Mississippi State Players in the NFL: NFC West

Jan 29, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Seattle Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright (50) at press conference at Arizona Grand in advance of Super Bowl XLIX. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Football season is getting closer and closer. If you’re at this site, then the college game is probably your preference when it comes to football.

Maybe you care about the NFL, maybe you don’t. If you haven’t paid attention to the professional players in a while, perhaps you want to start again. But who should you pull for?

Many fanatics of the college game will often choose their favorite team based off of the players who played for their favorite college team. And if you’re a Mississippi State fan, then you have a decent number of players to choose from to pick your favorite team.

There are only two former Bulldogs in the NFC West, and since there is only two, no slideshow for today.

Jay Hughes
St. Louis Rams

Jay Hughes spent a lot of time in Starkville. He was redshirted to begin his college career as so many freshmen are. Then came a season ending injury to the safety in the season opener in 2013.

After the injury that cost him his initial senior season, Hughes and Mississippi State petitioned the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility.

The NCAA did the right thing and it was granted.

Hughes was bale to make a successful comeback from the injury in 2014. Teams weren’t confident enough in his ability to draft him, but the St. Louis Rams did think enough of him to sign him as an Undrafted Free Agent. It is never easy for undrafted free agents to make it on teams, but Hughes has had enough trials to overcome in the past he should be well prepared to meet this one head on.

I certainly wouldn’t count him out.

K.J. Wright
Seattle Seahawks

K.J. Wright has had a great career thus far. The Seattle Seahawks picked up Wright in the fourth round of the 2011 draft. He worked his way quickly into the starting lineup. The Seahawks thought so much of Wright, they were willing to trade a former first round draft pick to the Raiders to make a place for Wright.

Wright isn’t going to wow people with his tackle numbers or sack numbers. His specialty is being a pass coverage linebacker. He is one of the best in the league at covering tight ends and running backs coming out of the back field. Some have even labeled him as the absolute best.

In his first four seasons, Wright has already played in two Super Bowls, and he was on the winning side once. Many think had it not been for a really bad play call at the end of the 2014 Super Bowl, he’d have two Super Bowl Rings on his hand.

The Seahawks labeled Wright as one of their core players, and signed Wright to a 4 year, $27 million contract extension this past offseason. The Seahawks wanted to make sure Wright was a Seahawk for a very long time. And Bulldog fans will get to see one of their own playing at the pinnacle of his sport for a very long time as well.