SMU Professional Athletes

The path to an NFL roster is unforgiving, and SMU defensive tackle Jordan Miller learned that the hard way this week. The Denver Broncos waived Miller as the league's final 53-man roster cuts reshaped the league's landscape, ending his bid to stick with a Broncos defensive line that had no shortage of competition.

Miller's release is the most notable SMU alumni story of the week, but it doesn't tell the full picture of how broadly Mustangs are represented across the league heading into the 2026 season. More than two dozen SMU products remain on active rosters — a testament to the program's pipeline into professional football.

The Miller Cut

Miller arrived in Denver with a shot to carve out a role along one of the NFL's more competitive defensive fronts. That door closed Thursday when the Broncos made their move, per Mike Klis of 9News. Waivers will give other teams a chance to claim him before he potentially returns to Denver's practice squad — a route many bubble players take after final cuts. His NFL story isn't necessarily over.

Notably, Miller wasn't the only SMU tie to the Broncos: wide receiver Courtland Sutton remains firmly on the roster and enters 2026 as one of Denver's veteran pass-catching options.

The Broader Mustang Footprint

While Miller's release stings, SMU's presence across the league is hard to ignore. The Mustangs have alumni on multiple rosters heading into the regular season.

The Kansas City Chiefs alone carry three SMU products: wide receiver Rashee Rice, running back Brashard Smith, and linebacker Key'Shawn Smith. Rice, when healthy, has been one of Patrick Mahomes' most trusted targets, making the Chiefs arguably the league's most SMU-friendly locker room.

The Philadelphia Eagles hold two Mustang alumni in tight end Grant Calcaterra and wide receiver Danny Gray. The New Orleans Saints also carry three former SMU players — linebacker Roderick Daniels Jr., linebacker Moochie Dixon, and long snapper Zach Wood — giving the franchise an unusually deep Mustang contingent.

Veteran punter Thomas Morstead continues his career in San Francisco, while Shane Buechele — who began his college career at Texas before transferring to SMU — holds a roster spot in Buffalo as a backup quarterback. Kylen Granson and James Proche give Tennessee a pair of SMU-connected pass catchers, and Brandon Stephens heads into the season as a cornerback for the New York Jets after previous stints in Baltimore.

Kelvin Beachum, one of the longer-tenured SMU alumni in the league, remains on the Arizona Cardinals' roster as a veteran offensive lineman.

What's Next

Miller's immediate future hinges on the waiver wire. If he clears unclaimed, Denver could look to retain him on the practice squad — a common landing spot for linemen with NFL-caliber athleticism who simply ran out of roster space. The 53-man deadline is a hard line, but it rarely marks the end of a player's season entirely.

For the rest of the Mustang faithful, there's plenty to track in 2026 — from Rashee Rice's return to health in Kansas City to how Courtland Sutton fits into Denver's passing game without the distraction of camp roster battles.

SMU in the NFL | Week of Aug. 16–22, 2026

Azareye'h Thomas is not waiting for an invitation to the starting lineup.

The SMU alum is making noise at New York Jets training camp, catching the eye of first-year head coach Aaron Glenn as he battles for the starting cornerback job opposite fellow Mustang Brandon Stephens. It's a notable detail for SMU fans: two Mustangs could line up as the Jets' starting cornerback tandem when the regular season kicks off.

The competition is anything but a layup. Thomas is going head-to-head with Nahshon Wright — who led the entire NFL with eight individual takeaways last season — for the second starting CB spot. That stat line makes Wright one of the league's most productive ballhawks entering camp, and the fact that Thomas is holding his own in that battle speaks to how far he's come.

Aaron Glenn, himself a former All-Pro cornerback, is not a coach who hands out starting spots as a courtesy. If Thomas is drawing attention from Glenn during camp, he's doing something right.

The subplot here is easy to miss but worth appreciating: Stephens has already carved out a role as a starter in New York's secondary, giving SMU genuine representation in a Jets defensive backfield under a head coach who was built at the same position. The program doesn't always generate splashy first-round headlines, but it keeps producing defensive backs who stick — and compete.

Thomas isn't the only Mustang with something to prove this preseason. Across the league, SMU alumni are dotting rosters from Kansas City to Philadelphia. Rashee Rice, Brashard Smith, and Key'Shawn Smith give the Chiefs a three-man SMU contingent, while Danny Gray and Grant Calcaterra are in Philadelphia's camp with the Eagles. Courtland Sutton remains one of the most recognizable Mustang names in the league as a veteran receiver in Denver.

But this week, the spotlight belongs to Thomas. Competing against a player coming off the most productive takeaway season by any individual cornerback in the NFL is not a quiet audition — it's a statement opportunity. The Jets open preseason play with those roster decisions looming, and Glenn will be watching closely.

For SMU's secondary pipeline, Thomas making the most of his shot would be another proof point. For Jets fans, it's a training camp battle worth following into the final preseason cuts.

Rashee Rice Is Back — and He Has Something to Prove

Rashee Rice spent 30 days in a Texas jail this summer. He rehabbed a knee. He watched a lot of Kevin Hart. And now, the SMU product is back at Chiefs camp with the kind of perspective that only a rough offseason can forge.

Rice, who served time after a probation violation, didn't downplay the experience when speaking to reporters in St. Joseph, Mo. He called it a "learning experience" and a "reality check" — language that signals a player who has processed a hard few months rather than deflected from them. The combination of incarceration and ongoing recovery from knee surgery would derail most players. Rice is framing it as fuel.

The question for Kansas City — and for any SMU fan tracking their former Mustang — is whether Rice can actually recapture what made him one of the more dangerous young receivers in the AFC. Before the legal issues and the injury derailed his season, Rice had flashed genuine No. 1 wide receiver upside in Andy Reid's offense. Whether that ceiling is still reachable is among the biggest questions hanging over the Chiefs heading into 2026, per Yahoo Sports, which listed the Rice-and-Xavier Worthy bounce-back question as one of the ten most pressing storylines facing Kansas City this season.

Rice isn't the only Mustang in the Chiefs' locker room, either. Running back Brashard Smith and linebacker Key'Shawn Smith round out a notable SMU contingent on the defending roster. But Rice is the one with the most to win — or lose — this preseason.

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Sutton Shines in Denver's Preseason Opener

Several hundred miles away, SMU's other marquee NFL wideout offered a quieter but encouraging August bulletin. Courtland Sutton led the Denver Broncos in receiving in their preseason opener against Atlanta, hauling in three catches for 60 yards in a 27-7 blowout win, per Sportsnet.

Sutton, a longtime Bronco and one of the most productive receivers in SMU history, has outlasted multiple quarterbacks and coaching staffs in Denver. His presence atop the target board in a preseason tune-up is hardly a surprise, but it's a reassuring sign for a franchise still working to establish offensive consistency.

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The Bigger Picture

Two marquee SMU wide receivers, two very different offseason storylines. Sutton is the steady veteran, showing up and producing when the lights come on. Rice is the reclamation project, betting on himself to return to form after a stretch that would have ended a lot of careers before they truly started.

For SMU alumni watching the NFL this fall, Rice's arc is the one worth tracking closely. If he can stay healthy and stay out of trouble, the Chiefs' offense gets significantly more dangerous — and one of the Hilltop's most talented football exports gets the second act he's clearly chasing.