NFL Dawgs Week 2 Preview

Welcome to week 2 of the 2020 NFL season. Without Husky football games (YET!) this fall it adds extra importance to the alumni who are balling out in the NFL. Luckily, there are a lot of them thanks to some superb player development on the part of the current and former UW coaching staff.

If you want to figure out which games are worth your time we’ll be previewing all of the contests with former Dawgs participating throughout the fall and running through the major Husky-related story lines. The Thursday game featuring three Huskies has already taken place, so with the exception of the Thursday and Monday night (featuring two huskies) games, all the games below are on Sunday.

GAME OF THE WEEK

Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers, 10:00 AM

Detroit: TE Hunter Bryant*, WR Marvin Hall, DL Danny Shelton, CB Desmond Trufant

Green Bay: CB Kevin King

Any game featuring five* Huskies easily qualifies as the game of the week. This matchup poses an especially interesting one for Husky fans because there’s a chance we could see Kevin King going up against Marvin Hall. Hall had one reception last week for 26 yards. Unfortunately, Hunter Bryant was ruled out for Sunday’s game due to a hamstring injury. After making the team as an UDFA, Bryant is still waiting to make his NFL debut.

In his fourth NFL season, Danny Shelton continues to be a regular contributor on defense and added three tackles in Detroit’s loss to Chicago last week.

OTHER GAMES

Cincinatti Bengals at Cleveland Browns, Thursday (9/17)

Cleveland: OL Nick Harris

Cincinnati: WR John Ross, TE Drew Sample

Well, given that this game took place on Thursday night, this will be a brief summary instead of a preview. I’ll leave it to the week 2 review post to give a more detailed breakdown of this one, suffice it to say that the Browns spoiled Joe Burrow’s first game with a 35-30 Cleveland win. From a Husky fans perspective, this game featured the first NFL snaps for Nick Harris, as well as an amazing one-handed catch from TE Drew Sample who caught seven passes on nine targets for 45 yards. Despite being named a starter, WR John Ross had no catches in the game.

Washington Football Team at Arizona Cardinals, 1:05 PM

Arizona: S Budda Baker, TE Darrell Daniels, CB Byron Murphy, LB Zeke Turner

Despite Baker being the headliner for former Huskies on the Cardinals, it was Zeke Turner who stole the show last week with a blocked punt against San Francisco. CB Byron Murphy was also able to contribute in the win over San Francisco with two pass breakups on the final drive to seal the win. This week they’ll face off against Dwayne Haskins and a Washington Football Team who unexpectedly came from behind to beat the Eagles last week.

San Francisco 49ers at New York Jets, 10:00 AM

San Francisco: WR Dante Pettis

After a disappointing second season with the 49ers, Dante Pettis had received positive reviews during training camp leading into this season. However, despite starting last week, Pettis only had one target with no catches or yards in their loss to Arizona. Some in San Francisco are now calling for the former Husky to be cut. Hopefully he’s able to have a bounce back week against a new-look Jets secondary.

New England Patriots at Seattle Seahawks, 5:20 PM

Seattle: TE Will Dissly, LB Ben Burr-Kirven

New England: DB Myles Bryant

After two seasons cut short by injury, Will Dissly appeared to be back in full health and was able to haul in two catches for eight yards last Sunday. Greg Olsen seemed to be Russell Wilson’s favorite TE target last week, but it was still good to see Dissly healthy and contributing to the Seahawks win over the Falcons. Regarding BBK, look for him to contribute on special teams.

Myles Bryant was added to New England’s active roster after week 1, just in time to face off against the Seahawks. Hopefully we get a chance to see him in action on Sunday afternoon.

Atlanta Falcons at Dallas Cowboys, 10:00 AM

Atlanta: OL Kaleb McGary, CB Jordan Miller*

In his second year starting as Atlanta’s right tackle, Kaleb McGary had a decent first game against the Seahawks. The general take is that he did a good job pass blocking, but has a long way to go with his run blocking.

Corner Jordan Miller is suspended for the first 4 games and so won’t be available but is expected to rejoin the 53-man roster once he’s back as their last defensive back.

Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins, 10:00 AM

Miami: RB Myles Gaskin

Gaskin had the most touches of any Miami running back in week 1 and could be in line for more of the same in week 2. He’s currently listed as RB 2 for the Dolphins (a promotion from last week), but with a strong performance against a good Bills defensive front could cement himself as RB 1 moving forward.

New Orleans Saints at Las Vegas Raiders, Monday @ 5:15 PM

New Orleans: RB Dwayne Washington

Las Vegas: LB Cory Littleton

After spending 18 days on the NFL’s COVID-19 reserve list, RB Dwayne Washington was activated on Thursday by the Saints. It appears he’s made a full recovery and could potentially suit up for the Monday night matchup.

Cory Littleton had six tackles, including three solo, in the Raiders’ win over the Panthers last week.

Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 10:00 AM

Carolina: LB Shaq Thompson

Tampa Bay: KR/PR Jaydon Mickens, DL Vita Vea

Despite losing last week, Shaq Thompson led the Panthers in tackles with 12, including five solo and 1.5 for a loss. He has cemented himself as the leader of Carolina's Luke Kuechly-less defense. This week, he’ll be matching up against Jaydon Mickens, who is listed as the No. 5 WR for Tampa. He didn’t make the stat sheet last week, but did serve in his primary role as a punt returner, catching one punt for no return.

DL Vita Vea had a quiet start to the season last week, collecting one tackle in the game.

Minnesota Vikings at Indianapolis Colts, 10:00 AM

Indianapolis: QB Jacob Eason

Jacob Eason will continue to serve as the No. 3 QB for the Colts, so don’t expect to see him in this one. Speaking of former Husky QB’s, while the Vikings don’t have any Huskies on their active roster, QB Jake Browning is on their practice squad.

Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans, 1:25 PM

Baltimore: CB Marcus Peters

Houston: OL Senio Kelemete

The key matchup in this game features Baltimore CB Marcus Peters against Houston WR Will Fuller V. The former Husky CB will look to lock-down Fuller V, who is Baltimore’s big play threat. Peters had three tackles and one pass defended last week against Cleveland.

The now 30 year old veteran Senio Kelemete is the backup left guard for Houston and was in on only three snaps in week 1.

Los Angeles Rams at Philadelphia Eagles, 10:00 AM

L.A Rams: DL Greg Gaines, S Taylor Rapp, OL Coleman Shelton

Philadelphia: TE Joshua Perkins*

Taylor Rapp registered two tackles as a backup safety in the Rams’ week 1 win over Dallas. Surprisingly, after having a good rookie season, including playing 74% of the Rams defensive snaps, he was only in on 15% in the season opener. This fall off can largely be contributed to rookie safety Jordan Fuller who replaced Rapp in the starting lineup. That said, expect to see more of Rapp this week against a pass heavy Eagles’ offense that loves to utilize their tight ends. Greg Gaines is serving as a backup DT for the Rams. He didn’t register any stats in week 1, but was in on 14 defensive snaps and 4 special teams plays.

After a “significant upper body injury” Philly TE Joshua Perkins was placed on the injured reserve list before the start of the season.

Good luck to the boys this week and go Dawgs!