Trice Probably Won't Be a First-Rounder, But He Should Be

Bralen Trice kind of sneaks up on you. It went that way for four seasons as a University of Washington edge rusher. People didn't always see him coming.

He didn't play in any games in Montlake for two seasons because he redshirted as a freshman and opted out during the COVID pandemic in 2020 and stayed home.

Then-UW edge coach Ikaika Malloe surprised a media audience one day during spring football by suggesting Trice would be a better player than his former teammate Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, who was an NFL first-round draft pick.

Trice next surprised a Husky Stadium crowd in 2021 by entering the game as a reserve and  picking up an Arkansas State fumble and rumbling 72 yards with it to score. 

Now the 6-foot-4, 274-pound defender from the Phoenix suburbs is done with college football after playing for three UW coaches, appearing in 40 games, starting 29 times and finishing with 18 career sacks. He'll be one of 13 Huskies taking part in the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis this week.

Trice probably won't be a first-round draft pick — at least that's what the analysts such as NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah are intimating — but he's destined to be a solid NFL player, even better than Tryon-Shoyinka, and later could make people wonder why he didn't go in those first 32 picks of the upcoming April draft.

This possible draft slight may stem from perception that leans heavy to the statistical side. Trice didn't have big numbers this past season, finishing with just 7 sacks in 15 games, yet he was double-teamed almost exclusively, unbearably so at times.

He's one of those guys who might be a lot better than the experts think. Opposing teams seemed to acknowledge the damage he was capable of doing by regularly ignoring other UW defenders to concentrate on him. 

"Trice is a real gifted edge rusher," Jeremiah said. "I don't think he's the most dynamic or explosive, but he's just a really, really skilled rusher who has been productive. He just knows how to play. He's really good with his hands. He's not going to wow you with his bend at the top of his rush, but he can just kind of pry that outside shoulder and go win."

Trice wowed some people but not everyone who handed out postseason individual recognition. He walked away from the UW as a two-time, first-team All-Pac-12 selection yet a third-team Associated Press All-America choice. 

He still might be better than the four edge rushers around the country who were chosen higher than him for that AP team.

The thing is Trice, never bothered by a lack of accolades and fairly satisfied with everything that took place for him in Seattle, knows how good he is without pounding a drum about it, which makes him a scary player. 

"Every series, I'm telling myself I have to give everything I can and empty the tank every single time.," Trice said in 2022 after terrorizing Texas in the Alamo Bowl. "I know it reflects on the rest of the defense because I know those guys can feel my energy."

Among his teammates, wide receiver Rome Odunze and offensive tackle Troy Fautanu appear to be guaranteed first-rounders, even making it to the upper end of the opening round. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr., however, appears to be tagged as a second-rounder, same as Trice, which means somebody has a question about something real or imagined. 

Yet whether people know it or not, Trice is coming hard off the corner of college football, headed for draft day like he would some unsuspecting quarterback. 

He's probably a 10-year NFL player waiting to happen, though, again, as a second-rounder. He could come up with way more pro sacks than he did for the Huskies because teams won't be able to double up on him as much.

The smart franchise will take Trice as soon as they articulate his name.