It’s hard to imagine that seven weeks have passed on the NFL season and we are nearly at the halfway mark. While this season has showcased many Huskers thriving in the NFL, this past weekend was a bit of a downer as the usual top performers had down games. So who rose up to take the crown as Top Husker Performer and how did a pair of former Huskers do in their first game action of the year? Here I take a look at how each former Husker has done during Week 7 of the NFL Season.
Top Husker Performer
Thursday night’s game against the Giants was arguably Gerry’s best game of the season. Not only did Gerry get a sack in the second quarter but he nearly had another one that forced Daniel Jones to have to burn the ball. Sure Gerry had a few hiccups where he would miss a tackle that he should have had or guessed wrong on a route that led to a Gallman first down. But despite those Gerry didn’t have any glaring missteps that he’s had in the previous week and put forth his best effort.
Had a Good Day
In his first game back from injury we saw a rejuvenated Maliek Collins and someone that the Raiders were hoping for when they signed him this off season. Collins may have only been credited with two assisted tackles but he showed good burst and energy to create penetration and to disrupt the running game which allowed his teammates to make plays. That was no more evident in that Pro Football Focus graded Collins out as the second best player for the Raiders for this game. While fans will want more production, this was Collins best game of the season.
Up and Down Game
Gates was alright for most of the game but he really turned it on towards the end of the third quarter when his aggressiveness was big in helping Wayne Gallman get some big runs that jump started the offense and allowed the Giants to take the lead. However at the end of the game when the Giants were looking to get into field goal range Gates was standing there with nobody to block while the left guard had to hold the defensive tackle who was slanting right to where Gates would be.
It’s been a long road for Randy Gregory as he saw his first time on a field since December 30th 2018. Still working his way back into game shape, Gregory saw only 6 total snaps with five of them being against the run. His sole pass rushing snap we got to see Gregory’s athletic ability on full display. Cowboy fans have to hope that getting Gregory back along with a few other injured starters can rejuvenate a group that has been a punching back all season long.
It wasn’t a huge day statistically, but that is never going to happen for Burkhead in the Patriots three headed running back attack. But even in a horrible loss to the 49ers, Burkhead did have a good game. Burkhead led the running back in snaps but only mustered 7 total touches but with the help of two good long screen passes late in the game was the Patriots second leading receiver.
Had a Rough Day
Week in and week out Lavonte David has been a contender for former Husker of the Week, but against the Raiders it was quite the opposite. David had his hands full in this game as he was asked to cover Raiders tight end Darren Waller who is one of the best tight ends in the NFL. For the most part David did well but he did give up a touchdown to Waller on a slant route along the goal line and then was covering Nelson Agholor on a touchdown catch down the seam. All players have off games, this just happened to be David’s. The good news is that the Bucs still won the game.
As far as production it was a relatively quiet game for Suh as he didn’t register a single tackle or quarterback hit but was still able to do well clogging up running lanes and was able to collapse the pocket a few times. What Suh will be remembered for in this game was him showing off his athletic ability picking up a potential fumble and rumbling down the sideline. Suh was also also at the center of a few controversial plays where he was accused of hitting Raiders quarterback Derek Carr in the privates and also pulling Raiders guard Gabe Jackson and throwing him down after a play.
It’s been a couple of interesting days for Compton. On the field Sunday Compton was active and other than five snaps his biggest impact was making a couple of tackles on special teams. However after the game the Titans activated linebacker Darren Bates from the practice squad which meant that Compton wasn’t needed and he was released. That being said Compton wasn’t on the market long as he resigned right away to the practice squad. Quite the couple of days, but with current practice squad rules we could see Compton back on the Titans game day roster soon.
No Impact
It was a quiet day for Janovich in the Browns game against Bengals as the back and forth scoring meant a lot of passing and very little offensive action for Janovich. So much that Janovich only saw nine total offensive snaps and his only highlight was he made the tackle on the interception that saw Odell Beckham Jr. injured.
After starting the year on the injured reserve list, there was plenty of excitement when Ozigbo was added to the gameday roster. Unfortunately those hoping Ozigbo would be a big part of the Jaguars roster were disappointed as his only playing time was on special teams. Starter James Robinson got all the carries, so maybe with some time we’ll see Ozigbo in the mix.
After being benched last week with a poor start to the Dolphins game, Jackson didn’t see a single snap on defense and was regulated to only a few special teams plays where he was credited with an assisted tackle. I know Lamar is excited to be on the active roster but let’s hope that he gets a chance to get back on the field, because he did have his moments.
Inactive or Non Participant
Cethan Carter, Cincinnati
Alex Lewis, New York Jets
Joshua Kalu, Tennessee
Luke Gifford, Dallas
Carlos Davis, Pittsburgh
Brent Qvale, Houston
Khalil Davis, Tampa Bay
Bye Week
Sam Koch, Baltimore
Ameer Abdullah, Minnesota
Practice Squad or Injured Reserve
Stanley Morgan, Cincinnati
Freedom Akinmoladun, Cincinnati
Prince Amukamara, Arizona
Darrion Daniels, San Francisco
Richie Incognito, Las Vegas
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