BBNFL: Is Kentucky now DBU?

This past week was all about remembrance and appreciation around the state of Kentucky, specifically Lexington.

LSU came into town for the first time since 2007 and it happened to go hand-in-hand with Kentucky running out one of their best teams in program history. The obvious next move from the university was to bring out some of the famed members from the 2007 roster and parade them around Kroger Field as a subtle flex while the ‘Cats stomped LSU for the second straight time in Lexington.

So, in the same sentiment of appreciation, let’s take a look at how some of the former ‘Cats fared during Week 5 of the NFL season.

Lonnie Johnson Jr. does it again

Does Kentucky have the best former SEC defensive back playing NFL ball in the state of Texas? I’m not going to assert the declaration, but I’ll leave the question out there.

Once Lonnie got the taste, it became insatiable. After recording his first career interception last week, the former ‘Cat decided he couldn’t wait until the next one. He grabbed one in the third quarter off of former future Wildcat Mac Jones.

BIG LOTTO 🎰@Lonnie30johnson | 📺 » @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/qpfofCCTP5

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 10, 2021

Johnson Jr. ended up adding four tackles and a pass defense to go along with the pick. Quietly, he’s building up the résumé of a pretty solid season as a third-year player.

Grind and avoid the distractions

It must really be awful to play for the Jaguars. Usually, the burden just comes from having to play on the worst team in football every single season. And yeah, living in Jacksonville isn’t ideal either.

But now, now it’s different. They have a college coach coaching in the NFL who clearly has the intentions of following the Nick Saban route in a few weeks. All while not being able to understand where to point fingers. It must be absolutely abysmal to still try and put on the pads for that franchise, even if they do have Trevor Lawrence. But alas, you play the game no matter what, which Josh Allen seems to be dealing with just fine.

The former top-10 pick put up another stat-stuffer while being limited somewhat in playing time. Seeing only 67% of snaps on defense in Week 5, Allen had seven tackles, including two QB hits and half a sack along with a pass defense.

Defense forces a three-and-out.#TENvsJAX | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/pNg1zjRUvM

— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) October 10, 2021

It’s the UK for a reason

Brandin Echols shined once again for the Jets this past week, this time over across the pond in London. He was taken out of the game in the first quarter in Week 4 and put into concussion protocol, only to recover and have his best game as a pro in his freshman campaign.

The former Kentucky corner had a career-high nine tackles (seven solo) to go along with a pass defense. This was also the most action he’s seen on the field, being on for 76% of the Jets defensive snaps.

Other notable performances

• Mike Edwards had six tackles on 98% of snaps for the Bucs.
• Danny Trevathan had three tackles on only 10 snaps in his return from injury.
• Randall Cobb had two catches for 30 yards for the Packers.
• Jamin Davis had two tackles on only 13 snaps for the Football Team.
• Benny Snell Jr. had five carries for 20 yards for the Steelers.