NFL Week 8 Recap for Former Virginia Football Players

In Week 8 of the NFL season, there were nine former Virginia football players see the field, including two games in which several former Wahoos participate. Let’s take a look at how all these former Cavaliers and their teams fared in Week 8 of this edition of Hoos in the NFL.

Three UVA football alumni played in Sunday’s Baltimore Ravens-Cleveland Browns game. In his second game back from injury, after missing five games in a row, Juan Thornhill posted a total of four tackles, including three solo stops, along with one pass defensed and one quarterback hit to help the Browns pull off a stunning 29-24 upset over the Ravens. Thornhill played 53 defensive snaps (78% of Cleveland’s defensive snaps), while fellow former UVA safeties Rodney McLeod Jr. recorded two solo tackles and one pass defended while playing 42 defensive snaps (62%) and 16 special teams snaps (55%).

On the other side of the ball, former Virginia defensive end Brent Stedelijk went down with a concussion early in the first quarter of Sunday’s game and did not return to the field after making just one defensive play. The Ravens had their five-game winning streak snapped, while the Browns ended a streak of five straight losses with the win.

In the other game this weekend, which featured several former Wahoos, the Arizona Cardinals defeated the Miami Dolphins 28-27. Joey Blunt played no defensive snaps or recorded any stats, but played 22 special teams snaps, or 85% of Arizona’s special teams snaps. Blount has only played one game on defense for the Cardinals this season, but he has been on the field for the majority of their special teams thus far.

Malik Washington had no targets in the receiving game for Miami, but returned two punts for a total of 25 yards, including one that went 19 yards on Arizona’s first punt of the game. The rookie receiver played 16 offensive snaps (25%) and 15 special teams snaps (58%) for the Dolphins, who suffered their fifth loss in the last six games even with the return of starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Charles Snowden recorded four total tackles, one solo tackle and one quarterback hit on Patrick Mahomes in the Las Vegas Raiders’ 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Snowden played 18 defensive snaps (25%) and five special teams snaps (21%) and has recorded at least one tackle in each of his eight games so far this season. At the midway point of the season, Snowden has collected 23 total tackles, two tackles for loss, six quarterback hits and 1.5 sacks. Before this season, he had not achieved a single defensive statistic in his NFL career.

The up and down 2024 season continued Dontayvion Wickswho was targeted just twice and played just 21 offensive snaps (30%), but caught both passes for 11 yards to help the Green Bay Packers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-27 and improve to 6-2 on the season . Wicks has had some great games this year — including five catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns against the Vikings and three catches for 48 yards and a touchdown last week against the Texans — but he’s also had four games with three or fewer targets. The Packers are cruising at 6-2, but they’re still trying to figure out who their favorite receivers are.

The Washington Commanders defeated the Chicago Bears with a miraculous Hail Mary performance from Jayden Daniels to Noah Brown in what will likely go down as the NFL’s game of the year this season. Olamide Zacheaus That play put him on the winning side, but he had no receptions and no targets in the game. He returned two punts for 29 yards and played 26 offensive snaps (35%) and seven special teams snaps (27%).

Morgan Moses played all 62 offensive snaps and four special teams snaps in the New York Jets’ 25–22 loss to the New England Patriots. The Jets gave up two sacks and rushed for 112 yards and 4.0 yards per carry, but they suffered their fifth straight loss.

On the Injured Reserve are two former UVA football players:
– Cornerback Bryce Hall (Buccaneers) – injured in Week 1
– Tight end Jelani Bos (Colts) – injured in preseason

Read last week’s edition of Hoos in the NFL here: Hoos in the NFL: NFL Week 7 Recap for Former Virginia Football Players