Trey Amos Turning Heads: Ole Miss All-American already a problem for NFL receivers

Now-former Ole Miss cornerback Trey Amos has made a strong first impression with the Washington Commanders. 

The Commanders in April selected Amos in the second round (No. 61 overall) of the 2025 NFL Draft. Bryan Manning of Commanders Wire wrote Saturday Amos ‘is making significant strides’ in off-season practices and in place of absent veteran Kendall Fuller.

“In one of his more impressive plays, he managed to stay upright after his feet got tangled with (wide receiver) Michael Gallup and got under a tipped pass for an interception on the second play of the drill,” Zach Selby of the team’s official site wrote last week. “He nearly got a second one later in the day while working against Luke McCaffrey and kept up with Deebo Samuel when lined up against him.”

Washington considered drafting Amos in the first round. However, the Commanders were able to get him later after some teams backed off in the pre-draft process due to a back injury, according to ESPN.

Amos joined a cornerback room featuring returnees Mike Sainristil, Marshon Lattimore and Noah Igbinoghene, as well as free-agent addition Jonathan Jones. Lattimore was acquired a year ago in a midseason trade. He skipped the voluntary portion of the off-season program. 

Amos has the been the primary beneficiary of the previously-occupied reps.

“You’re going to see a lot of being physical at the line of scrimmage against wide receivers,” Amos said before the draft, when asked the type of player an NFL team would be getting. “Being a technician. I feel like I’m a box of all traits. I can play man, I can play zone and do it all. Just going out there and showing what I can do. Be on the lookout.”

Amos played five seasons of college football. 

His last, and most productive, was at Ole Miss in 2024. He was named both an All-American and All-SEC.

Amos started all 13 games and finished with 50 tackles, three interceptions, 13 pass break-ups, three tackles for loss and a forced fumble. He also played previously at Louisiana and Alabama.

“It shows a lot,” Amos said of his three-school college journey. “Mental toughness. It was a long journey. It taught me patience, and at the end, I just wanted to have fun my last year. But I learned so much through UL, ‘Bama and Ole Miss. All three schools built me. I found a way. I knew my time was coming and proceeded to do what I have to do.”

Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski named Amos as one of eight early steals from this year’s rookie class.

“I really look up to Pat Surtain,” Amos said. Surtain was the 2024 AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year. “I really love how smooth he is, rarely gets beat. Always on top and looking smooth. He’s very efficient. I try to model my game as him and put everything in my toolbox. 

“Everybody’s different, but I just do my best to be a great technician at the end of the day.”

Amos is one of nine defensive starters Ole Miss is replacing. 

Returners TJ Banks and Cedrick Beavers were the first-team corners at the end of spring practices.

However, Ole Miss has since added South Alabama’s Ricky Fletcher and Clemson’s Tavoy Feagin. The Rebels also brought in transfer defensive backs Jaylon Braxton (Arkansas), Sage Ryan (LSU), Wydett Williams (ULM), Kapena Gushiken (Washington State) and Antonio Kite (Auburn). 

“That was definitely an eye-opening thing for me,” Braxton told the Ole Miss Spirit in February of the Rebels’ success with transfers. Ole Miss put together its third straight Top 3 portal class. “I was actually with Trey on my (official visit) here. He was telling me this is a great place to be and if you’re looking to do one-and-one, you see how I did it. You can do it here, too. That’s my plan.”