He played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils, and was selected in the first round of the 2001 NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams with the 20th overall pick.

Archuleta played college football at nearby Arizona State University, where he started three years as a linebacker.

Archuleta played in every game during his redshirt freshman season in 1997 as a reserve inside linebacker, recording 17 tackles (11 solos) while appearing mostly on special teams.

He moved into the starting lineup as a sophomore at weakside linebacker, playing in every game in 1998 and finished with 75 tackles (39 solos), five sacks and 18 stops for losses.

He started the final eleven games at weakside outside linebacker and led the team with 111 tackles (59 solos) with five sacks and 21 stops for losses.

As a senior, he started at weakside outside linebacker and led ASU with a career-high 127 tackles (93 solos) with four sacks and 15 stops for losses.

He was a First-team All-America selection by The Sports Xchange and earned Second-team All-American from the Walter Camp Foundation.

He earned Co-"Horse Trailer Player of the Game" honors (along with Torry Holt) for his performance on Monday Night Football vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10/18, as he collected six tackles (three solo) and forced Bucs' RB Michael Pittman to fumble, recovering the fumble, and returned it 93 yards for a touchdown.

The Redskins made him the highest paid safety, up to that point, in NFL history by signing Archuleta to a six-year, $30 million contract (with approximately $10 million guaranteed) on March 14, 2006 [6] Archuleta started at strong safety for 7 of 16 games played with the Redskins, registering 50 tackles and one sack to go along with career-high 17 special teams tackles.

However, after struggles in the deep passing game for the Redskins, Archuleta was replaced at the strong safety position with Troy Vincent, and played only on special teams the last half of the season.

On March 20, 2007, the Redskins traded Archuleta to the Chicago Bears for their sixth round selection in the upcoming 2007 NFL draft.