BYU Football: Colby Pearson signing makes 19 former Cougars in the NFL
By Shaun Gordon
19 former BYU Football players are on NFL rosters as training camps hit full swing, but they’ll all have to fight to earn a spot on their team’s 53-man roster.
On Monday, the Atlanta Falcons announced that they’ve released three players and signed three, including former BYU wide receiver Colby Pearson.
Pearson spent last season on Green Bay’s practice squad, and he’ll look to crack the Falcons’ 53-man roster when the NFL regular season starts next month.
He’s not the only former Cougar that’s on an NFL roster as training camps pick up speed. 19 players who played for BYU are each taking their shot at starting the season in the league.
Six of those 19 players are newcomers, either drafted or signing as an undrafted free agent this offseason after suiting up for the Cougars last year.
The other 13 have at least one year as a part of a pro franchise, whether they’ve seen the field in an NFL game or not.
Let’s look at the veterans first:
- Ezekiel Ansah (Detroit Lions)
- Michael Davis (Los Angeles Chargers)
- John Denney (Miami Dolphins)
- Taysom Hill (New Orleans Saints)
- Bronson Kafusi (Baltimore Ravens)
- Harvey Langi (New England Patriots)
- Jordan Leslie (Denver Broncos)
- Kai Nacua (Baltimore Ravens)
- Colby Pearson (Atlanta Falcons)
- Daniel Sorensen (Kansas City Chiefs)
- Kyle Van Noy (New England Patriots)
- De’Ondre Wesley (Buffalo Bills)
- Jamaal Williams (Green Bay Packers)
And the newcomers:
- Micah Hannemann (Cleveland Browns)
- Tejan Koroma (Kansas City Chiefs)
- Tomasi Laulile (Indianapolis Colts)
- Dallin Leavitt (Oakland Raiders)
- Jonah Trinnaman (New York Jets)
- Fred Warner (San Francisco 49ers)
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There’s a realistic chance that some of these former Cougars won’t crack the 53-man roster once the regular season begins. Each team enters training camp with 90 players, so they’ll have to cut nearly half of their current roster. The deadline to cut the roster to 53 is September 1st.
Some players, like Ziggy Ansah, Kyle Van Noy, and Jamaal Williams, are relatively secure in knowing that they’ll be on that opening day roster. Others, like Pearson, Tejan Koroma, and Jonah Trinnaman will have to prove their worth over the next month.
But no contracts in the NFL are guaranteed, so every former Cougar on this list will have to prove themselves all over again, even a 13-year veteran like John Denney.