Will Dissly, Seattle Seahawks.
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.
We will begin with the home team Seahawks and the NFC West. This division has 9 of the active 27 Huskies.
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.
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.
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.
San Francisco is Husky-less this year.
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.
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.
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.
There aren’t any former Washington Huskies on the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys or Philadelphia Eagles.
Chicago
In the 2022 draft, Chicago selected defensive back Kyler Gordon in the second round. That pick is starting to pay off.
Now the Bears starting nickelback Gordon has elevated his game since leaving the Washington Huskies. He is fourth on the team with 37 tackles and has played nearly every defensive snap.
Wide receiver Dante Pettis is trying to resurrect his career in Chicago. The former second round pick of San Francisco (2018) has a pair of touchdown receptions.
Detroit
Levi Onwuzurike, a defensive tackle drafted second round last year by the Detroit Lions, is on injured reserve. Detroit initially thought that Onwuzurike would return in game 5; however, his back injury hasn’t progressed enough for him to play.
Green Bay and Minnesota have no former Washington Huskies on their squads.
Cincinnati
Washington Huskies career passing leader Jake Browning still can’t find his way onto the field in the NFL. This is his second season on the Bengals practice squad.
Drew Sample is now in his fourth NFL season. He started the first two games of the season but suffered a knee injury in the third. He’s likely done for 2022.
Baltimore
Marcus Peters, who missed last season because of an injury, returned this year in the second game of the season. This year, the three-time Pro Bowl corner has 14 tackles, 4 passes defended, an interception, a forced fumble, and a sack.
Cleveland
After spending two years as a backup, Nick Harris was expected to be the Cleveland Browns’ starting center in 2022. Unfortunately, a knee injury in the first preseason game will keep him out of action for the season.
Versatile offensive lineman Luke Wattenberg was drafted this year by Denver in the fifth round. Currently the Broncos’ backup center, he got into one play during the season opener in Seattle.
K.C. Drafted former Huskies’ number one defender, cornerback Trent McDuffie in the first round by this year. Unfortunately, he injured his hamstring in the opener. Now on the IR, it looks like he’ll stay there through Week 7.
Danny Shelton, who was a first-round pick in 2015 by the Cleveland Browns, has bounced around the league playing for three other teams in three years. He signed with the Chiefs during the off-season. They released Shelton at the end of training camp, then re-signed him to the practice squad.
There are no Washington Huskies alumni on either Las Vegas or the L.A. Chargers.
The Miami Dolphins have two former Huskies on their team, running backs Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed. Now behind Raheem Mostert and Chase Edmonds, both have struggled to get any consistent playing time this season.
Gaskin has only 4 carries for 9 yards and 3 catches for 26 yards, all coming in Game 5. Ahmed has no touches and plays only on special teams. He’s out of action with a back injury.
Defensive back Myles Bryant signed an undrafted free agent contract with the New England Patriots in 2020. He had to fight injuries and spent time on the Pats practice squad before his elevation to the main roster.
Perseverance paid off, as Bryant is now New England’s top nickelback. So far, he has 20 tackles and a fumble recovery in 2022.
Neither Buffalo nor the NY Jets have any Husky alumni.
Check back with us for updates on Washington Huskies alumni in the NFL.