Husky Roster Review: Leroy Bryant Keeps Moving Up at Corner

The first in a series of post-spring player profiles, going down the roster from No. 0 to 99.

Leroy Bryant is in the middle of the UW cornerback compeition. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Leroy Bryant wears No. 0, which hardly describes his chances of earning playing time for the University of Washington football team.

As a freshman last fall, the young cornerback appeared in seven games for Kalen DeBoer's coaching staff, and Bryant not only gained immediate experience he was able to preserve his redshirt status because his final three appearances came in postseason outings that didn't count against his eligibility. Clever how that worked out.

In the recently concluded Husky spring practice, while getting acquainted with Jedd Fisch's new staff, the 5-foot-11, 178-pound defensive back from Fairfield, California, put himself in the middle of the corner competition by bouncing between the No. 1 and 2 defenses.

This is the first in a series of articles -- going from 0 to 99 on the Husky roster -- examining what each scholarship player and leading walk-on did this past spring and what to expect from them going forward.

Bryant wears No. 0 for the first time because he wanted it instead of 23 and his teammates who had it last season, wide receiver Giles Jackson on offense and cornerback Jaivion Green on defense, weren't interested in continuing in the same wardrobe manner.

Jackson switched to No. 5 and Green transferred to Stanford, where he likewise wears No. 5.

Bryant doesn't do things in a prescribed manner. He showed up in Montlake as the least heralded of three freshman corners in the 2023 class with Caleb Presley from Seattle and Curley Reed II from Lake Charles, Louisiana -- a 3-star to their 4 stars -- and he was the first and still the only one of them to play in a game.

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Leroy Bryant gets a pass deflection in this spring drill. / Skylar Lin Visuals

The coaches like him for his instincts and quickness around the ball, especially his exceptional change of direction in tight spaces, all of which enables to keep up with even the toughest wide receivers.

LEROY BRYANT FILE

What he's done: Bryant played mostly on special teams covering kickoffs and appeared in those seven games in his first season, including the biggest outings against Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game, Texas in the Sugar Bowl and Michigan in the CFP title game. He finished with 4 tackles, among them a half tackle for loss (sharing it with a teammate) against Michigan State in his college debut.

Starter or not: Now a redshirt freshman, Bryant spent much of the first two weeks of spring ball running alongside Arizona transfer Ephesians Prysock as the No. 1 cornerbacks before senior Thaddeus Dixon made a move and assumed that role to the end. Returning UW starter Elijah Jackson dealt with minor ailments that made him miss multiple practices and the spring game. Once the season begins, Bryant likely backs up Prysock and Jackson, who are both juniors, but could start if needed.

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