CHENEY, Wash. — With the 2023 NFL season ready to get underway on Thursday night, Eastern Washington University leads all Big Sky Conference members with five players on NFL rosters.
EWU Eagles on 2023 NFL Rosters
- Kendrick Bourne, WR, New England Patriots
- Samson Ebukam, DE, Indianapolis Colts
- Taiwan Jones, RB, New York Giants*
- Cooper Kupp, WR, LA Rams
- Nsimba Webster, WR, Chicago Bears*
*practice squad
Cooper Kupp
Kupp looks to bounce back from an injury-riddled 2022 campaign that limited him to 9 games played. He still piled up 812 yards receiving on 75 receptions, scoring 6 touchdowns. His career highlight to-date was the 2021 campaign, during which he led the entire NFL in all three primary receiving categories, scoring 16 touchdowns on 145 receptions and 1,947 yards. The catches and yards numbers were both Rams franchise records and the "Triple Crown" achievement was the first in the NFL since 2005. He also set several NFL records, including most yards from scrimmage by a wide receiver and the 1st-ever receiver with 2,000+ receiving yards combined between regular season and postseason.
At Eastern, Kupp rewrote the record books from 2013-16, establishing 15 FCS, 11 Big Sky and 26 EWU marks. He pulled in an incredible 428 catches for 6,464 yards and 73 touchdowns in 52 games played from 2013-16. Those numbers obliterated the existing FCS records of 395 receptions (Terrell Hudgins, Elon, 2006-09) and 58 touchdowns (David Ball, New Hampshire, 2003-06). His yards mark stands alone among all divisions of NCAA football, besting a record set in 1999 by Scott Pingel of Division-III Westminster College. He was selected in the 3rd round (69th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Rams.
Kendrick Bourne
One of five Eagles to appear in a Super Bowl, Bourne went undrafted after a prolific Eastern career from 2013-16, during which he was a three-time All-Big Sky selection and went 39-straight games with at least 1 catch. Bourne formed an incredible duo with Kupp as the two played together in each of Bourne's 52 career games (32 starts). As a pro, he signed a free agent deal with San Francisco in 2017 and played 4 seasons with the 49ers before signing a 3-year deal with New England in 2021. In 91 career NFL games entering 2023, he has racked up 227 receptions for 3,003 yards and 17 TDs, highlighted by an 800-yard, 5-TD campaign in 2021 with the Patriots.
Samson Ebukam
An All-American in 2016, a Freshman All-American in 2013 and a three-time All-Big Sky selection, Ebukam had 24 sacks in his career to rank sixth in school history. He finished with 188 total tackles in 53 games (38 as a starter). He was selected in the 4th round (125th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Rams and has been a regular NFL contributor ever since, making 56 starts in 91 games between the Rams (4 years) and San Francisco 49ers (2), recording 220 tackles (134 solo) and 22 sacks, with at least 3 sacks in each of the last 5 seasons.
Taiwan Jones
Originally recruited as a cornerback, Jones switched to running back as a redshirt sophomore and never looked back, becoming an All-American and Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year. Jones averaged 7.7 yards per carry in 24 games as an Eagle from 2008-10, serving a critical role on the 2010 National Championship team. He finished 4th in the Walter Payton Award voting. He was drafted in the same slot as Ebukam — 4th round, 125th overall — just 6 years earlier in 2011 to the Oakland Raiders. He has enjoyed a long NFL career, entering 2023 with 137 games played, primarily as a returner.
Nsimba Webster
A speedy receiver originally from Antioch, Calif., Webster piled up 156 catches, 2,233 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns as an Eagle from 2015-18, with each mark standing inside the Top 20 in program history upon his departure. His most-memorable performance came in December 2018 when he tied the Eagle single game record with 4 TD receptions in an FCS Playoffs win over Maine, also tying the FCS Playoffs single game record. Undrafted out of college, he signed a free agent deal with the Rams and has since had stops in San Francisco and Chicago. He has appeared in 29 career NFL games, mostly on special teams as a returner while adding 2 catches for 14 yards.
Tickets for the 2023 EWU Football season are now available! Visit goeags.com/tickets or call the EWU Athletics Ticket Office at 509-359-6059 to secure yours today.
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.
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