Washington Huskies Alumni in NFL – October 2022
The Washington Huskies have 27 alumni playing in the NFL. We check in on how they are doing this season.
This year we are going to do things a bit differently when it comes to Washington Huskies players in the NFL, putting them together in one segment per month. Currently, there are 27 former UW players on rosters and practice squads.
NFC West
We will begin with the home team Seahawks and the NFC West. This division has 9 of the active 27 Huskies.
Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks have two former Huskies on their main roster, tight end Will Dissly and cornerback Sidney Jones.
Dissly is one of three Seattle tight ends. He became the first Seahawks player to score a touchdown in the season. It came against Denver in the season opener. Dissly scored his second touchdown in Game 3 against Atlanta. He’s played in 5 games with 14 receptions for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Early in the season, Jones dealt with injuries. Because he hasn’t been at full strength, Jones was inactive three times this year.
In the two games he was active, the cornerback played a total of 32 snaps. With the way Seattle’s defense has underperformed, they need Jones to get back to his 2021 form.
Linebacker Ben Bur-Kirven suffered a serious knee injury in the 2021 preseason. The special teams standout failed his physical and is on injured reserve.
Arizona
The Arizona Cardinals have four former Huskies on their roster. Two are defensive backs Budda Baker at free safety and corner Byron Murphy. They also have linebacker Zeke Turner and receiver Andre Baccellia.
One of the best safeties in the league, Budda Baker, leads Arizona’s secondary. Baker’s 2022 Stats – 5 games, 74 tackles, 7 passes defended, 3 tackles for loss, 2 QB hits, 2 forced fumbles.
Meanwhile, Murphy holds down one of the starting cornerback spots. Murphy played all but one of Arizona’s defensive snaps this season and has 19 tackles and 2 fumble recoveries, including a scoop and score.
Linebacker Zeke Turner has been part of the Cards organization since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2018. He’s been active for 3 games, mainly playing on special teams.
Baccellia also made it to the NFL the hard way. After spending time with Kansas City and New England in 2020, he found a home with the Cardinals in 2021. This year he’s been back and forth between Arizona’s practice squad and main roster. The ex-Husky has 4 receptions for 25 yards in 5 games.
Isaiah Simmons forces the fumble and Byron Murphy with the walk-off touchdown fumble return for the Cardinals, incredible
— Billy Heyen (@BillyHeyen) September 18, 2022
L.A. Rams
The defending Super Bowl champs have three players on their roster from Washington this season, Nose tackle Greg Gaines, safety Taylor Rapp, and center Coleman Shelton.
Los Angeles is having a hard time running the ball this year. Part of that is on the center, Shelton. He hurt his ankle in Week 4 and missed last week’s loss to Dallas.
Gaines had an outstanding 2021 and picked up where he left off this year. He does a great job of plugging the holes while interior d-line partner Aaron Donald gets after the passer. Gaines 2022 Stats – 5 games, 282 snaps, 13 tackles.
Rapp, the Rams starting strong safety, was off to a decent start this year with 16 tackles. A rib injury put him out of L.A.’s last game, but he should be back this week.
Rep of Cover 7 (man-match Quarters) from the #Rams. MEG on the bottom, looks like it could be MOD on the top (or just MEG from off). Taylor Rapp (S #24) does a nice job nailing down on the Over from Gabe Davis. pic.twitter.com/ePzvc20mm6
— Sam Holman (@Sam_DHolman) September 10, 2022
San Francisco
San Francisco is Husky-less this year.