Washington Huskies Football: Desmond Trufant Drafted By Atlanta Falcons

Nov 26, 2011; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington Huskies cornerback Desmond Trufant (6) prior to the game against the Washington State Cougars at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

“With the 22nd pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons select Desmond Trufant: defensive back, Washington” were the words out of Roger Goodell’s mouth Thursday night at Radio City Music Hall.

Those words mark the twentieth time a Husky has been drafted in the first round; the last time being Jake Locker in 2011, going eighth overall to the Tennessee Titans.

Not only is he the twentieth first round pick, he is the 299th Husky to be drafted since the draft’s inception in 1936. Since the draft was reduced to the seven rounds it is today in 1994, the Huskies have now had 39 players drafted after Trufant.

Each of the past three drafts, there have been two Huskies drafted, but it is unlikely there will be another Husky picked this year.

Trufant had an impressive four-year career at Washington, where he started for almost all of those four years. He will now look to follow both of his brothers’ footsteps and continue that success into the NFL.

He was not an interception machine at UW, picking off six passes in his four seasons, but was named to the first team All-Pac-12 his senior season after being an honorable mention as a junior.

He had just the one interception last season, but Husky fans will remember it as one of the biggest of the season. As Stanford was driving late in the game, looking to take the lead, Josh Nunes made the mistake of throwing on Trufant and was picked off to seal the upset over the Cardinal.

He didn’t get as many of those opportunities as he improved into a shutdown corner, but took advantage of them when he did.

By the time he left Washington, he had led the secondary to become the No. 16 pass defense in the nation in 2012.

Sean Parker, Marcus Peters and the rest of the secondary will now look to take over where Trufant left off, but it will be a big hole to fill.

There is no question that the Falcons are getting one of the premier cornerbacks in the 2013 NFL Draft.