Week 4 had its highs and lows for our former Huskers playing in the NFL. We got to see the debut of Dicaprio Bootle, Randy Gregory had a dominant performance while Lavonte David made Lavonte David plays. We also unfortunately saw Rex Burkhead get hurt and may have another former Husker being put on injured reserve. Here is a comprehensive look at how each former Husker did in their Week 4 NFL games.
Husker of the Week
Randy Gregory, Dallas Cowboys
Randy Gregory with ANOTHER sack! pic.twitter.com/J9QQqInZkh
— Cowboys Nation (@CowboysNationCP) October 3, 2021
Entering this week Randy Gregory had zero sacks on the season. That quickly changed as Gregory terrorized the Panthers offensive line for two first half sacks. Gregory wasn’t done there as he had four additional quarterback hurries as Carolina had no answer for him.
Good Game
Lavonte David, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Lavonte David with a crucial deflection here that forced the Patriots to kick a 56 yard field goal in the rain to win the game #NFL #Huskers #ProBigRed pic.twitter.com/Iq4S1uwPo8
— Brian Johannes (@Draft_Brian) October 4, 2021
As always Lavonte David is always one of the Bucs leading tacklers and that was the case versus the Patriots where he had seven tackles, including a tackle for loss. However, David may have saved the day for the Buccaneers as he tipped Mac Jones’ pass at the line of scrimmage forcing 4th down. This made the Patriots have to try a 56 yard kick in the rain to win the game.
Ndamukong Suh, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Suh’s performance is why you come to Corn Nation to see how the former Huskers did. Because other places will just list that Suh had a single tackle. What they won’t tell you is that Suh’s presence and ability to shut down the run with teammate Vita Vea forced the Patriots to not even try to run the ball. New England only rushed the ball 8 times in the entire game. One of those attempts was a receiver and another was Mac Jones.
Andy Janovich, Cleveland Browns
Fullback @AndyJanovich with the kickout block for Kareem Hunt. Pay dirt.@Kareemhunt7 #LastOfTheFullbacks pic.twitter.com/oY7AX6D2X3
— Last of the Fullbacks (@TheLastFullback) October 3, 2021
Playing only 6% of the Browns offensive snaps may lead you to believe that Janovich didn’t have much of an impact, but that’s not true. Not only did Andy Janovich have a stellar block to get Kareem Hunt into the endzone for Cleveland’s first touchdown, but the Browns went for two and it was Jano who made the catch to have the Browns go up 8-7 on the Vikings.
Solid Game
Sam Koch, Baltimore Ravens
Normally with the Ravens high powered offense we are used to seeing Koch punt one or two times. But against the Broncos’ stingy defense Koch had to punt a total of 7 times. And in a game where field position was so important Koch was often having to punt from deep in the Ravens’ territory. Koch punted for 335 total yards, averaging 47.9 yards and put one of the kicks inside the 20 yard line.
Rough Game
Maliek Collins, Houston Texans
Best DT Pass Rush Win Rate Through Week 3 (ESPN)
— Johnny Kinsley (@Brickwallblitz) September 28, 2021
Javon Hargrave-36%
Aaron Donald-33%
Quinnen Williams-25%
Sheldon Rankins-24%
Maliek Collins-23%
JJ Watt-22%
Daron Payne-20%
Grady Jarrett-19%
Cameron Heyward-18%
Ndamukong Suh-16%
Last week was Collins’ best outing for the Texans this year, but he wasn’t able to replicate that performance against the Bills. Collins was able to get a quarterback pressure but only finished with one tackle in the Texans 40-0 blowout loss.
Rex Burkhead, Houston Texans
David Culley says Jonathan Greenard's chest injury wasn't "serious" and they'll check more on it tomorrow. Rex Burkhead suffered a hip injury and wasn't able to return in the game.
— Brooks Kubena (@BKubena) October 3, 2021
Sunday was tough for Burkhead as he had nowhere to go on his only carry and was tackled for a one yard loss. To top it off Rex suffered a hip injury that could end up costing him his season. It’s been a difficult year for Burkhead coming back to his native Texas, so we hope that his injury isn’t serious.
Limited Snaps
Dicaprio Bootle, Kansas City Chiefs
I see you #2!!!!! @DicaprioBootle #ProBigRed pic.twitter.com/b1xzzvMyTT
— Akelo Roberts (@akeloroberts) October 3, 2021
Sunday marked the NFL debut for Bootle who was elevated from the practice squad. Bootle only played seven special teams snaps but did get a tackle on a muffed punt which allowed CBS’ Ian Eagle the opportunity to tell us that Dicaprio made a Titanic hit.
Stanley Morgan, Cincinnati Bengals
THERE IS HOPE YET, JOE MIXON MANAGERS pic.twitter.com/HkSo8e6v6X
— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) October 1, 2021
Morgan has been regulated to just playing on special teams in the first three games, but against the Jaguars on Thursday night we actually got to see Morgan get three snaps on offense. Three isn’t much but Morgan had a nice block on a Joe Mixon touchdown.
Jack Stoll, Philadelphia Eagles
Stoll has established himself as the Eagles third tight end and has been praised recently by head coach Nick Sirianni for his toughness. Against the Chiefs Stoll continued to play primarily on special teams but did get in on six snaps on the Eagles heavy run formations.
Ameer Abdullah, Minnesota Vikings
Another typical day for the Abdullah with the Vikings. In only five offensive snaps he did get targeted late in the game as he picked up only two yards on the catch while he was the Vikings main kick returner taking the only opportunity he had for 26 yards.
Cethan Carter, Miami Dolphins
Carter only on the field for one offensive snap against the Colts. Carter did play a majority of special teams snaps while registering a tackle on a kick off.
Matt Farniok and Luke Gifford, Dallas Cowboys
Both Nebraska Cowboys once again were regulated to special teams. Gifford played 24 special teams snaps but didn’t register a tackle while Farniok only played on field goal and PAT units.
Inactive or Did Not Play
Carlos Davis, Pittsburgh Steelers
Brenden Jaimes, Los Angeles Chargers
Khalil Davis, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
With Rob Gronkowski not being put on IR meant the Bucs needed to free up a roster spot. That led to Davis being cut. We’ll see if Davis ends up on their practice squad and then can be reactivated later on.
Injured Reserve
Nick Gates, New York Giants
Richie Incognito, Las Vegas Raiders
Josh Kalu, New York Giants
Brent Qvale, Tennessee Titans
Practice Squad
Lamar Jackson, New York Jets
Dedrick Mills, Detroit Lions
Devine Ozigbo, Jacksonville
Nate Gerry, San Francisco 49ers
Chris Jones, Tennessee Titans
De’Mornay Pierson-El, Denver Broncos
Darrion Daniels, San Francisco 49ers