All Washington Huskies in the NFC

Bronson resumed the same role as he had for the Huskies when brought into the NFL last season as a free agent. Brought in by Cleveland before moving onto New Orleans and finally landing in Dallas this free agency. While playing for the Browns and the Saints, Bronson put up rotational lineman stats. Dallas currently has a weak interior defensive line so a young, cheap option may be able to stick come cuts.

Arizona Cardinals

Andre Baccellia currently is listed on the Cards roster following a limited role in his 4 years at UW. Low college production led him to being undrafted and is now a camp body/practice squad type of player.

Ezekiel Turner is a bigger safety for the Cardinals Washington Husky littered defensive backfield. Turner played 3 season for Washington and had decent production and was one of the pieces to a Huskies DB room that had to keep standards high in the 2017 season following the mass loss of talent to the draft the previous April. For Arizona he is a special teams staple as well as filling multiple defensive back up roles.

Byron Murphy Jr was the first pick in the 2019 2nd round and has been a starter for the Cardinals ever since. After a rough rookie campaign Murphy established himself as an NFL caliber starter. 2021 was his best statistical season bringing in career high interceptions, 4, and passes defender, 12. The Cards will be relying on Murphy Jr to be the leader of their cornerback room and help shore up a leaky pass defense.

Budda Baker has been the most successful Husky defensive back for Arizona, which is bigger than you’d expect. A two time all-pro and four time pro bowler. Baker has been decorated with a large amount of accolades during his NFL career. Baker brought his strong run defense and intelligent coverage understanding over to the NFL following a very successful college run. Hopefully for Baker he isn’t only remembered from his interception against Seattle with THAT DK Metcalf clip.

Los Angeles Rams

Coleman Shelton was the pivot man when Myles Gaskin had one of the best rushing seasons in Husky school history. His stellar run blocking has allowed him to stick on the Rams roster as their back up center. He hasn’t seen much action, but now has a Super Bowl ring.

Gaines became a 4th round pick for the Rams following his final season at Washington. Bringing immediate run support to the Rams defensive line he was a rotational back up for his first two seasons. The Rams Championship season saw Gaines get 13 starts. He more than doubled his career sacks, tackles, tackles for loss, and quarterback hits. He is now one of the best nose tackles and is ranked as PFF’s 27th interior defensive line player.

Taylor Rapp was selected the same year as Gaines by the Los Angeles Rams. Due to mounting injuries he was thrust into a starting role his rookie season. Following an up and down start to his professional career Rapp settles back into a primary backup role in 2020. 2021 was finally the season where he established himself as the primary strong safety starter in a loaded Rams secondary. In his first earned starting season Rapp improved and was able to put up strong numbers and contribute in the run game. Rapp is set up to continue growing into his role and be a entrenched starter on a consistent Super Bowl contender.

Seattle Seahawks

Jacob Eason was a transfer from Georgia for the Huskies’ 2019 season. Following a campaign that saw him produce the 10th most passing yards in a single season for Washington, Eason was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts. 5 pass attempts was all he was given in his rookie season before being moved on from. Seattle now has him in the thick of their mediocre quarterback room so there is potential to see Eason get some action this season.

Aaron Fuller put up a few solid seasons for the Washington Huskies while the team experienced some turbulent years. Despite the solid production Fuller went undrafted. Sticking around with the Seahawks this past season as a rookie who didn’t contribute outside of a single game where he recorded no stats.

Will Dissly was never an offensive dynamo at UW. However a 21 reception 2017 season and solid blocking caused the Seahawks to draft Dissly in 2018 draft. Since being selected Dissly has put up similar numbers to those posted his final collegiate season. A backup tight end who is able to see the field due to good blocking credentials in a run-heavy Pete Carrol offense.

Ben Burr-Kirven was always seen as an intelligent and passionate linebacker in his college years. These traits helped him overcome some size issues and establish himself as a key special teamer.

Sidney Jones IV is on the long list of Huskies pro corners. Drafted by the Eagles in the 2017 entry draft, Jones is on his 3rd team following early career injuries and poor play.  However Jones was able to stick with the Seahawks in 2021 and was able to put up 10 defended passes in 11 games played.

Chicago Bears

Dante Pettis was an record setting receiver and electric return man for the Washington Huskies. Drafted in 2018 Pettis hasn’t been able to make much of his pro career. After finishing with the 5ht most receptions and receiving yards in all time Huskies history and 3rd most receiving touchdowns, Pettis hasn’t been able to record more than 600 career receiving yards in 4 pro seasons. Injuries have played a role in this, and that will be his key to making the Chicago roster. The Bears need someone to step up in their receiving core, bosting the weakest in the league when it comes to depth and star talent. Pettis will need to fight to make it on the final 53, but if he can flash his collegiate skills he may be in line as Justin Fields’ number 1 target.

Kyler Gordon is yet another Washington Huskies cornerback drafted in the top 50. Being selected 39th overall in the 2022 draft, Gordon  was drafted for his athletic skill and responsible coverage play. He will be looked on to upgrade the number 2 cornerback spot across from entrenched starter Jaylon Johnson.

Detroit Lions

Levi Onwuzurike was the first interior defender drafted in the 2021 NFL entry draft. He was one of the many players impacted by the lack of 2020 college season. However he showed explosiveness and physical maturity in years previous that caused the Lions to use a second rounder on him. In 2021 the rookie struggled to get on the field and didn’t start in any of the 16 games he appeared in. He did put up some stats with 1 sack and 2 tackles for loss. Detroit is hoping for a step up in play and for Levi to get some starts in his second season.

Atlanta Falcons

Kaleb McGary manned the right tackle position for the Washington Huskies until he was selected in the first round of the 2019 NFL draft. Atlanta hoped it was finding it’s permanent replacement opposite Jake Matthews to protect their longtime franchise quarterback Matt Ryan. However McGary has been a liability since taking over the starting RT spot his rookie season. The Falcons have brought in competition in German Ifedi and Tyler Vrabel. Hopefully the increase in competition can push McGary to perform better for a team with low expectations.

Carolina Panthers

Shaq Thompson was a first round pick in the 2015 NFL draft. He has been a starting linebacker for the Panthers’ defense since his rookie season. In the past 3 years he has seen a large uptick in his production, putting up consecutive 100 tackle seasons.  However, injuries have had an impact on his career having not started 16 games ever in a single season. If healthy Thompson should continue to be a bright spot for a team with plenty of big question marks heading into the 2022 season.

Cory Littleton has been a solid contributing linebacker for two teams over the course of his NFL career. From 2016 to 2019 Littleton suited up for the Rams. In that time he was selected to a Pro Bowl and racked up 2 100 tackle seasons. Following his rise in play he accepted a contract to play with the Las Vegas Raiders as their starting middle linebacker. A 2020 marred by COVID and a subpar 2021 led to Littleton being a free agent in the offseason. Carolina has him signed on as a depth linebacker who can be a high level special teams contributor.

Keith Taylor Jr was a 5th round rookie during the 2021 Carolina Panthers season. Due to injuries Taylor was forced into the starting lineup for 3 games. Performing shakily at first he begun to improve as his starts progressed. Despite being relegated back to the bench there is hope growing for a good depth corner on the Panthers roster.

New Orleans Saints

Dwayne Washington is a running back and special teamer originally playing for the Detroit Lions. In 2018 he was signed to the New Orleans Saints and has received an extension this past offseason despite not seeing offensive production. The reason he has been brought back is his contributions on special teams. He does handle some returner duties, but otherwise has taken an average of 61% of the Saints special teams snaps since joining the team, racking up 6 solo tackles in 2021 alone.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Cade Otton is the youngest former Husky on the Bucs roster having been drafted in 2022. Despite Otton’s low production numbers in his Husky career, he is seen as having potential as a receiving target in the Tampa offense. With the retirement of Rob Gronkowski and OJ Howard leaving in free agency, the Bucs will be looking for a starter to emerge. Otton was seen as having a solid floor and could see playing time in 2022.

Benning Potoa’e has appeared in 2 games since joining the Bucs practice squad in 2020. Despite his lack of play time he provides good depth and a safe option to be able to bounce back and forth between the practice squad and active roster.

Vita Vea has become a household name since his 12th overall selection in 2018. Vea is one of the largest nose tackles in the game and one of the best. Vea was selected to his first pro bowl in 2021 and also was paid handsomely in the offseason. Vea’s stats may not jump off of the screen at you, but his impact on the game is obvious.

Joe Tryon-Shoyinka is the most recent 1st round pick from UW by the Tampa Bay Bucs. Going 32nd overall in 2021, he had to deal with the loss of his 2020 season. However his tape stood out from previous seasons and allowed him to step into a Super Bowl winning roster. In his rookie season Tryon-Shoyinka managed to get 6 starts and 4 sacks over all 17 games. So far he has shown the ability to be that future starter opposite Shaq Barrett.

Thank you for Reading!

If you enjoyed this article make sure to check out @WeeklyHuddle on Twitter or The Weekly Huddle on YouTube. If you enjoy similar articles discussing NFL and collegiate football check out more articles on gridironheroics.com or @GridironHeroics on Twitter.