Four former Wildcats on NFL rosters as 2023 season begins

As the 2023 NFL season gets underway, Weber State is well represented across the league with four former Wildcats standouts currently on NFL rosters.

The four players on this year's active rosters is tied for the second-most from any FCS school in the country.

Former Wildcats Taron Johnson (Bills), Sua Opeta (Eagles), Jonah Williams (Rams), and Rashid Shaheed (Saints) are all on 53-man NFL rosters entering the 2023 season.

The former Wildcat with the most NFL experience is Taron Johnson with the Buffalo Bills. Johnson was drafted in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Bills and enters the 2023 season having played in 71 regular season games and eight playoff games in his five seasons in Buffalo. He has started 50 career games entering the 2023 season and has 352 total tackles with 263 solo tackles, as well as four forced fumbles and four interceptions. He has returned two interceptions for touchdowns, including a 101-yard return for a TD in Buffalo's playoff win over the Baltimore Ravens in 2021.

Johnson was an All-American in 2017 and was named the Big Sky Defensive MVP that season in helping the Wildcats to the Big Sky title. He played in 47 games in his four seasons at Weber State from 2014-17 and is still WSU's all-time leader in pass breakups with 42.

Another Wildcat on an active NFL roster is offensive guard Sua Opeta with the Philadelphia Eagles. He has played in 25 games in the last three seasons with the Eagles and started in four games.

Opeta played four seasons at Weber State from 2015-18 and twice earned All-America and first-team All-Big Sky honors. He played in 50 career games with the Wildcats and started every game of his final three seasons on the offensive line.

Another former Wildcat part of the 53-man roster this year is Jonah Williams with the Losngeles Rams. Williams has played in 24 games over the last two seasons with the Rams and was part of the Rams Super Bowl winning team during the 2022 season. He has recorded 28 tackles, including 12 solo tackles over the last two seasons, and has started in six games with the Rams.

Williams was the Big Sky Defensive MVP and earned All-America honors in 2019. He played in 54 career games at Weber State from 2016-19 and had 15 career sacks and 28 tackles for loss.
A second-year former Wildcat in the NFL that made a splash in his professional debut last season is Rashid Shaheed with the New Orleans Saints.

He was undrafted following the 2022 sason but landed with the Saints and was activated four games into the season. He immediately made a splash with a 44-yard touchdown on his first play in the NFL. He also scored a touchdown on his next touch, a 57-yard reception.

In 12 games with the Saints last season, Shaheed started six games and finished with 28 receptions for 488 yads and two touchdowns. He also had four carries for 57 yards and a touchdown.

Shaheed is the only player in Weber State history to earn All-America honors four times and is tied as the FCS all-time leader in career kickoff return touchdowns with seven. He is also third in Weber State career history in all-purpose yards and is seventh in career receiving yards.

Weber State University Athletics

Four former Wildcats on NFL rosters as 2023 season begins

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