Week 4 featured a couple of great performances from Solomon Thomas and Zach Ertz, but injuries have affected the seasons of several Stanford alumni.
San Francisco defensive end Solomon Thomas finally had a game worthy of his status as the third overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. He had his first sack of the year and of his career and a career-high five tackles. His performance in the 18-15 loss to Arizona was good enough to get nominated for Rookie of the Week.
The other rookie from the 2017 Draft class, Carolina running back Christian McCaffrey, didn’t have eye-popping stats in the win over New England. He had 16 rushing yards on six attempts and caught four balls for 33 yards. Last week, he had over 100 receiving yards, but this week showed that he is still adjusting to the professional game and the Panthers offense. He is now down to 2.9 yards per carry.
Philadelphia tight end Zach Ertz continues his rampage on opposing linebackers with another great performance in the Eagles’ 26-24 win over the Chargers. He now has at least five receptions and 50 receiving yards in every game this season. He ended the game with five catches on eight targets for 81 yards. He is on pace to eclipse 1,300 receiving yards which would be a career high by over 450 yards.
Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman had another solid game with two combined tackles as the Seahawks dominated Indianapolis 46-18. Not a single receiver had more than 34 receiving yards and Colts star wideout TY Hilton couldn’t get anything going against Sherman and the Seahawks defensive backs.
Another Seattle player, wide receiver Doug Baldwin didn’t have a great game as a groin injury slowed him down throughout the game. He still made impact as he caught all three of his targets for 35 yards.
For the Colts, quarterback Andrew Luck still has not played in a single game this season after offseason shoulder surgery, but he is slated to start practice this week.
Another Stanford alum dealing with an injury is Green Bay’ running back Ty Montgomery. He had 28 rushing yards on five carries before departing the game due to multiple broken ribs in the 35-14 win over Chicago. Montgomery is only averaging 3.3 yards per carry but his role in the Packers’ offense is to be versatile which he has been 129 receiving yards on the season.
Another Packer with Stanford lineage is linebacker Blake Martinez. He was part of a unit that allowed only 3.4 yards per carry. After having 11 tackles last against Cincinnati, Martinez added seven more tackles to his season total. His strong play will be key against Dallas’ rushing attack next week.
Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.