It’s been well documented over the last several weeks that the BYU Football team has been, well, poo poo. Four straight losses and 2-5 in their last seven. But you know who has not been poo poo? The Cougars in the pros.
Former Cougars are balling out in the NFL, even if our current Cougars are not.
Jamaal Williams, Lions
You know who leads the NFL in rushing touchdowns this season? It’s not Derrick Henry. It’s not Dalvin Cook. It’s not even Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley or Austin Ekeler. It’s the Swag Daddy himself, Jamaal Williams. With an NFL Leading eight touchdowns on the season, Jamaal has already doubled up his previous career-high for rushing touchdowns in a single season. He’s also just 140 yards away from setting a new career-high in rushing yards in a season. Oh, and he’s only played seven games so far.
Sure, the Lions are bad, have always been bad and will probably continue to be bad for the next couple of seasons - sorry BYU x Lions fans - but Jamaal has been a star on and off the field in the 313.
Taysom Hill, Saints
Let me rattle off some other player’s names for you. Ezekiel Elliott, Christain McCaffrey, Damien Harris, Kareem Hunt, Joe Mixon, Travis Etienne and Leonard Fournette. These are just some of the running backs that have fewer rushing touchdowns than Taysom Hill this season. In fact, Taysom is tied for fifth in the NFL in rushing touchdowns with five. The same amount as Saquon Barkley, Dalvin Cook and Miles Sanders - among others.
Not only that, but Taysom also has a passing touchdown, to go along with 88 passing yards on 8 attempts - 11 ypa, 337 rushing yards on 39 attempts - 8.6 ypc - and a receiving touchdown. Not too shabby for a guy who is in his first year as a tight end.
Tyler Allgeier, Falcons
The rookie running back started slow despite receiving a ton of praise in fall camp. After a DNP in week one vs. the Saints, Allgeier had 10 carries for 30 yards in week two and 6 carries for 25 yards in week three. Since then, Allgeier has had double digit rushing attempts in every game, while running for 269 yards, including a career-high 84 yards in a win over the Browns in week four. Allgeier also scored his first-career NFL touchdown two weeks ago against the Bengals before securing his first career receiving touchdown yesterday in a win over the Panthers.
Don’t look now but the Atlanta Falcons are in first place in the NFC South. Allgeier will probably see his touches take a dip with Cordarrelle Patterson eligible to return from IR this week. But the rookie has played well enough in his absence to be a consistent feature in the Falcons offense.
With Jamaal, Tyler and Taysom all having strong seasons in the NFL, is it time to proclaim BYU as the new RBU? Only Alabama, Georgia and Penn State have multiple players in the league with as many rushing touchdowns as Jamaal and Taysom.
Brady Christensen, Panthers
Look, I get it, unless you’re one of those football fans that really loves the big boys up front then you probably haven’t much of anything about Brady this season or how he has been doing. So let this serve as your FYI of sorts.
After a decent rookie season last year, Brady has become the full time starter for the Panthers at guard. Brady has played 100% of the offensive snaps in Carolina this season, all 467 of them. He’s even played 29 special teams snaps, good for 13% of the Panthers ST totals. And despite playing 496 snaps for the Panthers, he’s only been called for holding once!
It’s nothing flashy, but Brady has quietly been having a great season.
Fred Warner, 49ers
Fred Warner, voted the 47th best player in the NFL last season by other players as part of the NFL Top 100, continues to be one of the best linebackers in the league this season. But that’s kind of what is expected from Fred each year. The former Cougar is 20th in the NFL in total tackles with 62 - including 37 solo tackles.
He also continues to be one of the best linebackers in coverage with three pass deflections, eighth-most among linebackers. While he’s not on pace for a career-year like some of the other players on this list, Fred continues to be the captain and anchor of the defense for the 49ers, who currently have the fourth best Super Bowl odds according to FanDuel.
Zach Wilson, Jets
The conversations surrounding Zach, especially after yesterday’s game have been loud. But it’s New York so what else do you expect from their fans and media. While yesterday’s game against the Patriots was bad - 3 interceptions, yikes! - Zach has been pretty solid for the Jets this season.
The truth of it is that the Jets are 5-3, their best start to a season since 2015. Plus, Zach is 4-1 as the starter with the first loss coming yesterday. He’s got wins over Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, the Steelers, the Dolphins and the Broncos under his belt. So while his stats may not be the greatest and he hasn’t been slinging touchdowns left and right, he’s doing what most second-year quarterbacks rarely do. He’s winning games. He just needs to keep improving.
At this point you probably get the idea, but here are the other former Cougars that are balling out in the NFL…
Sione Takitaki, Browns - 3 Starts, 24 Tackles, 2 TFLs
Michael Davis, Chargers - 1 Start, 21 Tackles, 1 TFL, 1 Pass Deflected
Kyle Van Noy, Chargers - 5 Starts, 20 Tackles, 2 TFLs, 2 Passes Deflected
Khyiris Tonga, Vikings - 1 Game, 16 Snaps, 1 Pressure leading to an INT
Dan Sorenson, Saints - 8 Games, 5 Tackles, 75% of ST Snaps
Dax Milne, Commanders - 8 Starts at PR, 1 Start at WR, 5 Catches for 31 Yards, 20 Punt Returns for 158 Yards, 12 Kick Returns for 246 Yards
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