BBNFL Week 7: Ray Davis finds paydirt while Will Levis finds the inactive list
Week 7 of the NFL season was supposed to feature a Kentucky-centric matchup. Will Levis and the Tennessee Titans were up against the Buffalo Bills with Ray Davis in the backfield, who had a breakout performance last week on Monday Night Football.
With the Bills’ starting running back, James Cook, back in the lineup after sitting out Week 6 due to injury, Ray Davis played only 13 snaps. Being Ray Davis, though, he made the most of them. He rushed the ball five times for 41 yards including a 16-yard scamper into the endzone, the second touchdown of his professional career. Oh, he also caught his only target for six receiving yards for good measure.
Davis is going to be a starting running back in the league before long. It is just a matter of time.
Unfortunately, we did not get the Davis-Levis showdown Big Blue Nation wanted. The Titans announced Mason Rudolph would get the start for Tennessee at quarterback in place of the former Kentucky gunslinger. The official reason given was a Grade 2 AC joint sprain in Levis’s shoulder, an ailment he played through last Sunday against the Colts. However, Titan fans who are frustrated with Levis’s early-season play speculate that the move was less injury-related and more a reflection of his poor performance.
Maybe it’s both. Perhaps a shoulder sprain makes a quarterback play poorly. Just a hunch. Either way, let’s hope Levis gets healthy and/or better in general soon.
Josh Paschal and Za’Darius Smith record sacks
The Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings might be the two best teams in the NFC and they played like it on Sunday. In what was one of the better games of the season, the Lions gave the Vikings their first loss of the season on a last-second field goal.
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Former Wildcat and cancer survivor, Josh Paschal, made his presence felt for Detroit, as he came away with his first sack of the year.
Za’Darius Smith also got into the sack column on Sunday, taking down Cincinnati QB Joe Burrow in another Browns’ loss. Smith has been the subject of multiple trade speculations as a faltering Cleveland team could look to unload the veteran talent to a contender in exchange for younger players and/or draft picks. Thus far, the Washington Commanders and Detroit Lions are rumored to be in negotiations for Big Z’s services.
Lonnie Johnson makes spectacular special teams play
I don’t often showcase special team plays on the KSR BBNFL weekly recap, but Lonnie Johnson forced me to buck that trend. On a Carolina Panthers punt, Johnson gave his best Kentucky point guard impersonation and flipped the ball behind his back at the one-yard line just before it went into the endzone for a touchback and pinning the ball inside the 10-yard line.
Unfortunately, a play that saved a punt from going into the endzone was the Panthers’ best highlight of the day, as the rebuilding franchise lost to the Commanders in convincing fashion.
Florida may have demolished Kentucky this weekend, but at least a former Wildcat made a good special teams play on a bad NFL team. Yep, it was that kind of weekend.
Other BBNFL Notes
- Jamin Davis was back in the lineup for the Washington Commanders on Sunday after being a healthy scratch in Week 6. He only played 13 staps, but like Ray Davis, he made the most of them, grading out with a BBNFL-best 84.1.
- The New York Jets waived former Kentucky tight end Brenden Bates but after clearing waivers, they re-signed him to their practice squad. Bates had played on special teams the first five weeks of the season, but for now, he will focus on helping New York in other ways. Slightly related, that franchise is a dumpster fire.
- Landon Young served as an offensive line Swiss army knife again in Week 7 for the Saints. Young’s natural position is tackle, but he started and played every snap last week at right guard and did the same thing on Sunday versus the Tampa Bay Buccanneers.
BBNFL snap counts and PFF player grades for Week 7
PFF grades reflect the players’ respective offensive or defensive grades unless the snap count listed is special teams (ST), in which case it is the special teams’ grade.
| Player | POS | Snaps | Stats | PFF Grade |
| Jamin Davis (WAS) | DL | 16 | 1 QB pressure, 1 sack | 84.1 |
| Dru Phillips (NYG) | DB | 45 | 2 tackles, 1 assist | 77.1 |
| Josh Hines-Allen (JAX) | LB | 51 | 5 QB pressures, 1 tackle, 1 assist | 73.7 |
| Ray Davis (BUF) | RB | 13 | 5 rushes, 41 yards, 1 TD, 1 rec, 6 yards | 73.3 |
| Lonnie Johnson Jr. (HOU) | DB | 6 | 1 tackle | 66 |
| Za’Darius Smith (CLE) | LB | 29 | 5 QB pressures, 1 sack | 62.5 |
| Luke Fortner (JAX) | C | 2 | No pressures allowed | 60 |
| Trevin Wallace (CAR) | LB | 69 | 5 tackles, 2 assists | 58.7 |
| Wan’Dale Robinson (NYG) | WR | 49 | 8 targets, 6 rec, 19 yards | 58.6 |
| Josh Pascal (DET) | DL | 52 | 2 tackles, 1 sack | 55.2 |
| Carrington Valentine (GB) | DB | 13 (ST) | 0 tackles | 54.5 |
| Landon Young (NO) | OL | 70 | 1 sack allowed, 1 penalty | 43.9 |
| Bud Dupree (LAC) | LB | 29 | 1 tackle | 43.1 |
| Brandin Echols (NYJ) | DB | 65 | 5 tackles, 1 assist | 32.3 |
| Keidron Smith (DEN) | DB | 11 | 0 tackles | 29.4 |
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