Washington Huskies Alumni in NFL – October 2022
NFC South
Atlanta
Atlanta used a first round pick on former Washington Huskies offensive tackle Kaleb McGary in 2018. Since joining the team, McGary missed only three games and is the Falcons’ starting right tackle.
It’s been a tough adjustment for Atlanta in the post-Matt Ryan era. They are in a rebuild, and there’s been some talk about moving McGary to guard.
Carolina
The Carolina Panthers has three active Washington Huskies Alumni and one more on the practice squad.
Now in his eighth season with Carolina, linebacker Shaq Thompson has been the Panthers’ best defensive player for some time. The linebacker leads his team in tackles with 34. Another former Husky, Corey Littleton, is his backup.
Last year defensive back Keith Taylor was Carolina’s fifth round pick. He played in every game and even started three. The Panthers took cornerback Jaycee Horn in the first round at this year’s draft. As a result, Taylor’s playing time has been greatly reduced.
Quarterback Jacob Eason was in training camp with the Seahawks but didn’t make the team. The day after he was cut by Pete Carroll, Carolina signed Eason to their practice squad.
Shaq Thompson finished with a top ten @PFF grade (72.7) at the LB position, a 22.9-point increase from last season. pic.twitter.com/ixzNfatYFr
— Michael Rimmer (@avl_mike) April 1, 2022
New Orleans
Dwayne Washington is now a seven-year NFL veteran spending the last five in New Orleans. With Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram ahead of him on the depth chart, he gets very few looks with the Saints’ offense.
Instead, Washington excels on special teams. In the Game 3 loss to Carolina, he had three returns and a fumble recovery.
Tampa Bay
Three Washington Huskies alumni are on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ active roster.
Defensive lineman Vita Vea has been a solid player since being drafted in the first round by the Bucs in 2018. The nose tackle does so many good things when he’s on the field that don’t show up on the stat sheet but help the defense succeed.
Tampa drafted Joe Tryon-Shoyinka last year in the first round. He played sparingly at outside linebacker as a rookie. Tryon-Shoyinka worked hard and is now a starter.
In this year’s fourth round, the Bucs drafted tight end Cade Otton. They needed to backfill the position after Rob Gronkowski retired.
After getting off to a slow start, Otton had his first NFL career reception in Game 2 against the New Orleans Saints. He missed Game 3 because of the passing of his mother.
Otton is gaining the confidence of Tom Brady. Last week the Tumwater, WA native pulled in 6 of 7 targets.
🔥How Vita Vea runs the TEX stunt
THREAD… pic.twitter.com/7gjqhIx6OV
— Craig Roh (@craigroh) January 27, 2022