Travelle Wharton enters his 15th season in the NFL including five as a coach and 10 as a player and his third as Washington's assistant offensive line coach in 2022.
In 2021, Wharton assisted an offensive line that helped produce Washington's first 1,000-yard rusher since 2018. Washington ranked sixth in the NFC in rushing yards (2,061) and rushing yards per game (121.2). The offensive line also recorded a pass blocking grade of 78.3 according to Pro Football Focus, the fourth-best in the NFL. Washington's 80.7 run blocking grade was the seventh-best in the NFL according to PFF.
From 2018-19, Wharton coached with the Carolina Panthers, assisting then-running game coordinator John Matsko.
Wharton worked with the Panthers prior to the 2017 season in offseason workouts and training camp as part of the NFL Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship.
Wharton made his coaching debut with his alma mater, the University of South Carolina, with one season of coaching in 2015.He was initially named offensive quality control coach, but was promoted to offensive line coach midway through the 2015 season.
Wharton is a veteran of 10 NFL seasons, nine (2004-11, 2013) with the Panthers and one with the Cincinnati Bengals (2012). With the Panthers, Wharton started 111 of 115 regular season games played, the third-highest total by an offensive lineman in team history.
Wharton anchored the offensive line on Carolina's top three seasons of rushing in franchise history in 2009 (2,498), 2008 (2,437) and 2011 (2,408). Carolina ranked third in the NFL in rushing in all three of those seasons. The Panthers averaged 5.41 yards per carry in 2011, a mark that led the NFL and set a franchise record.
A native of Fountain Inn, S.C., Wharton played collegiately at South Carolina where he was a four-year letterwinner (2000-03) and earned All-SEC recognition in his junior and senior seasons. He also earned Freshman All-America honors and a spot on the All-SEC Freshman team. He was selected in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Panthers.
