.[32] He was waived on October 12.[33]

Saskatchewan Roughriders

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Falk signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League on February 19, 2021.[34] He was placed on the suspended list on July 3, 2021.[35] He was released on July 24, 2021.

Coaching career

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In 2023, Falk was named the quarterbacks coach for Wingate under head coach Joe Reich.[36]

In 2024, Falk joined Northern Iowa as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under head coach Mark Farley.[37][38][39] He left the team for personal reasons before the start of the season.[40]

References

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  1. ^ "Prep football: Former Logan QB Luke Falk chases dream, leads Southern California power". Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  2. ^ "After struggles at Oaks Christian, quarterback Luke Falk will return to Logan". The Salt Lake Tribune. September 26, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  3. ^ Loh, Stefanie (August 26, 2015). "Washington State's Luke Falk was 'born to be a quarterback'". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  4. ^ Stecker, Brent (November 13, 2014). "Luke Falk goes from Cornell commit to WSU's diamond in the rough". ESPN Seattle. ESPN. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  5. ^ "Long road leads QB Luke Falk to Washington State". Spokesman.com. August 7, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  6. ^ Bonagura, Kyle (November 12, 2014). "Washington State QB Luke Falk took circuitous road to success". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  7. ^ Withers, Bud (November 5, 2014). "Meet Luke Falk, the Cougars' new quarterback". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  8. ^ "If Halliday right, Falk plenty ready to start".
  9. ^ "Luke Falk Shines At Washington State".
  10. ^ Williams, Carter (November 10, 2014). "Logan High product Luke Falk earning recognition after dazzling first Washington State start". Archived from the original on August 13, 2015.
  11. ^ "WSU QB Luke Falk has full head of steam". Spokesman.com. August 30, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  12. ^ "Pac-12: Logan's Luke Falk blossoming as Washington State QB". The Salt Lake Tribune. May 3, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  13. ^ "Analee Falk & WSU football via eyes of a mom".
  14. ^ "Luke Falk etches name alongside WSU immortals".
  15. ^ Loh, Stefanie (December 11, 2015). "How WSU's Luke Falk built himself into a Pac-12 quarterback". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  16. ^ "The inspiration behind WSU quarterback Luke Falk's wrist band".
  17. ^ "Washington State's Luke Falk breaks Pac-12 record for career touchdowns". Spokesman.com. November 11, 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  18. ^ Shook, Nick. "Luke Falk leaves Senior Bowl to attend Tyler Hilinski's funeral". NFL. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  19. ^ "Luke Falk Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  20. ^ Wyatt, Jim (April 28, 2018). "Titans Select Washington State QB Luke Falk in 6th Round". TitansOnline.com. Archived from the original on May 1, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  21. ^ "Luke Falk takes every snap for Titans in final preseason game". 247Sports.com. August 30, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  22. ^ Wyatt, Jim (September 1, 2018). "Roster Moves: Titans Trim Roster From 90 to 53 Players". TitansOnline.com.
  23. ^ "Miami Dolphins Make Roster Moves". MiamiDolphins.com. September 2, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  24. ^ "Nick O'Leary Promoted To Active Roster". MiamiDolphins.com. October 5, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  25. ^ Jackson, Barry (May 1, 2019). "Dolphins move on from a quarterback, two defensive players". MiamiHerald.com.
  26. ^ Bouda, Nate (May 2, 2019). "Jets Claim QB Luke Falk Off Waivers From Dolphins". Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  27. ^ Lange, Randy (August 31, 2019). "Jets Announce 38 Moves to Get Down to 53-Man Roster". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  28. ^ Greenberg, Ethan (September 1, 2019). "Jets Claim 4 Players, Add Another 7 to Practice Squad". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  29. ^ Greenberg, Ethan (September 16, 2019). "Jets Promote QB Luke Falk to Active Roster". NewYorkJets.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  30. ^ "Logan's Luke Falk can't save Jets in 23–3 loss to Browns". The Salt Lake Tribune. Associated Press. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  31. ^ "Brady, Patriots defense shine in 30–14 win over Jets". ESPN. Associated Press. September 22, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  32. ^ "Defense dominates, Eagles rout Jets 31–6". ESPN. Associated Press. October 6, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  33. ^ Greenberg, Ethan (October 12, 2019). "Jets LB Brandon Copeland Returns to Roster". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  34. ^ "Riders sign quarterback Luke Falk". Riderville.com. February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  35. ^ "Coors Light Training Camp Opening Roster Set". Riderville.com. July 3, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  36. ^ Brice, John (February 1, 2023). "Sources: Former Washington State, Tennessee Titans QB Luke Falk nabs college job". Footballscoop. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  37. ^ "Former Mike Leach-coached QB named offensive coordinator at UNI". www.thegazette.com. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  38. ^ Brice, John (January 16, 2024). "Sources: Former Mike Leach, NFL QB Luke Falk emerges as top target for Northern Iowa OC job". Footballscoop. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  39. ^ Petrik, Ethan (January 19, 2024). "College Football: Falk to be named next UNI OC". Courier. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  40. ^ Samuels, Doug (July 2, 2024). "FCS program undergoes coordinator change". Footballscoop. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
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