LARAMIE, Wyo. – Four of the University of Wyoming’s senior football players are on the Reese’s Senior Bowl Watchlist. Seniors Shae Suiaunoa, Harrison Waylee, Nofoafia Tulafono and Wyatt Ekeler join a list of talented football players across the country who are promising prospects for the 2025 NFL Draft.
According to the Senior Bowl website, these players have been part of a scouting process since February that seeks out the best of the best at the college level. These UW seniors are considered promising and bring unique strengths to each game.
According to the University of Wyoming athletic department, linebacker Shae Suiaunoa started all 13 UW football games during the 2023-24 season. He ranked second on the Cowboys with 93 total tackles on the season and was selected to the All-Mountain West third team by sportswriter and analyst Phil Steele. Suiaunoa ranked 10th in the entire Mountain West Conference with 7.2 tackles per game.
Running back Harrison Waylee stands out among his teammates and fellow Mountain West players, earning honorable mention from coaches and media for his performance in the 2023 season, as well as his appearance on Steele’s second All-Mountain West team. Waylee only appeared in ten games for the Cowboys, but started nine of them. In those ten games, he rushed for nearly 1,000 yards and ranked 50th in the country in total yards rushed on the season.
Waylee was also efficient in rushing. In ten games, Waylee averaged 94.7 yards and 5.8 yards per carry, making him the 24th and 34th best player in the nation in those categories, respectively. His 2023 season ended with a total of five touchdowns.
Center Nofoafia Tulafono grabbed the ball for the Cowboys’ offense in all 13 games last season and set the stage for key runs throughout the year, including a 191-yard run by Waylee against the University of New Mexico Lobos.
Safety Wyatt Ekeler also played in all 13 games and was a starter in 12. Like Waylee, Ekeler received honorable mentions from Mountain West coaches and media for his performance last season. Ekeler ranked third-highest in tackles among all Cowboys defensive players, with 49 of 77 tackles being solo stops. He also made two interceptions last season, one of which led to a score against Nevada. Ekeler is a devastating force on defense, tied for most last season with seven pass deflections.
The Senior Bowl website adds that scouts will travel across the country to watch games in person throughout the football season and that the current list of candidates may change as the season progresses.
If the four Cowboys are selected late in the season, they will compete in the Reese’s Senior Bowl on the campus of the University of Southern Alabama on February 1. The Cowboys’ season begins on Saturday, August 31 with an away game against the Arizona State University Sun Devils at 8:30 p.m.
