Washington Huskies in the NFL : Who played and who didn't?
By Mark Knight
The University of Washington has plenty of former Huskies that are currently on NFL rosters this season. UW boasts one of the most amount of NFL players at a whopping 39 that are currently on an NFL Roster, whether practice squad, IR, or active.
Who are those players? How many of them saw playing time during Week 1 of the NFL season and how did they do?
Former Washington Huskies in the NFL: Who played in week 1?
Player/Position | Team |
|---|---|
Andre Baccellia - WR | Arizona Cardinals |
Budda Baker - S | Arizona Cardinals |
Kevin King - CB | Atlanta Falcons |
Kaleb McGary - OT | Atlanta Falcons |
Michael Penix Jr. - QB | Atlanta Falcons |
Bralen Trice - OLB | Atlanta Falcons |
Roger Rosengarten - OT | Baltimore Ravens |
Taylor Rapp - S | Buffalo Bills |
Edefuan Ulofoshio - LB | Buffalo Bills |
Dillon Johnson - RB | Carolina Panthers |
Shaq Thompson - ILB | Carolina Panthers |
Kyler Gordon - CB | Chicago Bears |
Rome Odunze - WR | Chicago Bears |
Coleman Shelton - OL | Chicago Bears |
Dante Pettis - WR | Chicago Bears |
Jake Browning - QB | Cincinnati Bengals |
Jaxson Kirland - OL | Cincinnati Bengals |
Drew Sample - TE | Cincinnati Bengals |
Nick Harris - C | Cleveland Browns |
Luke Wattenberg - C | Denver Broncos |
Levi Onwuzurike - DT | Detroit Lions |
Ralen Goforth - LB | Green Bay Packers |
Myles Bryant - CB | Houston Texans |
Zeke Turner - LB | Houston Texans |
Trent McDuffie - CB | Kansas City Chiefs |
Keith Taylor - CB | Kansas City Chiefs |
Will Dissly - TE | Los Angeles Chargers |
Elijah Molden - S | Los Angeles Chargers |
Myles Gaskin - RB | Minnesota Vikings |
Byron Murphy Jr. - CB | Minnesota Vikings |
Ja'Lynn Polk - WR | New England Patriots |
Troy Fautanu - OT | Pittsburgh Steelers |
Devin Culp - TE | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
Greg Gaines - DT | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
Jalen McMillan - WR | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
Cade Otton - TE | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
Joe Tryon-Shoyinka - OLB | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
Vita Vea - DT | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
Dominique Hampton - S | Washington Commanders |
As you can see from the table above, there are a couple teams that seem to love drafting and playing former Huskies, like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons. That being said, this list of 39 players consists of 19 of the 32 teams in the NFL.
How did they do, you may be asking in their Week 1 action? Well first let's take out the Practice Squad members and those that started the year on injured reserve. The practice squad players are: Andre Baccellia, Dillon Johnson, and Zeke Turner.
Those that started the year on IR are: Bralen Trice, Dante Pettis, and Ralen Goforth. That leaves us with 32 active players for Week 1.
The next task is identifying those players that did not see any snaps, only served as backups, or did not record a stat. That list is Michael Penix Jr., Edefuan Ulofoshio, Jake Browning, Jaxson Kirkland, Drew Sample, Nick Harris, Troy Fautanu, Devin Culp, and Dominique Hampton.
That brings the total of UW players who saw snaps and played in Week 1 of the 2024-2025 NFL season up to 23. which is still an impressive amount of players with playing time and below you will see their Week 1 stats.
- Budda Baker - 10 total tackles
- Kevin King - 2 snaps, 1 assisted tackle
- Kaleb McGary - Started
- Roger Rosengarten - Played 19 snaps
- Taylor Rapp - 5 total tackles, 1 pass defense
- Shaq Thompson - 10 total tackles
- Kyler Gordon - 4 total tackles
- Rome Odunze - 1 reception, 11 yards (Fumble - not lost)
- Coleman Shelton - Started
- Luke Wattenberg - Started
- Levi Onquzurike - 2 tackles, 0.5 sacks
- Myles Bryant - 1 tackle
- Byron Murphy Jr. - 9 tackles, 1 pass defense
- Ja'Lynn Polk - 1 reception, 6 yards
- Greg Gaines - 1 tackle
- Jalen McMillan - 1 reception, 32 yards, TD
- Cade Otton - 1 reception, 5 yards
- Joe Tryon-Shoyinka - 2 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble
- Vita Vea - 3 tackles
All things considered, that's a pretty solid group and many of those guys are going to continue getting significant playing time as the season goes on.