Two more former Washington Huskies have committed to their next programs in the transfer portal. Linebacker Deven Bryant is staying in the Big Ten, heading to USC. And defensive tackle Bryce Butler is transferring to Texas Tech.
Portal Destinations for Bryant, Butler
Deven Bryant – USC
Bryant will have two years of remaining eligibility at USC, and he joins a productive linebacker room that is losing just a couple of players after this past season. The team’s second-leading tackler, Eric Gentry, is out of eligibility and heading to the next level. He and Desman Stephens II were the primary starters this past season. Stephens led the team with 89 tackles as a sophomore. Bryant will join the team as a player ready to challenge for the starting role alongside Stephens in 2026. He’ll be competing with Jadyn Walker and Ta’mere Robinson, who together played in 24 games for the Trojans last season. The USC linebacker room also loses a promising true freshman in Matai Tagoa’i to the transfer portal after one season in Los Angeles.
The move to Southern California is also a return home for the former Husky. Bryant is from Carson, California and played his high school football at St. John Bosco in Bellflower. In addition to being closer to home, the transfer provides a better opportunity for Bryant to work his way back to the top of the depth chart. In the final couple of games at Washington, he went from a starter to a rotational player.
Husky LB Room
Bryant started the first 10 games of the 2025 season and ended up as Washington’s third-leading tackler with 63 on the year. He played in only 56 snaps in the final two regular-season games before opting out of the bowl game to transfer. His decision is likely due to the linebacker room at Washington is setting up to become one of the most competitive position groups.
The group includes Jacob Manu, who’s returning next year to play out his final year of eligibility. Buddah Al-Uqdah will be back after a season-ending injury in 2025. Xe’ree Alexander’s impact to the defense in the back half of the season will make it very difficult to not project him as a starter next season. And then there’s the returning production of true freshman Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, who also had a strong second half of the year after returning to full strength. Length is a priority in the Husky linebacker room, according to the coaching staff. And Bryant, listed at 5’-11”, doesn’t quite have the size of Alexander (6’-2”) and Rainey-Sale (6’-3”), who have starting potential on defense.
Bryce Butler – Texas Tech
Along the defensive line, Washington is losing several of its players from the 2025 season. Butler is one of them who is transferring to Texas Tech. He joins Akron’s Julien Laventure as the second defensive lineman of the Red Raiders’ 2026 transfer class. There’s room for the two newcomers to find a place in the rotation in Lubbock. After winning the Big 12 and reaching the College Football Playoff, Texas Tech will see a few departures from its defensive front.
Senior Lee Hunter played all 14 games with over 500 snaps, and he’s likely headed to the next level. Skyler Gill-Howard is also out of eligibility after starting six games but missing the remainder of the season with an injury. These were two of the four defensive linemen who primarily lined up on the interior last season for the Red Raiders, and they’re headed out. There’s certainly a window of opportunity for Butler to impact the defensive front as a key rotational piece at a minimum.
Washington Production
The move to Lubbock will be the second transfer for Butler, who started his career at Garden City Community College in Kansas. He had 25.5 tackles for loss in two seasons there before transferring out to Washington. Butler redshirted in 2024 before playing in all 12 regular-season games of 2025 with one start. He logged 300-plus snaps on the interior, recording 19 tackles with 2.5 for loss and a pair of sacks.
Butler’s performance stepped up in the back half of the season. He registered a season-high six quarterback pressures against Purdue in November. Butler had three stops and five tackles against Oregon in the season finale, with 37 snaps played. All three of those numbers were season highs for the former Husky. At Texas Tech, Butler will have one remaining season of eligibility.
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