30-Day Countdown, Day 13: Best Future Pro

If you’re reading this, there are exactly zero Saturdays left this without college football. For Husky football specifically, there’s one more pesky Saturday left, but we’re here to keep you informed until then.

No actual criteria was used to select the candidates, but I tried to include not just obvious choices. Who would you choose?

OC Ryan Grubb

Hey, no one ever said it had to be a player. In 2016, when the Huskies were in the College Football Playoff, Ryan Grubb was coaching in his first FBS job as the offensive line coach at Eastern Michigan. His first year as a full fledged FBS coordinator was in 2019, for Fresno State. After turning a poor Washington offense into one of the nations best in just one year, he was courted by Alabama. He’s had an impressive rise through the coaching ranks and finding himself in the NFL in a couple years would not be a surprise. He doesn’t scream “college coach for life” to me, like say Chris Petersen did. The NFL has not been afraid to take fliers on young offensive minds with little to no pro experience.

His pass first approach is a fit in the modern NFL and has been effective at every stop he’s been. It is also seemingly quarterback and receiver friendly, practically a requirement today to attract any sort of talent. Kliff Kingsbury was a sub-500 head coach at Texas Tech, reaching just three bowl games in six years. But, his offense put up points, passing yards, and developed quarterbacks, and got a job coaching the Arizona Cardinals. With the way Grubb’s offense utilizes space on the field, and the QB/WR talent available in the NFL, it’s not impossible to see a very successful OC in the professional ranks.

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WR Rome Odunze

Rome Odunze, standing at 6-3, has very high end agility and acceleration for his size. He catches almost everything, and runs precise routes. He was a 200 meter sprint champion in high school, and this off season he ran a 4.34 40, a 4.19 pro agility shuttle as well as 37.1 inches on the vertical and 10-1 in the broad jump. Suffice it to say, those are borderline elite numbers for a 6-3 player. In the NFL when you have the athleticism and combine it with technique, big things happen. He’s already done it at the college level, and it’s not hard to envision him producing at the NFL level.

He also seemingly has a good head on his shoulders which is always important if we’re projecting long term success in a league like the NFL.

EDGE Bralen Trice

Trice projects as a possible first rounder after the season so a high end NFL career for him is already on the table. He has the length, motor, and quickness to be an elite pass rusher and showed last year he can put up the numbers. He’ll probably need to hit double digits in terms of sacks to reach first round status, but the size and tools are there. He’s also not just a pure pass rusher, and is solid against the run. The truly great defensive players at any level aren’t just good at one thing; to be a great defensive linemen, you need to be effective against both the pass and run. So far he’s shown he can do both.

OL Roger Rosengarten

Roger Rosengarten has shot up the list of Husky fan favorites in just one season starting in the purple and gold. The former four-star recruit put in a freshman All-American type of season protecting QB Michael Penix’s blind side, giving up precious few hurries

He doesn’t have impressive natural power, but he’s very athletic and plays with an edge. From his hand placement, to his feet, his technique is strong all around and it showed as he was a critical piece of an offensive line that kept Penix upright all season. He’s a very high floor player with great size, technique, and smarts. Offensive lineman like that can find a home in the NFL for a long time.

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DT Ulumoo Ale

This is a player just scratching the surface of his potential, so this is a down-the-road-projection. He’s always had the scary blend of size at 6-6 330 pounds, and athleticism, but only recently switched to defense. This will be his second full year on the defensive line and if he plays the way the coaches are talking like he could, he should land on an NFL team. Where he would be drafted or even taken as a free agent is difficult to say, but if he flashes enough this season and a team takes a chance on him, he could be a truly impact player on the defensive line. Being an impact DT in the NFL would certainly warrant him in the conversation as the best future pro.