NFL Locals: Growing group of former area standouts ready to kick off season
NFL rosters are full of players from different walks of life. There’s a growing contingent that at one point called the Inland Northwest home.
Among them are Super Bowl champions. There are starters and backups, rookies and veterans. Underdogs turned millionaires. Former first-round picks scrapping for another deal.
They’ll all start with a clean slate this week as the NFL season kicks off. Here’s where they stand as of Monday.
Players listed alphabetically by school.
Washington State
• River Cracraft, WR, Miami Dolphins: Cracraft will have to wait, but when the time comes he should contribute to one of the league’s top offenses.
Cracraft will miss the first four games of the season after being placed on the injured reserve with a shoulder injury he suffered while catching a touchdown pass in a preseason game.
When he returns he’ll join a four-man receiving room with Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Braxton Berrios and rookie Malik Washington. The Dolphins keeping a small group of wideouts signals their faith in Cracraft’s ability when he returns.
Cracraft was a role player in between injuries the last two seasons. Since joining Miami in 2022 he has 18 receptions for 123 yards and three touchdowns. The 30-year-old is on his third consecutive one-year deal ($1.24 million) with the Dolphins.
Cracraft expressed his appreciation to the Dolphins during a recent interview with the Dan Le Batard Show.
“When I was with the Broncos I got released maybe eight different times,” Cracraft said, while discussing the many transactions he’s had in his career. “It’s hard for someone to tell you you’re no good, or you’re not good enough.
“In my NFL career (Miami coach) Mike (McDaniel) and Wes Welker are the only two that have ‘given me a chance.’ I’ve always been the guy that knows my responsibilities, but I’ve also been the guy that has a lack of talent to come through with it.”
• Andre Dillard, OT, Green Bay Packers: Dillard has had a rough go in the NFL.
The 2019 first-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles is on his third team, playing on a 1-year, $1.125 million contract.
This may be his last chance.
The three-year deal he signed with the Tennessee Titans ahead of the 2023 season was cut short, after he was released in March. Dillard was tied for the league lead with 12 sacks allowed and gave up 42 QB pressures, ranking 108th of 136 offensive tackles, according to Pro Football Focus.
At least in the preseason, Dillard has found better footing in Green Bay. The left tackle had a PFF pass-blocking grade of 90.1 this preseason, the highest of any tackle who played more than 50 snaps.
His performance was good enough to land a spot on the 53-man roster. Dillard is questionable for Week 1 with a shoulder injury, but he should be in the mix this season to try and get his career on track.
• Daiyan Henley, LB, Los Angeles Chargers: Henley seems to have scored some extra playing time from his new head coach.
Henley, by all reports, will be the Chargers Week 1 starter at linebacker, winning the job a year after being selected in the third round of the draft.
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh will try to forge the team into a defense-first group, the same kind he’s found success with previously at the NFL and collegiate levels.
Henley had 16 tackles in 15 games as a rookie.
• Jaden Hicks, S, Kansas City Chiefs: People are talking about Hicks as a possible breakout rookie. Take a former All-Pro’s word for it.
New Orleans Saint safety Tyrann Mathieu, who starred for the Chiefs from 2019 to 2021, sent a text to general manager Brett Veach saying Hicks “is a stud,” after watching the former Coug during the preseason. He backed that message up with a post on X.
“The kid can play! He will be around for a while,” Mathieu wrote.
Hicks had 14 tackles, a forced fumble and two pass defenses during the preseason. He’s second on the team’s depth chart at strong safety behind veteran Justin Reid. At least for now he’ll have to wait, but the Chiefs may have hit with their fourth-round pick.
• Brennan Jackson, DE, Los Angeles Rams: Jackson made the Rams’ roster after being drafted in the fifth round last spring. He battled a soft tissue injury during training camp and played in just one preseason game, recording one tackle. He figures to be a deep reserve.
Jackson seemed to be enjoying his time with the Rams during an interview with the Orange County Register last month.
“I tell everybody when they ask me how I’m doing: ‘Living the dream,’ ” Jackson said. “This is everything I dreamed of as a kid, being around such amazing players and vets that all have done a great job of giving their piece of knowledge to me.”
• Abraham Lucas, OT, Seattle Seahawks: Lucas figures to be an integral part of the Seahawks offensive line. When he’ll be able to play remains a question, after undergoing knee surgery in the offseason.
“We’re going to play the long game with him and make sure we’re doing things appropriately,” general manager John Schneider said. “This is for his career, it’s not just for the 2024 season. We want to make sure that we’re doing the right thing by Abe, which also is the right thing for the Seattle Seahawks. We have to be careful with it, Sam and David Stricklin and those guys have a great plan for him, and we’ll keep working that plan. It has nothing to do with Abe’s work ethic or anything; he’s attacked this thing as much as we can, that’s just where we are right now.”
• Frankie Luvu, LB, Washington Commanders: Luvu had a breakout year in 2023. Now with a new team, he’ll have a chance to star alongside a Northwest legend.
Luvu will team up with former Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner under new Washington head coach Dan Quinn.
“Sometimes we don’t say anything, but we just feel each other, and it just connects man,” Luvu said of Wagner. “Like we just kind of play off each other. The communication level between me and him is on point so it’s moving forward, and the process is to keep it like that.”
Luvu had five tackles in limited preseason action. Last season with Carolina he had a career-high 125 total tackles (66 solo, 59 assisted) and 5½ sacks. Luvu signed with the Commanders on a three-year, $31 million contract in the offseason.
• Gardner Minshew, QB, Las Vegas Raiders: If Las Vegas needed another show in town, a residency for “Minshew Mania” should provide ample entertainment.
Minshew was named the Raiders starter after signing a two-year, $25 million contract in the offseason. He won the battle over incumbent Aidan O’Connell, who was up-and-down as a rookie last season.
“He’s a football junkie,” first-year coach Antonio Pierce said of Minshew. “We always talk about Maxx (Crosby) and Christian (Wilkins) about being the first guys in the building, but he’s not too far behind. And he stays late, and he’s done a lot of things without a lot of hype and things that we talk about throughout the building that’s starting to show up a little bit.”
Minshew led the Indianapolis Colts to a 9-6 record after taking over for injured rookie Anthony Richardson last season and was named to his first Pro Bowl. He threw for 3,305 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions, as the Colts missed out on a playoff spot in the last week of the regular season.
• Chau Smith-Wade, CB, Carolina Panthers: Chau Smith-Wade made the 53-man roster after being drafted in the fifth round.
Smith-Wade had seven tackles in the preseason and will start the season as the backup nickel corner, according to the team’s unofficial depth chart.
• Jalen Thompson, S, Arizona Cardinals: Thompson will return to his post as a consistent figure in the Cardinals secondary.
Thompson, 26, has 385 tackles and nine interceptions in five seasons with Arizona. He has two years remaining on a contract extension he signed in 2022.
Thompson and former Washington Huskies rival Budda Baker, with whom he’s shared a secondary his entire pro career, will anchor an Arizona defense in need of improving.
The Cardinals (4-13 in 2023) were 31st in points allowed and 28th in yards per play. That was mostly due to their NFL-worst rush defense (2,434 yards allowed), rather than their pass defense, which was 12th-best.
• Jaylen Watson, CB, Kansas City: Watson has gone 2-for-2 on Super Bowl wins since joining the NFL as a seventh -round pick.
Watson made key contributions early, including a game-clinching 99-yard pick-six in his second game and two more interceptions in the playoffs. His role was reduced slightly last season, with fewer games started (6-2) and fewer tackles (49-33).
Watson revealed he played with a torn labrum since Week 2 and underwent surgery in the offseason. He returned to action for the Chiefs final preseason game and had seven tackles with a pass defense.
“He needed the work, yeah, he needed the work,” Kansas City coach Andy Reid said. “He’s a good football player, he just needs to work through all of this. We kept him in there and gave him some snaps to do that with.”
Watson will start the season as a backup behind Trent McDuffie, but should rotate in.
Eastern Washington
• Kendrick Bourne, WR, New England Patriots: Bourne is going to sit out at least four games, after the Patriots placed him on the physically unable to perform list.
Bourne hasn’t been able to return as quickly as hoped from a torn ACL suffered in Week 8 last season.
He was one of the Patriots’ top targets before he was injured, with 37 receptions for 406 yards and four touchdown. Bourne should return to a similar role when healthy. During the offseason he re-signed with New England on a three-year, $19.5 million deal.
• Samson Ebukam, DE, Indianapolis Colts: Ebukam’s season seemed to be over when he tore his Achilles in late July.
But the Colts are hopeful their reigning sack leader (9½) can return by December or January, after they placed him on the injured reserve with the ability to return last week.
“It’s a long shot, there’s no doubt,” Colts general manager Chris Ballard said. “But if you’re going to bet on somebody, you bet on Samson. It’s a long shot, but you never know.”
• Cooper Kupp, WR, L.A. Rams: Is this the year Kupp can stay healthy?
The last time he played a full season, Kupp put up numbers few have in NFL history, en route to winning Super Bowl MVP and Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Since then he’s played in 21 of 34 regular-season games.
“I feel good. We got a lot of good work in this offseason,” Kupp said during training camp. “The best thing about this last year was just being able to feel healthy and have a full offseason of work, not just for myself in terms of working out and building my body back up but also having that time with Matthew (Stafford), being able to get on the field and work through things together.”
Kupp will pair with second-year wideout Puka Nacua as one of the best receiving duos in the league. Last year they combined for 2,223 yards, despite Kupp missing five games.
• Nsimba Webster, WR, Chicago Bears: The Bears placed Webster on injured reserve to start the season, after suffering a groin injury in preseason.
Webster has spent a lot of time on the Bears’ practice squad. He had five receptions for 89 yards during the preseason and handled punt return duties.
Idaho
• Kaden Elliss, LB, Atlanta Falcons: Elliss is coming back at the perfect time for the Falcons.
The team’s starting middle linebacker returned to practice last week after missing time with a groin injury.
He was one of the most effective tacklers in the league a season ago, ranking 25th with 122 combined tackles (82 solo, 40 assisted). Elliss’ career-high in tackles came after he signed a three-year, $21.5 million deal in the offseason.
First-year Falcons coach Raheem Morris likes what he has in his group, which features Elliss, another Big Sky product in Troy Andersen, who played on both sides of the ball at Montana State, and Nate Landman.
“It’s so fun to watch them communicate, to watch them do different things,” Morris said. “They’ve got different styles of play. They got speed differences. They’ve got all kinds of things.”
• Christian Elliss, LB, New England: Elliss has been limited at practice after suffering a head injury in the Patriots’ final preseason game.
Elliss may be ready to go by the opener, but is listed third on the team’s unofficial depth chart. During the preseason he had 21 tackles – the most on the team – and added a sack.
Elliss was picked up on waivers by the Patriots last December. He was mostly a special teams player during three seasons in Philadelphia.
• Hogan Hatten, LS, Detroit Lions: Hatten, whose twin brother Hayden was cut by the Seahawks, landed a spot on an NFL roster as a rookie.
Hatten is the team’s only long snapper going into the season, winning over coach Dan Campbell during training camp.
High schools
• Devin Culp (Gonzaga Prep), TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Culp made the Buccaneers roster after being drafted in the seventh round.
He’ll start the season listed fourth on the depth chart and will have the opportunity to learn behind former Washington Huskies teammate Cade Otton, the team’s starter.
Culp had three receptions for 24 yards during the preseason.
• Brett Rypien (Shadle Park), QB, Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings added some insurance to their quarterback room last week, waiving second-year player Jaren Hall in favor of the more-experienced backup Rypien.
Rypien was cut by the Bears this preseason. He has played 10 games in four seasons for the Denver Broncos and L.A. Rams, completing 58% of his passes for 950 yards, four touchdowns and nine interceptions.
The Vikings should settle Rypien into a third-string role behind starter Sam Darnold and backup Nick Mullnes. Minnesota likely would not have picked up Rypien had rookie QB J.J. McCarthy not suffered a season-ending injury.