The next former Washington Huskies first-round pick on our countdown is one of the most colorful and polarizing players in school history. Coming from the best first round UW has seen, cornerback Marcus Peters was taken by the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 18 overall in the 2015 draft. The same year, his teammates Danny Shelton and Shaq Thompson also heard their names called in the top 32.
Peters was a two-way player at McClymonds High School in Oakland, California playing cornerback, wide receiver, and kicker. He led his team to their first undefeated season in school history.
After arriving at Washington, he recorded 3 interceptions and scored his only college touchdown during his redshirt freshman season. He went on to collect 11 interceptions during his time on Montlake before things went awry and threw what he called a “hissy fit” during a game against Eastern Washington, throwing his gloves and helmet.
He was suspended the next week for violating team rules by coach Chris Petersen, and was kicked off the team in November.
“It’s never one thing. We’re not going to dismiss a guy because it’s one thing. That’s not what we’re in this business [to be] about. But when you feel like it just can’t work, you gotta do what you’ve gotta do,” Petersen said at the time.
Peters decided to forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the draft, where his actions threw up many red flags for NFL teams and his interviews at the NFL combine were very intense. The Chiefs ended up taking a chance on him in the first round and head coach Andy Reid named him the starting cornerback to begin the year.
He had a spectacular rookie season, amassing 53 tackles, 26 pass deflected, 8 interceptions, 2 touchdowns, and a forced fumble, which earned him Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and a spot on the second-team All-Pro.
Peters followed up that success in 2016 by being named to the first-team All-Pro and his second consecutive Pro Bowl. Then in 2017, some of his attitude issues that arose in college seemed to reappear. He was fined for a helmet to helmet hit on Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, suspended for a game by the Chiefs for arguing with a coach, and then he received a hefty fine for grabbing an official’s penalty flag and throwing it into the crowd.
The Chiefs traded Peters to the Los Angeles Rams in March 2018, where he started opposite Aqib Talib to form one of the league’s best cornerback duos. That season, he recorded 43 tackles, 8 pass deflections, 3 interceptions, and a touchdown as the Rams finished the regular season 13-3 and eventually made it to the Super Bowl, before losing the the New England Patriots.
Peters was traded to the Baltimore Ravens during the 2019 season and spent the next three years with the team before hitting free agency. He signed with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023 and played 12 games with them before he was waived on November 27.