With the recent rise of the Wisconsin college football program the Badgers in the NFL have had a similar uptick.
More and more guys are beginning to have a splash in the league and the guys over at Pro Football Focus (PFF) have an eagle eye on each one of them. If you’re not familiar with PFF, you’re living in the stone age of modern football analysis. Here at The Sports Bank, we’re big supporters of what they do, so we’ve oriented our weekly check-up around what they’re saying about Badgers in the NFL.
Week 9 had more Badgers in the NFL standing out for all the wrong reasons, but J.J. Watt may have made up for the bad play by being “awesome” in the Texans loss on Sunday Night Football.
1.) Houston Texans DE J.J. Watt
Badgers Tenure: 2009-10
Week 9 Play: “It’s almost redundant to point out that JJ Watt is awesome, but it’s worth noting how much things open up for him when the Texans have Antonio Smith firing on all cylinders … Watt of course added to that with a batted pass, a blocked kick and some impressive run defense. Ah what the hell, it may be redundant but he is awesome!” – PFF’s Analysis of the Indianapolis Colts’ 27-24 victory over the Texans.
– Watt also made an appearance on PFF’s Week 9 Team of the Week: “Just the usual Sunday for Watt who ended the day with a sack, four quarterback hits, three hurries and a batted pass. Like I say, the usual.”
2.) New Orleans Saints WR Nick Toon
Badgers Tenure: 2008-11
Week 9 Play: “Saints WR Nick Toon dropped his only two official targets, though he had a nice first-down catch negated by a penalty. He finished at -2.3 overall on 55 snaps.” – PFF’s Analysis of the New York Jets’ 26-20 win over the Saints.
“New Orleans WR, Nick Toon will have better days; he dropped both passes thrown his way; one which ricocheted away for an interception with the other being a perfectly thrown 37 yard bomb that would have led to a first down on the Jets 14 yard line.” – PFF’s Week 9 Reaction Blog
– For his untimely play, Toon also received dishonorable mention for PFF’s ‘Had a Bad Day’ Team, Week 9.
3.) Tampa Bay Bucs LB Jonathan Casillas
Badgers Tenure: 2005-08
Week 9 Play: “Adrian Clayborn, Jonathan Casillas and Mason Foster (-4.0, four missed tackles in run defense) all struggled in particular to coral Lynch and the rest of the Seahawks’ running game. As a team 11 of the Bucs’ 16 missed tackles came on the ground, an unwelcome reminder of just what an abysmal tackling team this was last season having made some strides this season only hitting double digits once before this season.” – PFF’s Analysis of the Seattle Seahawks’ 27-24 win over the Bucs.
– Casillas also made dishonorable mention for PFF’s ‘Had a Bad Day’ Team, Week 9.
– Cincinnati Bengals OG Kevin Zeitler (2009-11) gave up the game losing safety sack to the Miami Dolphins Cameron Wake in Miami’s thrilling 22-20 overtime win.
– The Dallas Cowboys’ rookie C Travis Frederick (2009-12) remains on the ‘Five to Watch’ in PFF’s Race for Rookie of the Year, Week 9: “That was the best Frederick has looked. Not only did he earn a positive grade in the run game but he was even better in pass protection.”
For an extensive list on all the Badgers in the NFL, check out the Badgers in the NFL page at UWBadgers.com
What did you think the former teammates Ball and Wilson this week? Let me know by commenting below.
Nick Grays is a senior writer at the Sports Bank where he covers the Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers. He also enjoys sharing Fantasy Advice and pretends to be a Golf expert from time-to-time. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here or visit his blog Nick Knows Best. If social media is not your thing, shoot him an email at grays@uwalumni.com.
*Pictures obtained from houstontexans.com