It's a Football Factory: 33 Former Huskies Received NFL Game Time
Face it, the University of Washington is a football school.
Thirty-three former Huskies played in National Football League games during its recently completed regular season, with nine players of them advancing with their teams to the playoff rounds.
Counting guys who had bounced around some, six of these ex-UW players were rookies, with five of them advancing to the league without getting drafted.
Sixteen were offensive players, 16 showed up on defense and one was a kicker.
They played for 19 of the 32 NFL teams.
Collectively, they scored 15 touchdowns this past season.
Twenty-two were NFL starters at some point and 10 were reserves or special-teamers only.
Six were cornerbacks, four were tight ends and four were wide receivers.
Salvon Ahmed, who was waived twice before emerging at midseason for the Miami Dolphins as a tailback replacement for one-time UW teammate Myles Gaskin, supplied the most amazing statistical effort — rushing for 122 yards against the New England Patriots.
Safety Budda Baker with the Arizona Cardinals had the most amazing stat among these former Huskies that could have been so much more — he went 90 yards with an interception against the Seattle Seahawks before getting caught from behind by DK Metcalf.
Baker, of course, didn't let that prevent him from becoming the most feted of these ex-UW players turned pay-for-play performers, earning first-team All-Pro honors last week.
See how they did in our tracker, with players listed in alphabetical order.
HUSKY NFL RECAP:
Salvon Ahmed, RB, Miami Dolphins — The undrafted rookie started 4 of the 6 games he played and rushed 75 times for 319 yards and 3 touchdowns; his 122 yards rushing against the Patriots was Miami's first 100-plus game in two seasons.
Budda Baker, S, Arizona Cardinals — The fourth-year veteran and the game's highest-paid safety ever started all 15 games he appeared; he came up with 118 tackles and a pair of interceptions and again was first-team NFL All-Pro selection.
Hunter Bryant, TE, Detroit Lions — As an undrafted rookie, Bryant overcame a string of injuries to play in 5 games as a reserve and caught one pass for 44 yards.
Myles Bryant, CB, New England Patriots — As an undrafted rookie, the defensive back was elevated from the practice squad and appeared in 9 games as a reserve, made 11 tackles and had an interception.
Ben Burr-Kirven, LB, Seattle Seahawks — The second-year special-teamer appeared in all 16 games, plus a playoff game, and logged 8 tackles.
Darrell Daniels, TE, Arizona Cardinals — The fifth-year veteran started 8 of the 12 games he played and caught a career-high 8 passes for 92 yards and a score.
Will Dissly, TE, Seattle Seahawks — The third-year veteran stayed healthy after his first two seasons ended early and he played in all 16 games, plus a playoff game, started 12 and caught 24 passes for 251 yards and 2 scores.
Jake Eldrenkamp, OG, Indianapolis Colts — After five years of bouncing around NFL training camps, Eldrenkamp earned a roster spot during the season as a belated rookie, made his NFL debut and played in two games as a reserve.
Greg Gaines, DT, Los Angeles Rams — The second-year lineman appeared in all 16 games as a reserve, plus a playoff game, and collected 30 tackles, picked up a pair of sacks and recovered a fumble.
Myles Gaskin, RB, Miami Dolphins — The second-year runner started 7 of the 10 games he played and rushed 142 times for a team-leading 584 yards and 3 TDs, and he caught 41 passes for 388 yards and 2 more scores; he had rushing games of 87, 90 and 91 yards.
Marvin Hall, WR, Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns — In his fourth season, Hall started 6 of the 12 games he played for a pair of teams; he caught a combined 18 passes for 302 yards and 2 scores.
Nick Harris, C, Cleveland Browns — As a rookie, Harris appeared in 12 games, playing mostly on special teams and starting once at right guard, before hurting a knee, going on injured reserve and missing the playoffs.
Sidney Jones, CB, Jacksonville Jaguars — After getting cut by Philadelphia, the fourth-year veteran signed with the Jags and started 6 of 9 games for his new team; he totaled 25 tackles, intercepted 2 passes and forced a fumble.
Senio Kelemente, OG, Houston Texans — In his eighth NFL season, the veteran offensive lineman started 5 of the 14 games he played.
Kevin King, CB, Green Bay Packers — The fourth-year corner started all 11 games he played after missing 5 games with a quad injury, will appear in a playoff game, and has logged 56 tackles and 5 pass defenses.
Cory Littleton, LB, Las Vegas Raiders — The fifth-year middle linebacker started all 14 games he played and piled up 75 tackles.
Kaleb McGary, OT, Atlanta Falcons — In his second season, he started 13 of the 14 games he played at right tackle.
Jaydon Mickens, WR, Tampa Bay Bucs — A fourth-year veteran, he appeared in 10 games as a reserve, and got waived and re-signed at midseason; returning to the active roster for the playoffs, he's caught 7 passes for 58 yards.
Jordan Miller, CB, Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks — The second-year corner was suspended for violating the league PED policy, played in 1 game for the Falcons, and was waived and signed by Seattle to its practice squad.
Byron Murphy, CB, Arizona Cardinals — In his second NFL season, the cornerback started 7 of 15 seasons, defended 8 passes, forced 2 fumbles and totaled 57 tackles.
Marcus Peters, CB, Baltimore Ravens — The sixth-year corner started all 14 games he played entering the playoffs, intercepted 4 passes, defended 9, forced a fumble and recovered 2, and piled up 52 tackles.
Dante Pettis, WR, San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants — Playing for two teams, the third-year vet started 1 of 7 games he played, went on and off the COVID/reserve list, and he caught 4 passes for 76 yards and a touchdown.
Taylor Rapp, S, Los Angeles Rams — The second-year safety started 5 of 9 games he played and entered the playoffs on injured reserve; he totaled 43 tackles, defended 3 passes, intercepted a pass and forced a fumble.
John Ross, WR, Cincinnati Bengals — A fourth-year vet, Ross started 1 of 3 games as a wide receiver, caught 2 passes for 17 yards and went on injured reserve while practicing at cornerback.
Drew Sample, TE, Cincinnati Bengals — The second-year player started 13 of the 16 games he played, and he caught 40 passes for 349 yards and a touchdown.
Coleman Shelton, C, Los Angeles Rams — The second-year lineman appeared in 15 games, mostly on special teams, plus a playoff game.
Danny Shelton, DT, Detroit Lions — A sixth-year veteran defensive lineman, Shelton started all 12 games he played with his new team, totaled 37 tackles and defended a pass.
Shaq Thompson, LB, Carolina Panthers — In his sixth season, he started 15 of the 16 games he played, finished with 114 tackles, defended 5 passes, forced 2 fumbles and recovered one.
Desmond Trufant, CB, Detroit Lions — In an injury-filled season, which was his eighth in the NFL, Trufant played and started 6 games, intercepted a pass, defended 4 passes and logged 20 tackles.
Ezekiel Turner, S, Arizona Cardinals — The special-teamer appeared in 16 games in his third season, supplied 12 tackles, blocked 2 punts and caught a 26-yard pass on a fake punt.
Vita Vea, DT, Tampa Bay Bucs — A third-year defensive lineman, he started 5 games and was lost for the season with a broken leg; he finished with 10 tackles, 3 for lost yardage.
Tristan Vizcaino, PK, San Francisco 49ers — He made his NFL debut three years after leaving the UW and appeared in the 49ers' last game of the regular season; he kicked 3 of 3 field goals with a long of 47 and converted 2 of 2 extra-point kicks.
Dwayne Washington, RB, New Orleans Saints — The fourth-year tailback came off the COVID-19 reserve list, played in 11 games as a reserve, is on the active roster for the playoffs, and has rushed 8 times for 15 yards.
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