Former Washington Husky outside linebacker/EDGE Joe Tryon got good news just after midnight on his 22nd birthday when he was selected by Tampa Bay with the 32nd and final pick in the first round.
He is the first former Husky to be selected in the 2021 NFL Draft.
“Joe Tryon, it’s his pass-rush skills,” Washington outside linebackers coach Ikaika Malloe told the reporters earlier this month. “He’s a long athletic player, he has flexible hips and his hand-swipes, how violent he is with his hands, that will be his asset moving on to the next level.”
Tryon announced on Aug. 30, 2020, that he would forgo his remaining college eligibility and enter the 2021 NFL Draft.
In 2020, Tryon was named to Phil Steele’s preseason All-America first team and also named to the preseason second team by The Sporting News and to the preseason fourth team by Pick Six Previews as well as being named to the preseason watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski and Butkus Awards.
Coming in at 6-foot-5 and weighing 259 pounds, Tryon becomes part of an edge-rushing rotation that includes Jason Pierre-Paul, Shaq Barrett, and Anthony Nelson.
Tryon also will team up with another Washington Husky on the dominant Buccaneers defense Vita Vea.
Earlier this week, the Buccaneers announced that the team had exercised the fifth-year contract option on defensive tackle Vita Vea.
Vea, 6-foot-4 and weighing 347 pounds was the 12th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. In his first three seasons, he has started 29-of-34 regular-season games played, recording 73 tackles (11 for loss), 19 quarterback hits, 7.5 sacks, and three passes defensed. After returning from Injured Reserve in 2020, Vea appeared in both the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl for Tampa Bay.
With Vea starting 21 games upfront from 2019-20, the Buccaneers became the first defense since the Minnesota Vikings (2006-08) to lead the NFL in rushing yards allowed in back-to-back seasons. Since 2019 Tampa Bay has allowed 77.2 rushing yards per game and 3.43 yards per rush – both marks rank first in the NFL during that span.
Prior to being drafted by Tampa Bay, Vea played three seasons at Washington, earning both All-Pac-12 First Team and Pat Tillman Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year honors in his final season in 2017. He is a native of Milpitas, California.