Hawkeyes in the NFL: Week 6 Top Performers
Welcome back to another edition of Hawkeyes in the NFL. Another week of the football season is complete, which means it’s time to take a look back at the top performances by former Iowa Football players. Plenty of names made it into this week’s article, with several honorable mention performers. Tight ends had a good week and earned two spots on the list, including the play of the week.
Honorable Mention Performances
CB Cooper DeJean- 6 tkls, 0.5 sks, 4 punt returns, 51 yds, LNG 19 vs Cleveland
RB Tyler Goodson- 12 touches, 4 receptions, 65 total yards vs Tennessee
CB Riley Moss- 6 tkls, 1 pass defended vs Los Angeles Chargers
LB Jack Campbell- 7 tkls vs Dallas
DE Chauncey Golston- 5 tkls, 1 tfl vs Detroit
1. San Francisco TE George Kittle
Make it back-to-back weeks that George Kittle has landed in one of the top spots of this weekly article. On Thursday, Kittle caught five passes for 58 yards and a pair of touchdowns, helping the 49ers to a 36-24 win over Seattle. It’s the seventh multi-touchdown game of his career, while he has recorded a touchdown in four straight games, tying a career-long streak. On the season, George has totaled 28 receptions for 283 yards and five touchdowns. Amongst all tight ends, Kittle ranks first in touchdown catches, second in receptions and fourth in receiving yards.
2. Seattle TE Noah Fant
Although the Seahawks lost to George Kittle and the 49ers on Thursday night, Noah Fant had a big game. He caught six passes for 63 yards, including four first down receptions. It’s the second time this season that has had totaled 5+ receptions in a game and the 20th time in his career. On the season, Fant has 20 catches for 198 yards and 11 first downs. His 24 targets through six games are the most since he was targeted 41 times through six weeks with the Broncos during the 2021-22 season.
3. Buffalo DE AJ Epenesa
Buffalo picked up a Monday Night win over the Jets last night and AJ Epenesa had a solid game for the Bills. Epenesa finished the game with four tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. Although his second sack was flagged for roughing the passer, it still goes down as just his second career multi-sack game. After the game Aaron Rodgers agreed that it was a poor call, despite being the recipient of the hit. Ultimately, the call did not come back to hurt the Bills.
“Seemed a little ridiculous. Some of (the flags) seemed really bad, including the roughing the passer on me. That’s not roughing the passer. Might as well play ‘Sarcastaball’ if we’re going to call those things,” Rodgers said in his postgame presser.
Top 10
- 1New
Mondon out vs. Texas
All-SEC Georgia LB expected to sit
- 2Trending
Trojan Horse
Penn State fan pays to run out with USC football
- 3
Gentry to redshirt
USC LB redshirts due to concussion issue
- 4Hot
NCAA examining Oregon loophole
12 men on the field penalty vs. Ohio State leads to NCAA examination, per report
- 5
Jerry Jones loses it
Cowboys owner unhinged radio appearance
4. Chicago P Tory Taylor
The Bears offense was humming along against Jacksonville in London on Sunday morning, so Tory Taylor only was called on to punt twice. So, why did he make the list? His two punts went for 64 yards and 59 yards, giving him an average of 61.5 yards per punt. That punt average is the highest in Bears franchise history in a game with multiple punts. The previous record-holder was Maury Buford, who averaged 57.5 yards per punt in a game back in 1985.
On the season, Taylor has punted 26 times for 1,259 yards (48.4 AVG), including ten punts inside the 20-yard line. His 7.7% touchback rate is fifth-lowest in the league amongst punters that have totaled at least 20 punts, while he is eighth in the league in net punt yards.
Play of the Week: Detroit TE Sam LaPorta
Detroit head coach Dan Campbell pulled out all the stops in the Lions 47-9 stomping of Dallas on Sunday afternoon and tight end Sam LaPorta was the recipient of a successful trick play touchdown. Early in the second quarter, LaPorta caught a flea flicker pass, raced towards the goal line and dove into the end zone for a 52-yard touchdown reception to put the Lions up 17-3. It was his only catch of the game, but it was a big one and put Dallas in a big hole early in the game.
