Aggies in the NFL: Week 3
Week 3 of the NFL produced enough exciting games to give even the healthiest fans chronic heart problems, and plenty of former Aggies were part of those games. There’s already been a promotion among former Aggies, and others who were unfortunately cut from the active roster. Tipa Galeai was promoted to the Green Bay Packers’ 53-man roster while Dallin Leavitt was cut (and resigned to the practice roster) by the Las Vegas Raiders. Leavitt’s replacement on the Raiders’ active roster was another former Aggie, Nevin Lawson.
Nevin Lawson, CB (Las Vegas Raiders)
Season to date stats — 5 tackles (4 solo)
Week 3 Game: 20-36 loss at New England
Stats: 4 tackles (3 solo)
Since serving his suspension in Week 1, which held over from a 2019 incident, Lawson has worked his way back into the defensive rotation. In Week 2, Lawson played just 13 defensive snaps but upped that to 36 this past Sunday (Lawson had 17 special teams snaps this past week, similar to his 19 in Week 2). While the Raiders’ defense gave up 250 yards on the ground, the secondary only allowed 156 passing yards and picked off Pats’ quarterback Cam Newton.
Kyler Fackrell, OLB (New York Giants)
Season to date stats — 10 tackles (7 solo), 1.0 sacks
Week 3 Game: 9-36 loss vs San Francisco
Stats: 4 tackles (2 solo)
Fackrell continues to get consistent snaps for the free-falling Giants. He played 39 on Sunday, just over half the defensive snaps for a New York team that gave up 36 points.
Tyler Larsen, C (Carolina Panthers)
Season to date stats — 15 snaps (all special teams)
Week 3 Game: 21-16 win at LA Chargers
Stats: 7 snaps (all special teams)
Larsen has not made it onto the field for an offensive snap this season to protect quarterback Teddy Bridgewater or pave the way for running back Christian McCaffrey and/or his injury replacement, Mike Davis. The lack of snaps on offense, even with three Panthers offensive linemen out in Week 3 isn’t a great sign for him playing non-special teams snaps going forward.
Nick Vigil, OLB (Los Angeles Chargers)
Season to date stats — 5 tackles (3 solo), 1 fumble recovery
Week 3 Game: 16-21 loss vs Carolina
Stats: Did not play (Out with a groin injury)
Vigil had a solid Week 1 with five tackles and a key fumble recovery, but he played just three snaps in Week 2 and was out for Week 3 with a groin injury. It’s possible the groin injury and the low Week 2 snaps are related given Vigil was on the field for 69 snaps in Week 1.
Bobby Wagner, ILB (Seattle Seahawks)
Season to date stats — 26 tackles (11 solo), 1.0 tackles for loss, 3 passes defended, 3 QB hits
Week 3 Game: 38-31 win vs Dallas
Stats: 9 tackles (4 solo), 2 QB hits, 1 pass defended
So far this season there hasn’t been a single Seahawks defensive snap where Wagner wasn’t on the field. He remains the leader of the Seattle defense in both spirit and production. There are some questions being asked of the Seattle defense that’s allowed 30 points in back-to-back games, but Wagner isn’t among those being questioned.
Tipa Galeai, OLB (Green Bay Packers)
Season to date stats — 9 snaps (all on defense)
Week 3 Game: 37-30 win at New Orleans
Stats: Did not play
After receiving the good news prior to Week 1 and playing nine snaps in the season opener, Galeai has not played a single snap for the Packers. He wasn’t on the injury report, nor has there been a reported transaction of him being cut. Galeai doesn’t appear to have the skillset to become a fixture on special teams so he’ll have to find a way to get on and then prove himself on the field if he’s going to stick in Green Bay.
Jordan Love, QB (Green Bay Packers)
Season to date stats — No stats recorded
Week 3 Game: 37-30 win at New Orleans
Stats: Did not play
There’s only so many ways to say “Aaron Rodgers is still Aaron Rodgers so Jordan Love won’t be seeing any time unless the former is injured or the Packers blow out a team bad enough to give Love a few snaps.”
Darwin Thompson, RB (Kansas City)
Season to date stats — 50 snaps (21 offense, 29 special teams) 6 rush, 32 yards, 5.33 yards/att 1 fumble (1 lost), 2 tackles
Week 3 Game: 34-20 win at Baltimore
Stats: 17 snaps (6 offense, 11 special teams) 2 rush, 11 yards, 1 fumble (1 lost)
Though the Chiefs will be very happy with their performance in beating a fellow AFC Super Bowl contender on the road, Thompson will have plenty to regret after fumbling for the first time in his career. He lost the ball after gaining the yardage for a first down with an 11-yard rush and it was recovered by Ravens’ linebacker Jaylon Ferguson. The lost fumble ended a promising drive that, had Thompson gone down with the ball, would have made it inside the 30-yard line. Instead, it game the Ravens a chance to come back in the game, though they proved unable to do so.
Patrick Scales, LS (Chicago Bears)
Season to date stats — 26 snaps (12 punts, 8 PAT, 6 FGA)
Week 3 Game: 30-26 win at Atlanta
Stats — 9 snaps (4 punts, 3 PAT, 2 FGA)
Another day at the office and not a terribly remarkable one. Scales’ first snap of the game was on Cairo Santos’ missed field goal attempt from 46 yards. After that, Santos went 4-for-4 on kicks, three PATs and a 35-yard field goal one series after his missed FG. The Bears remain a surprise undefeated team, no doubt due to the impeccable long-snapping of the former Aggie.