BBNFL Week 8: Za'Darius Smith pressured Lamar Jackson at near record rate

Kentucky lost this weekend (again). Big Blue Nation’s most-liked NFL teams, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Tennessee Titans, and the Chicago Bears also lost this weekend. (Don’t worry, I’m not going to repost Washington’s final Hail Mary that took down the aforementioned Bears. You’ve probably seen it 1,000 times at this point and if you’re like me, you’re likely over it.) So, with an overall disappointing football weekend for fans in the Bluegrass, what can we latch onto for some semblance of happiness? How about former Kentucky edge rusher Za’Darius Smith nearly setting a season-high for quarterback pressures against former Louisville star Lamar Jackson? It’ll have to do.

Smith pressured Jackson nine times in total on Sunday, which is the third-most in any game this season by a single player, as well as the third-most in his career. Even better, those stats were not in vain. The Cleveland Browns upset the Baltimore Ravens, who were favored by more than a touchdown, to earn their second victory of the season.

Smith’s strong performance only added fuel to the trade rumors. Fans of contenders are salivating for Big Z’s services as they aren’t going to their best use in Cleveland. Look for his name to be the subject of a lot of trade talks as the November 5th deadline approaches.

Bud Dupree and Josh Hines-Allen each record sacks

Similar to Za’Darius Smith, two more veteran former Wildcat pass-rushers got to the quarterback in Week 8. Bud Dupree, now with the Los Angeles Chargers, picked up a sack in his team’s convincing win over the New Orleans Saints, who continue to be without starting quarterback, Derek Carr. That makes his third sack of the season in what could be one the last of his career.

Josh Hines-Allen also added a tally mark to his sack column during week 8, as he took down a backup quarterback of his own against Green Bay. Unfortunately, as the Jaguars tend to do, his team lost once again, underscoring what has been a very disappointing season in Jacksonville. However, as the man formerly known as Josh Allen tends to do, he led all of the BBNFL in PFF grades at 79.1.

Other BBNFL Notes:

• The Indianapolis Colts signed Kelvin “Bossman Phat” Joseph to their practice squad last week and immediately elevated him to their main roster. He recorded a tackle on special teams last week and saw 23 special teams snaps this week against the Houston Texans.

• The Lions inactivated Josh Paschal for Week 8 due to an illness. He was unable to practice at the end of the week and subsequently couldn’t go on Sunday. Knowing his history of overcoming sicknesses, I expect Paschal to return to the field soon.

• Will Levis was inactive for the second week in a row as he recovers from a shoulder injury. His status with the Titans, in more than one way, remains uncertain.

• The Carolina Panthers are bad, but Trevin Wallace has taken over as the central defensive figure for the rebuilding team. This week, he forced a fumble, although his team took a big loss, this time to the Broncos.

BBNFL snap counts and PFF player grades for Week 8

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
Josh Hines-Allen (JAX)	LB	60	3 QB pressures, 1 sack, 2 tackles	79.1
Za’Darius Smith (CLE)	LB	51	9 QB pressures, 1 tackle, 2 assists	77.2
Lonnie Johnson Jr. (CAR)	DB	2	0 tackles	73.7
Keidron Smith (DEN)	DB	1	0 tackles	70.2
Carrington Valentine (GB)	DB	12	0 tackles	66.4
Ray Davis (BUF)	RB	17	6 rushes, 29 yards	63.8
Luke Fortner (JAX)	C	5 (ST)	no stats	60.7
Landon Young (NO)	OL	3 (ST)	no stats	60.1
Darian Kinnard (PHI)	OL	3	no stats	59
Brandin Echols (NYJ)	DB	17 (ST)	1 tackle	59
Wan’Dale Robinson (NYG)	WR	62	5 targets, 5 rec, 29 yards	54.8
Dru Phillips (NYG)	DB	55	7 tackles	52.9
Bud Dupree (LAC)	LB	41	3 tackles, 1 sack	51.7
Trevin Wallace (CAR)	LB	65	3 tackles, 1 assist, 1 forced fumble	49.8
Kelvin Joseph (IND)	DB	23 (ST)	1 penalty	42
Mike Edwards (BUF)	DB		Inactive – healthy scratch
Josh Pascal (DET)	DL		Inactive – illness
Will Levis (TEN)	QB		Inactive – shoulder