Hoos in the NFL: Recapping Week 15 for Former UVA Football Players

Matt Newton | 3 Hours Ago

Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Nine former Virginia football players saw the field in week 15 of the NFL season. Let's check in to see how all these former Cavaliers and their respective teams fared in week 15 on this edition of Hoos in the NFL.

Rookie Malik Washington had his best game of the season for the Miami Dolphins in their 20-12 loss to the Houston Texans, catching five passes on six targets for 52 yards, all of which were season-highs. Washington also returned two punts for 24 yards and returned three kicks for 73 yards, including a 34-yard return in the first quarter. The Dolphins are clearly starting to put more trust in Washington, which is a great sign for his future career with the franchise. For this season, though, Miami is in trouble, losing two of its last three games to drop to 6-8. The Dolphins will need a strong finish and some help to make the playoffs.

Olamide Zaccheaus had three receptions on four targets for 36 yards in the Washington Commanders' 20-19 victory over the New Orleans Saints. That was his most targets since week 7, his most receiving yards since week 9, and his second week in a row with three catches. Zaccheaus played 38 offensive snaps (49% of Washington's offensive snaps) to help the Commanders win their second in a row to improve to 9-5, still in good position to make the playoffs with three games to go.

In the Cleveland Browns' 21-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Juan Thornhill registered six tackles, four solo stops, and one pass defended against his former team, while Rodney McLeod Jr. made one tackle. Thornhill played 36 defensive snaps (48%) and McLeod played 28 defensive snaps (37%) and 14 special teams snaps (54%) for the Browns, who are now 3-11 on the season.

Morgan Moses played all 58 offensive snaps for the New York Jets in their 32-25 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, a great sign after the veteran right tackle had some injury troubles that limited his snaps in the previous two games. The Jets won the battle between two of the worst teams in the NFL, snapping a four-game losing streak to improve to 4-0 on the season. That's back-to-back good games for Aaron Rodgers; should he come back for another season?

Dontayvion Wicks had his mini-streak of back-to-back starts for the Green Bay Packers ended this week as Romeo Doubs returned to the starting lineup after missing the last two games with an injury. Wicks was targeted only twice in the passing game, but caught both of those passes for 14 receiving yards. He was on the field for 30 offensive snaps (47%) for the Packers, who bounced back from a tough loss to the Lions with a strong 30-13 win over the Seattle Seahawks, their 10th win of the season. Green Bay is still in third place in the NFC North, the best division in the NFL, but in good shape for a playoff spot.

Defensive end Brent Urban recorded one pass defended and logged 16 defensive snaps (24%) and five special teams snaps (24%) in the Baltimore Ravens' 35-14 victory over the New York Giants. The Ravens have alternated wins and losses in their last five games and are now 9-5 heading into a big showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers next week.

Joey Blount registered a solo tackle for the first time since week 5 to help the Arizona Cardinals beat the New England Patriots 30-17. Blount played no defensive snaps, but was on the field for 19 special teams snaps (76%) for the Cards, who snapped a three-game losing skid to get back to .500 at 7-7. Arizona is right in the thick of the NFC Wildcard race with three games to play.

We have some unfortunate news to report regarding former UVA defensive end Charles Snowden, who was in the midst of a breakthrough season with the Las Vegas Raiders in his first real opportunity in the NFL. After racking up 30 total tackles and three tackles for loss and playing double digit defensive snaps in every game for the Raiders until this week, Snowden was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor DUI last Tuesday. He missed the game against the Atlanta Falcons, a 15-9 loss for the Raiders, and his status is unclear for the remainder of the season. That won't mean much for Las Vegas, who has lost 10 games in a row to drop to 2-12 on the season.

Two other former Cavaliers are on injured reserve, as Bryce Hall went down with an ankle injury in the season opener, while Jelani Woods suffered a toe injury in preseason and was placed on season-ending IR.

Read last week's edition of Hoos in the NFL here: Hoos in the NFL: Recapping NFL Week 14 for Former Virginia Football Players