CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Pro Sports Report is a weekly piece from Cap City News recapping all of what the current Wyoming-connected professional sports athletes accomplished this week on the fields, courts and diamonds.
Below is a look at everyone who represented the Cowboy State at the highest levels of their respective sports this past week.
NOTE: The following players listed went to the University of Wyoming at some point in their college careers, played high school sports in the state, or both. For the NFL, only players currently on active rosters are listed.
FOOTBALL
Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills (UW)
The NFL MVP candidate and superstar signal-caller, as previously announced by the team, did not play in Buffalo’s preseason opener Saturday, a 27–24 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Instead, his two backups duked it out in their competition to be the No. 2 on the depth chart. Veteran Matt Barkley looked the most impressive, going 18-for-24 passing for 224 yards and an interception, while former Denver Broncos quarterback Case Keenum went 11-for-18 for 86 yards and two picks.
The Broncos visit the Bills at 11 a.m. Saturday for each team’s second game of the preseason.
Logan Wilson, LB, Cincinnati Bengals (UW/Natrona County High School)
The former Mustang and Cowboy is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, meaning he missed the Bengals’ preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals on Friday, but he has also recently returned to training camp drills as the Casper native prepares for his third NFL season.
Wilson is expected to be cleared to play in time for Cincinnati’s final preseason game — a Super Bowl rematch against the Los Angeles Rams — on Aug. 27, per reporting from CBS Sports.
Chad Muma, LB, Jacksonville Jaguars (UW)
A third-round NFL Draft pick this past offseason, Muma — who joined college teammate Andrew Wingard in Jacksonville — has already played two preseason games: Aug. 4’s Hall of Fame Game against the Las Vegas Raiders and Friday’s matchup against the Cleveland Browns, both of which were Jags losses.
Between the two games as part of a heavily rotated defense, Muma has tallied six total tackles and was part of the first-team defensive unit that came out to start the game against Cleveland. As the Colorado native fights to prove he’s worthy of playing time, he’ll hope in his rookie season to be the second former UW linebacker in recent years (along with Logan Wilson) to shine at the professional level.
Marcus Epps, S, Philadelphia Eagles (UW)
Epps has a major opportunity to shine with the Eagles’ secondary this season after the departure of Rodney McLeod, who signed in the offseason with the Colts. Now in his fourth NFL season after being undrafted out of college, Epps, 26, will look to improve upon his career-high 56 tackles from this past season as the former Poke looks to officially nail down a starting spot.
Epps did not record a stat in the Eagles’ 24–21 loss to the New York Jets in their preseason opener Friday.
Rico Gafford, CB/KR, Green Bay Packers (UW)
The speedster could sneak onto the Packers’ 53-man roster this season due to his versatility and ability to be placed into a variety of different roles. A former cornerback at UW and wide receiver throughout much of his pro career, Green Bay switched Gafford back to the defensive side of the ball — and marked him down as one of the options to return kicks — after signing him to a reserve/future contract in January.
Gafford tallied two tackles and took back one kickoff for 20 yards in the Packers’ 28–21 defeat to the San Francisco 49ers on Friday and will likely have further chances to prove himself to be deserving of a roster spot during Green Bay’s final two preseason games later this month.
Chase Roullier, C, Washington Commanders (UW)
Roullier missed a significant chunk of the 2021 season after suffering a fractured fibula, but the good news is that Washington took the former sixth-round pick off of the Physically Unable to Perform list a couple of weeks ago, giving him the all-clear to return to practice.
The former Cowboy sat out the Commanders’ preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers as he continues to recover.
Andrew Wingard, S, Jacksonville Jaguars (UW)
Wingard, who was a starter for Jacksonville last season, has been solid throughout the Jaguars’ two preseason games, tallying six total tackles between them.
Now sharing a defense with recent draft pick and fellow former Cowboy Chad Muma, Wingard and Jacksonville will continue their preseason schedule when it hosts the Pittsburgh Steelers this Saturday.
Carl Granderson, DT, New Orleans Saints (UW)
Granderson recorded two tackles in the Saints’ preseason defeat to the Houston Texans on Saturday.
The former undrafted free agent signed a two-year extension to his contract with New Orleans, the only franchise he’s played for professionally, this past offseason.
Taven Bryan, DT, Cleveland Browns (Natrona County High School)
The former Mustang and Florida Gator faced his former team, Jacksonville, in his preseason debut for the Browns, who signed Bryan to a one-year deal in the offseason.
Bryan didn’t record any stats in Cleveland’s opener, but the former first-round pick and one of Wyoming’s most talented prep talents in recent memory will be looking to get a jumpstart on his NFL career in a new setting.
Mike Purcell, DT, Denver Broncos (UW)
Purcell, a late bloomer in Denver who found some success on the Broncos’ D-line following a stint in the now-defunct Alliance of American Football, will particularly need to fight for a roster spot this time around as the 31-year-old has some young competition in his role.
Undrafted in 2013, Purcell had 33 tackles across a career-high 10 starts in 2021. He recorded no stats in Denver’s preseason-opening win over the Dallas Cowboys.
Jacob Hollister, TE, Las Vegas Raiders (UW)
One of Josh Allen’s favorite targets in Laramie, Hollister signed for Las Vegas in the offseason after a largely forgettable stint with the Jaguars this past season.
Hollister has a long way to go toward consistent time on offense for the team behind the likes of Darren Waller and Foster Moreau in the position, but he did catch a ball for seven yards in the Raiders’ Hall of Fame Game win over his most-recent former team earlier this month.
Tyler Hall, CB, Los Angeles Rams (UW)
Hall earned himself a Super Bowl ring as a member of the Rams’ practice squad last year and is looking to make the jump to the 53-man active roster this campaign once the regular season rolls around.
He tallied two tackles for the Rams in their preseason win over their crosstown rival, the Los Angeles Chargers, on Saturday.
Tanner Gentry, WR, Buffalo Bills (UW)
Now in his third year with Buffalo — watching from the sidelines as his college quarterback rockets to stardom with the team — Gentry was signed to a reserve/futures contract in January and will aim to avoid the dreaded roster cuts to come across the month.
Gentry had two receptions for 11 yards in the Bills’ preseason win over the Colts on Saturday.
Jacob Bobenmoyer, LS, Denver Broncos (Cheyenne East High School)
The former Thunderbird is still listed as the top name on the Broncos’ depth chart at long snapper, where he’s been for the past couple of seasons.
Bobenmoyer fed footballs to three different Denver kicking specialists in its win over Dallas on Saturday: kicker Brandon McManus (who made a 52-yard field goal) and punters Sam Martin and Corliss Waitman. Bobenmoyer recorded no stats otherwise.
BASEBALL
Brandon Nimmo, OF, New York Mets (Cheyenne East High School)
Wyoming’s lone active MLB player is on pace for several statistical career highs for the red-hot Mets, who as of Monday sit at 75–40 overall for one of the best records in baseball.
Nimmo, 29, has played in 106 of 115 possible games for the National League East–leading Mets, a significant accomplishment as injuries have impacted the former Thunderbird throughout his major-league career. He’s one of seven National League outfielders currently sporting a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000 and has been a capable offensive threat on top of it, managing 10 home runs with 40 RBI thus far this season.
Barring injury or a monumental late-season collapse from the Mets, Nimmo will likely suit up for his first playoff appearance this October since he debuted for New York in the 2016 season. The Mets are not slowing down, however, as they’ve won seven of their past eight games, for which Nimmo has tallied at least four plate appearances per game.
