Cavaliers Now

Hoos in the NFL: Recapping NFL Week 4 for Former Virginia Football Players

Matt Newton

Former UVA wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks caught two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter for the Green Bay Packers against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at Lambeau Field.
Former UVA wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks caught two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter for the Green Bay Packers against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at Lambeau Field. / Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Week 4 of the NFL season was a big one for former Virginia football players in the National Football League, with four former Cavaliers delivering outstanding performances or clutch plays for their respective teams.

Former UVA wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks hauled in two touchdown passes for the Green Bay Packers in the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Vikings. The Packers trailed the Vikings 28-0 in that game, but the first touchdown from Wicks made it 28-14 early in the fourth quarter and his second touchdown grab, a 17-yard strike from Jordan Love, who returned after missing the last two games with an injury, made it 31-29 with 56 seconds remaining and gave Green Bay a chance to recover an onside kick. Despite Wicks' heroics, the onside kick attempt failed and the Vikings held on for the 31-29 win.

Wicks was the most targeted receiver for Green Bay on Sunday, recording five receptions on 13 targets and racking up 78 yards and two touchdowns. He played 58 offensive snaps, or 76.3% of Green Bay's offensive snaps, and Wicks is now tied for the most targets by a Packer receiver through the first four games of the season.

Another former Virginia wideout, Olamide Zaccheaus, had a day for the Washington Commanders in their big win over the Arizona Cardinals. Zaccheaus was Washington's leading receiver, catching all six passes that came his way for 85 yards. All six of his receptions went for first downs and Zaccheaus averaged 14.2 yards per catch. Zaccheaus did all of that on only 18 offensive snaps, just one-fourth of Washington's offensive plays, to help the Commanders beat the Cardinals on the road 42-14 and seize first place in the NFC East.

Charles Snowden continues to make the most of his opportunities. A late addition to the active roster of the Las Vegas Raiders just before the season began, that decision has paid off for the Raiders, who defeated the Cleveland Browns 20-16 on Sunday thanks to Snowden sacking Deshaun Watson in the red zone on fourth down with less than a minute to go.

Snowden made his third start of the season and recorded three total tackles, two of which were solo stops, one sack, one pass deflection, and three quarterback hits. He played nearly half of the Raiders' defensive snaps (29, or 49%), none more important than the last, where he came up with the game-winning sack to seal a 20-16 victory for Las Vegas.

The reason the Raiders were in that position needing a defensive stand is because another former Wahoo made a huge play for the other team. Cleveland safety Rodney McLeod Jr. scooped up a fumble and returned it 25 yards down the sideline for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Dustin Hopkins proceeded to miss the extra point, which kept it a four-point game. As a result, the Browns needed a touchdown instead of being able to kick a field goal to tie it and Snowden denied the Browns that game-winning chance by sacking Watson.

With fellow Cavalier safety Juan Thornhill still on the IR, McLeod has played a larger role for the Browns. On Sunday against the Raiders, McLeod played 23 defensive snaps (39%) and 13 special teams snaps (50%) and recorded two tackles and had the 25-yard scoop n' score.

After being a healthy scratch in two of his team's first three games, Brent Urban registered two tackles, one of which was a solo stop, to help the Baltimore Ravens beat the previously undefeated Buffalo Bills 35-10 on Sunday night. Urban played 25 defensive snaps (42%) and five special teams snaps (19%).

Joey Blount played no defensive snaps and recorded no stats, but played 15 special teams snaps (65%) for the Arizona Cardinals in their blowout loss to Olamide Zaccheaus and the Washington Commanders.

Morgan Moses was out for the New York Jets in their 10-9 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday due to the MCL sprain and bone bruise he suffered in their win over the New England Patriots in week 3. Moses is expected to be out 2-4 weeks, but avoided what could have been a catastrophic major injury for the 33-year-old right tackle.

Speaking of injuries, former UVA wide receiver Malik Washington has still yet to make his NFL debut for the Miami Dolphins, who are set to host the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football. Washington is questionable to play on Monday with the quadriceps injury which has held him out of the first three games of the season. If Washington plays on Monday night and makes his NFL debut, we'll be sure to update this article with how details on how he performed.

Update: Malik Washington officially made his NFL debut for the Miami Dolphins in their 31-12 defeat to the Tennessee Titans on Monday night. He played 14 offensive snaps (14% of Miami's offensive snaps) and caught the only pass that came his way for eight yards.

There are three former UVA football players on the Injured Reserve:
- Safety Juan Thornhill (Browns) - injured in week 1
- Cornerback Bryce Hall (Buccaneers) - injured in week 1
- Tight End Jelani Woods (Colts) - injured in preseason

Read last week's edition of Hoos in the NFL here: Hoos in the NFL: Recapping NFL Week 3 for Former Virginia Football Players

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.