Detroit — UConn offensive lineman Christian Haynes was selected in the third round of the NFL draft on Friday night by the Seattle Seahawks with the 81st overall pick. Yale offensive tackle Kiran Amegadjie was taken by the Chicago Bears six picks earlier at No. 75.

Haynes becomes the 14th Husky in program history to be selected in the first three rounds of the draft and the first since the 2022 draft. He is the 44th UConn player to be selected in the NFL draft and the 30th Husky taken during the program’s FBS era (2002-present). Haynes is the first draft pick since defensive tackle Travis Jones was taken by the Baltimore Ravens in the third round of the 2022 draft.

The UConn guard participated in the NFL Combine after playing at the Senior Bowl in the lead up to this year’s draft. Haynes was the first Husky in the program's FBS era to garner All-American honors in two separate seasons. He closed his senior season being named to the Sporting News, AP and College Football News All-American teams. During his junior season, he was tabbed an All-American by the AP and Sporting News.

He finished the 2023 season starting all 12 games for the Huskies and anchored a UConn offensive line that allowed just 12 sacks on the season (1.0 pg), ranking 9th in FBS among the nation's leaders. He finished his UConn career making 49 straight starts along the offensive line.

Amegadjie played just four games for the Bulldogs because of a quad injury but was an Ivy League first-team selection for the second straight year. He was also named the Ivy's offensive lineman of the year by analyst Phil Steele and a third-team All-American by Stats Perform. That respect carried over to draft analysts like ESPN's Mel Kiper, who ranked him as the 14th best offensive tackle and the 109th overall prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Amegadjie is the 47th Yale player selected in the NFL draft and first since defensive back Rodney Thomas went to the Cincinnati Bengals two years ago. He is the highest pick since linebacker Jeff Rohrer went to the Dallas Cowboys in the second round (53rd overall) in 1982.