Each week after the NFL has completed its slate of games (starting with Thursday night football and ending after Monday night football) this series will take a look at news and statistics surrounding former Utah State Aggies players.

Week 4

Seattle Seahawks

Bobby Wagner had a big week four in terms of tackles as he had 12 total in a 31-23 win over the Dolphins on Sunday. Wagner also had a pass deflection. His season totals now are 38 total tackles (21 solo 17 assisted) and one tackle for loss. Wagner has also had four pass deflections total on the year so he continues to make an impact.

Los Angeles Chargers

Nick Vigil has not significantly appeared in any of the Charger’s games since the win against the Bengals. He continues to see limited practice time due to a groin injury. During the game against Cincinnati, Vigil was present on 58 snaps, which was 85% of the defensive snaps but since then has seen a significant drop in playing time. In a loss to the Buccaneers, Vigil was only available on five snaps, which was 7% of the defensive snaps. On the year Vigil has five tackles and a fumble recovery.

New York Giants

One of the former Aggies players that saw a significant increase in playing time this past weekend was Kyler Fackrell of the Giants. Fackrell posted 4 tackles and 3 tackles for loss and also had a quarterback hit while seeing 74% of the defensive snaps. In the previous three games, Fackrell had only seen 44%, 55%, and 51% of the defensive snaps. With the increase of playing time from this previous week Fackrell made the most of it and could see more playing time as the season moves forward as depth has already become an issue for the Giants (hence the significant increase in playing time this week).

Las Vegas Raiders

Nevin Lawson recorded 5 tackles (one assist) in a loss to the Buffalos. Lawson’s playing time is interesting because like Fackrell, Lawson saw a significant increase in playing time against the Buffalos. He saw 93% of the defensive snaps compared to 22% and 52% of the two previous games. Lawson as far down the depth chart and this goes to show that if players that are further down the depth chart than others can continue to impress and improve that they may see an increase in playing time as depth becomes more of an issue for teams.

Carolina Panthers

For the first time this season, Tyler Larsen took the field on offense and played two offensive snaps. While he didn’t record any stats, it is significant that Tyler Larsen did see some snaps because it shows that the Panthers, even though it was a small number, value Larsen enough to let him play on some offensive snaps for the first time this season. With the first snaps of the season, Larsen could see more playing time down the road.

Chicago Bears

Patrick Scales did not see any defensive snaps last weekend and has in fact not played any defensive snaps at all this year. He appeared on special teams in a 11-19 loss to the Colts last Sunday and played 8 snaps, which was 30% of the special teams snaps. The most number of snaps that Scales has seen this year was 10 in a week 1 win at Detroit.

Kansas City Chiefs

Darwin Thompson made no appearance on Monday in a 26-10 win against the Patriots. The most playing time that Thompson has seen came in a week 2 win against the Chargers. In that game, Thompson rushed for 21 yards on 4 carries and played 19% of the offensive snaps. He also appeared on special teams in the first three games (most playing time seen was 44% of the snaps) and as previously stated did not take the field at all against the Patriots. On the season, Thompson has 6 rushes for 32 yards.

Green Bay Packers

One of the players that Aggies fans are still anxiously waiting to see is Jordan Love, and with the way that Aaron Rodgers has been playing lately, Love is likely to receive little playing time if any. He is currently the backup to Tim Boyle who is the backup to Aaron Rodgers so Love would likely receive limited playing time even in mop up duty.

And the most productive former Aggie of the week is...

Kyler Fackrell, who gets the nod over Bobby Wagner. Sure, Wagner had 12 tackles compared to Fackrell’s 4, however Fackrell took advantage of increased playing time and added 3 tackles for loss while Wagner did not have any tackles for loss. Tackles for loss are a significant way to be impactful and disruptive for the opposing offense and three of them for a player that has not seen as much playing time is impressive. Wagner has seen all of the defensive snaps throughout the year and while 12 tackles is a good statistic, it should be more expected of a veteran that has been in the NFL since 2012.