Austin Bryant

BIOGRAPHY

Austin Bryant was born on November 12, 1996, in Pavo, Georgia. He is a defensive end for the Detroit Lions of the NFL. He played college football at Clemson University.

Before Clemson, during high school, Bryant was a Consensus top-20 player in Georgia, and was rated No. 134 player and No. 15 defensive end in the nation by ESPN, No. 149 player and No. 11 defensive end in the nation by Rivals.com, No. 199 player and No. 12 defensive end in the nation by 247Sports.com. He was an AAAA all-state selection, having 64 tackles, five sacks and three caused fumbles as a junior, and he was also a starter on the basketball team.

During 2015, as a college freshman, he logged significant action as a backup to both Kevin Dodd and Shaq Lawson, appearing in 13 games and 219 snaps, he had four quarterback pressures and two special teams’ tackles, as well as a fumble recovery, posting five tackles in his debut against Wofford. Bryant tallied nine stops, including one on special teams, in win over Appalachian State, missed Georgia Tech game with an injury, notched first career sack at NC State, knocked down a pass and had key quarterback pressure in win over Florida State, had half a tackle for loss against Wake Forest, posted three tackles and a fumble recovery in the ACC Championship Game against North Carolina and came off the bench to see 63 snaps with Shaq Lawson injured in the Capital One Orange Bowl and contributed eight tackles, including half a sack.

For the 2016 season, Bryant earned share of the defense’s 12th Man Award, along with Marcus Edmond and Scott Pagano, he suffered a foot injury in August camp and missed the first six games of the season, had 16 tackles, including three for loss and two sacks, in 244 snaps over nine games, returned to action against NC State, tallying half of a sack in the overtime win in 27 snaps, posted 1.5 sacks in 27 snaps at Florida State, a 37-34 Tiger victory, posted three tackles, including half of one for loss, in victory at Wake Forest, recorded half a tackle for loss against Virginia Tech and saw significant action in both bowl games, including 39 snaps versus Alabama when starter Clelin Ferrell went down with an injury. He broke up a pass and had a quarterback pressure in the win over the Crimson Tide.

Through 2017, he was named First-Team All-American by Football Writers Association, Second-Team All-American by Walter Camp, Third-Team All-American by AP, Second-Team All-ACC selection, First-Team All-ACC by Phil Steele and Second-Team All-ACC by AP. He had 58 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, 12 quarterback pressures, two pass breakups, two caused fumbles and an interception in 677 snaps over 14 games (14 starts), he tied for third in the ACC in sacks and tied for fifth in tackles for loss, had six tackles in 27 snaps against Kent State on Sept. 2; was named team co-defensive player-of-the-game, had seven tackles and a school-record-tying four sacks in 60 snaps against No. 13 Auburn on Sept. 9; named FWAA/Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player-of-the-Week; named ACC Defensive Lineman-of-the-Week; named team defensive player-of-the-game, had five tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and three quarterback pressures in 51 snaps against Boston College on Sept. 23, five tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and his first career interception in 46 snaps at No. 12 Virginia Tech on Sept. 30; named team co-defensive player-of-the-game, eight tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a caused fumble in 36 snaps against Wake Forest on Oct. 7, four tackles and 0.5 sacks in 83 snaps at Syracuse on Oct. 13, six tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and caused fumble in 31 snaps against Georgia Tech on Oct. 28; named team co-defensive player-of-the-game, had two tackles and two quarterback pressures in 82 snaps at No. 20 NC State on Nov. 4, two tackles, a sack and pass breakup in 51 snaps against Florida State on Nov. 11, a team-tying-high six tackles and a pass breakup in 39 snaps at South Carolina on Nov. 25, and had four tackles, a sack and two quarterback pressures in 68 snaps against No. 4 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.

In the course of 2018, Bryant was named Third-Team All-ACC and All-Bowl team selection by the AP and Rivals. He was credited with 44 tackles (14.5 for loss) and 8.0 sacks in 667 snaps in 15 games (all starts), made a season-high six tackles at Texas A&M, recorded two sacks among his three tackles against Georgia Southern, collecting team co-defensive player of the week honors, added another sack at Georgia Tech, posted four tackles in comeback win vs. Syracuse, made one stop at Wake Forest, contributed two tackles vs. No. 16 NC State and one tackle at Florida State, recorded his fourth sack of the season among his two tackles vs. Louisville, collected four tackles, including 1.5 for loss with one sack, at No. 17 Boston College, added a tackle vs. Duke, was named team defensive player of the week vs. South Carolina after contributing two tackles (both for loss) including a sack, made season-high-tying six stops in ACC Championship Game against Pitt, earned Most Outstanding Defensive Player honors in the Cotton Bowl after posting three tackles for loss (including 2.0 sacks) among his six tackles against No. 3 Notre Dame and contributed three tackles including one for loss vs. No. 1 Alabama in the National Championship Game.

Bryant was selected by the Detroit Lions in the fourth round (117th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft.

On March 23, 2023, Bryant signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers. He was released on September 8, 2023, and re-signed to the practice squad.