40 Acres Sports

Jamaal Charles had a big game for the Chiefs

It was a good week for Texas running backs and for the former Horns that play for the Tennessee Titans. This week’s group was led by Cedric Benson on offense and the continued dominance of Shaun Rogers on defense.

Cedric Benson - Benson had his first 100 yard game as a Bengal this week against the Jaguars. It looks like Cedric is playing motivated football since his return after being cut by the Bears for charges that were eventually dropped. Benson had 104 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.

Justin Blalock - The Falcons keep winning and their offense keeps on putting up points. Atlanta beat up the Raiders in every phase of the game on Sunday. The offensive line play is allowing rookie quarterback Matt Ryan to have a big year.

Jamaal Charles - The rookie running back had his best game of his young career as he went over the century mark on the ground for the first time. Charles got his chance because Larry Johnson is still suspended by the team and backup Kolby Smith went down with an injury. The speedster didn’t disappoint gaining 106 yards on 18 carries.

Leonard Davis - The Cowboys keep stinking it up and a lot of it has to do with the play of the offensive line. Dallas has suffered injuries no doubt, but the running game is hurting and the quarterbacks have had no time to throw.

Phil Dawson - The best kicker in recent Longhorn history went two for two with a long of 52 yards in a Cleveland loss.

Cedric Griffin - Cedric Griffin had a decent day against the Texans recording four tackles. Houston struggled to get their offense going on the day as the secondary for the Vikings did a decent job.

Michael Griffin - The Tennessee Titans are the best team in football right now, and they’re led by a group of former Longhorns. Griffin is the current standout of those former Horns because of his steady play in the back of the Titan defense. Griffin had six tackles in the overtime win over the Packers.

Ahmard Hall - The Titan offense is not explosive in the passing game, but they get it done in the running game behind the lead blocking of the former Marine. Hall has become one of the premier true fullbacks in the NFL. He was even given a carry that he took for three yards.

Casey Hampton - Hampton had a big game in the middle Monday night in a win over the Redskins. The big man has struggled with injuries and did have to come out of the game on occasion.

Michael Huff - It wasn’t a good day for the Raiders or Michael Huff. The Falcons did whatever they wanted to do on Sunday through the air and on the ground. Huff finished with three tackles on the day.

Derrick Johnson - It was a slow day for DJ as he finished the game with only four tackles. It appeared the Chiefs were going to win a game, but as bad teams are knows to do they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Cory Redding - The Lions are awful. They are the Los Angeles Clippers of the NFL. After controlling the game against the Bears they managed to give it away at the end. I feel so bad for Redding who finished with four tackles and a sack in the loss.

Brian Robison - Robison recorded two tackles in the win over the Texans. He continues to only get snaps when the starters need a break.

Shaun Rogers - Rogers is a monster. He has been dominating teams lately including nine tackles and a sack in the loss to Baltimore. Rogers will end up in Hawaii at the end of this season.

Bo Scaife - Another Longhorn on the only undefeated team in the NFL. Scaife has become one of the most consistent targets in the league finishing the game against the Packers with four receptions for 26 yards in a game where first downs were few and far between.

David Thomas - Thomas got the start against the Colts on Sunday night. He finished the game with three receptions for 29 yards in the loss.

Ricky Williams - The former Heisman winner finished with 16 yards for the third straight week. Ronnie Brown has become the clear go to back in Miami with Ricky getting touches when the Dolphins go to their “Wild Cat” formation. He has made an impact in the passing game as he made his third catch for over 20 yards in two games.

Roy Williams - Williams has not made the impact some thought he would coming to the Cowboys in a mid season trade. If anything the lack of production for Roy shows why there are so little trades made in pro football. In the loss, he caught one ball for 28 yards.

Shaun Rogers had his best game as a Brown

Roy Williams caught his first touchdown with Dallas and Shaun Rogers had a huge game for Cleveland. Read below to see how all the former Horns did this week:

Tarell Brown - Brown had a quiet night in a loss to the Seahawks. Brown had two tackles in the game.

Cedric Benson - The Bengals are awful, but Benson has been a bright spot in his short time there. Benson ran the ball well in the first half before being taken out of the game plan because of the deficit his team faced. He finished the game with 13 carries for 49 yards and two receptions for 20 yards.

Jamaal Charles - Charles had his best rushing day of his young career on Sunday averaging nine yards on five carries including a long thirty yard run. Starting running back Larry Johnson continues to miss time because of off the field issues, so the rookie’s role should continue to grow.

Leonard Davis - The Cowboys got back on the win column, but it had little to do with the play of the offense. Dallas has suffered a lot of injuries but the play of the offensive line has to be disappointing.

Phil Dawson - Dawson continues to play well going three for three with a long of 42 in the Cleveland win of Jacksonville.

Michael Griffin - The Titans made a statement on Monday night in a win over the Colts. Griffin was all over the field finishing the game with eight tackles.

Ahmard Hall - The Titan running game changes focal points throughout the game with the combination of Chris Johnson and Lendale White, but the one constant is the consistent blocking ability of Ahmard Hall. Hall played well again as the Titans remain undefeated.

Casey Hampton - Hampton got back in the stat column after struggling with injuries throughout the year. The big defensive tackle recorded six tackles while controlling the middle of the line.

Michael Huff - The Raiders and Michael Huff continue to struggle. The former Thorpe Award winner was credited with two tackles and no pass breakups in the loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Quentin Jammer - Jammer went all the way to London to get hurt. He finished the game with six tackles before he left the game with a minor leg injury. The game was not good for either team’s secondary. Jammer gets a week off to heal up.

Derrick Johnson - DJ had a chance to be a hero against Brett Favre and the Jets but he dropped a potential interception that hit him right in the numbers. He finished with six tackles in the loss.

Cory Redding - Redding recorded five tackles and a half sack in another Detroit loss. I feel bad for anyone playing in Detroit, Roy Williams got out, now we need Redding to follow.

Shaun Rogers - Rogers was dominant for the second straight week. When Rogers plays all out he could be the best interior lineman in the game. In the win against the Jaguars the nose tackle recorded nine tackles and a sack.

Bo Scaife - The Titans are the best team in the league right now and everywhere you look a former Longhorn standout is making a contribution. Scaife looks to be the best tight end on the squad even with the addition of Alge Crumpler. On Monday night Scaife had five catches for 44 yards.

David Thomas - Thomas caught a ball after going a week without one. The Patriots won the game and Thomas is one of many tight ends New England uses.

Ricky Williams - Williams scored a touchdown but was held to 16 yards on seven carries in the upset win over the Bills. He did have a 47 yard reception in the game but gave a fumble that set up a score for Buffalo.

Roy Williams - Roy Williams scored his first touchdown as a Cowboy on a two yard fade in what ended up being the only touchdown of the game. Williams wasted no time pleasing his Texas fans by putting up a “Hook em’ Horns” sign in the air for the world to see.

Vince Young - Vince Young remains the man on the Titan sideline

Great week for Duane Akina’s former proteges in the NFL as Tarell Brown, Michael Griffin, and Nathan Vasher all had interceptions in week three. Ricky Williams also had his best performance of the year as he and backfield mate Ronnie Brown ran all over the New England Patriots. Meanwhile wide receiver Limas Sweed is still waiting to see the field for the first time as a pro out in Pittsburgh. Read on to see how the rest of the Longhorns in the NFL performed last week:

Tarell Brown - Two tackles and an interception in the loss to the Chargers.

Jamaal Charles - Seven carries for 38 yards rushing plus three catches for 24 yards. Jamaal also had his first NFL kickoff return for 21 yards.

Phil Dawson - 1/1 on field goals and on extra points.

Jermichael Finley - Finally saw the field for the Packers against the Cowboys but had no catches. He got in on special teams and managed to pick up an unsportsmanlike penalty in a brush with Martellus Bennett.

Cedric Griffin - Two tackles against Carolina.

Michael Griffin - Big game against the Texans with two interceptions. Also added two tackles.

Ahmard Hall - One carry for one yard.

Casey Hampton - No stats against Philly. Will miss the next game against Baltimore with an injured groin.

Michael Huff - Three tackles, two of them solos, against Buffalo.

Quentin Jammer - Recovered a fumble and returned it 23 yards, broke up two passes, and added three tackles in the Chargers blowout of the Fightin’ Brett Favres.

Derrick Johnson - One tackle in what may be one of 16 losses this season for the Chiefs.

Cory Redding - Two solo tackles for the lowly Lions against the 48ers.

Shaun Rogers - Had a solid game against Baltimore posting four tackles.

Aaron Ross - Five solo tackles, including one behind the line of scrimmage.

Bo Scaife - Three catches for 26 yards including a touchdown.

Limas Sweed - Still no playing time.

David Thomas - One catch for four yards in what will hopefully be one of many losses for the Patriots.

Nathan Vasher - Good performance for Nate versus Tampa Bay. Three passes defended including an interception, with four solo tackles added on.

Ricky Williams - Great game for Ricky and his counterpart Ronnie Brown as the Dolphins went back to the college game to get a little offensive firepower. He had 16 carries for 98 yards (6.1 average) and two catches for 21 more yards.

Roy Williams - Two catches for 18 yards in a loss to San Francisco. Roy has to be frustrated and already looking forward to 2009 somewhere other than Detroit.

Selvin Young - Very efficient game against New Orleans with 11 carries for 65 yards.

With Vince Young injured it wasn’t a very exciting week for ex-Longhorns in the NFL. Quentin Jammer and Selvin Young probably had the best weeks, while the complete absence of Jermichael Finley and Limas Sweed continues. Here’s how all the former Horns did in week two of the NFL season:

Jamaal Charles - Less busy after a good week one, only three carries for seven yards. The Chiefs only rushed the ball 19 times all game as a team. Charles also had a 15 yard catch and hurt Larry Johnson’s feelings.

Phil Dawson - Two of two on field goals with a long of 38 yards in a loss.

Jermichael Finley - Still looking for his first career catch. I’m not sure if he’s getting any snaps at all.

Cedric Griffin - Six tackles and one pass breakup against Peyton Manning and the Colts.

Michael Griffin - Picked up his first interception of the year off a tipped pass. Also added six tackles from his safety spot.

Ahmard Hall - Three carries for nine yards.

Casey Hampton - One tackle.

Michael Huff - Four tackles against KC and two passes defended.

Quentin Jammer - Posted 11 tackles and had a forced fumble in the Chargers’ controversial loss to the Broncos.

Derrick Johnson - Eight tackles, seven of them solo.

Cullen Loeffler - Inspired me to teach my kids to deep snap.

Cory Redding - Three solo tackles against the Packers.

Shaun Rogers - First sack of the 2008 season and added six tackles.

Aaron Ross - Four tackles.

Bo Scaife - Without Vince Young, just one catch for six yards.

Limas Sweed - Still no catches in his NFL career. Like Finley, looking at his game logs it appears he’s not even playing.

David Thomas - Picked up his first catch of the year against the Jets, a 14-yarder from Matt Cassel.

Nathan Vasher - Returned punts for the first time in a long while. Had three returns for a total of 21 yards. Added two tackles.

Ricky Williams - After an exciting preseason another ho hum game for Ricky. He had 11 rushes for 28 yards in the Dolphins’ blowout loss to Arizona.

Roy Williams - Just about the same performance as week one: three catches for 48 yards. Looks like Calvin Johnson has become the clear number one target in Detroit, maybe Roy can head down to Tennessee next year as a free agent.

Selvin Young - Was the Broncos’ leading rusher with eight carries for 78 yards, including a big 49-yarder. Also added one catch for eight yards.

Casey Hampton placed on PUP list for being out of shape by Steelers. He won’t be allowed to practice in this camp until he drops weight

In an effort to measure which college programs have been the most successful over the last five seasons, the Wall Street Journal has come up with The Dow Jones College-Football Success Index. I’m not sure why, but they have chosen to use a formula that calculates the success of college football teams using only NFL information. They use the number of players starting/contributing on NFL teams as one factor, which also includes how many games their NFL teams win. The other factor is a team’s “draft success” which attempts to determine whether a team’s players have lived up to their draft promise.

The Longhorns land at number sixteen, which isn’t too low except for the fact that teams like North Carolina and Texas A&M land ahead of the Horns. That’s a pretty tell-tale sign that your ranking logic is horribly skewed. They list only Derrick Dockery, Casey Hampton, and Derrick Johnson as standout players. I guess Pro Bowlers Nathan Vasher and Shaun Rogers, who might be the best defensive tackle in the league, don’t count as standouts.

Here’s their comment on Texas:

National champs sent only three players to the NFL this year from the nation’s top offense. One problem: Longhorns’ shotgun formation isn’t popular in the NFL.

Not a very good argument there. I’m guessing a better reason we only had three offensive player’s drafted is that the team has seven returning starters this year on that side of the football. It’s kind of hard to be drafted when you’re still in college. Vince Young went third overall, tight end David Thomas went in the third round to the Patriots, and tackle Jonathan Scott was the Lions’ fifth round selection. Guard Will Allen signed a free agent deal with the Saints and backups Matt Nordgren and Ahmard Hall also found teams despite not being starters at Texas. Actually seems like a pretty good success rate to me.

So basically they took a faulty premise and backed it up with terrible analysis. There’s a lot of ways to determine a successful college football program, but how many backups a school has in the NFL is probably one of the last things you should consider.

Via: The Wiz