How former Rutgers Football players performed in the NFL's Week Five
The 2025 NFL season is through five weeks, with plenty of head-turning action, and teams hitting their bye weeks for the first time.
Here is how every former Rutgers standout performed in Week Five of NFL action.
Former Scarlet Knights currently on 53-man rosters
| PLAYER | POSITION | NFL TEAM (WEEK FOUR RESULT) | WEEK FOUR PFF GRADES (# of SNAPS) | WEEK FOUR STATS |
| Isiah Pacheco | RB | Kansas City Chiefs (lost to Jacksonville Jaguars) | TBA | Seven carries, 36 yards, three receptions, 20 yards |
| Kyle Monangai | RB | BYE | N/A | N/A |
| Sebastian Joseph-Day | DL | Tennessee Titans (defeated Arizona Cardinals) | 60.6 (35) | Five tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack |
| Max Melton | CB | Arizona Cardinals (lost to Tennessee Titans) | N/A | DNP (hamstring) |
| Bo Melton | CB | BYE | N/A | N/A |
| Jude McAtamney | PK | New York Giants (lost to New Orleans Saints) | 60.0 (2) | 2-for-2 on extra points |
| Eric Rogers | CB | Los Angeles Chargers (lost to Washington Commanders) | N/A | DNP (on Injured Reserve) |
| Christian Braswell | CB | Jacksonville Jaguars (defeated Kansas City Chiefs) | TBA | No stats recorded |
| Christian Izien | S | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (defeated Seattle Seahawks) | N/A | DNP (quadriceps) |
| Andrew DePaola | LS | Minnesota Vikings (defeated Cleveland Browns) | 64.5 (9) | No stats recorded |
| Mike Burton | FB | Denver Broncos (defeated Philadelphia Eagles) | N/A | DNP (on season-ending Injured Reserve) |
| Kyonte Hamilton | DL | Houston Texans (defeated Baltimore Ravens) | N/A | DNP (on season-ending Injured Reserve) |
| Robert Longerbeam | CB | Baltimore Ravens (lost to Houston Texans) | N/A | DNP (on season-ending Injured Reserve) |
Notable Knights
Week 5 was a lighter one for former Rutgers players, due to a combination of bye weeks and the injury bug.
Two NFC North rivals, the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears, both had their respective bye weeks, meaning both Kyle Monangai and Bo Melton got to rest up and prepare for the rest of the season ahead.
On the injury front, Los Angeles Chargers rookie cornerback Eric Rogers was not activated off the Injured Reserve after the minimum four-week absence, as he continues to deal with an undisclosed injury suffered in the preseason. The Burlington, New Jersey native turned heads during his brief training camp and preseason, but will have to wait a bit longer to make his NFL debut.
Christian Izien missed his second consecutive game – and third overall – with a quad injury, in addition to the nagging oblique injury that he dealt with during the preseason. It appears a return may be on the horizon, as Tampa Bay beat reporter Greg Auman noted he would be “surprised if he doesn’t practice next week.”
Max Melton popped up on the Arizona Cardinals’ injury report late in the week with a hamstring injury, first being listed as questionable on Saturday before being ruled out prior to the game.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters Monday the second-year cornerback was “doing better, we’ll see how the week goes with him.” Melton has suffered two leg injuries over the first five weeks of the 2025 campaign.
As for Scarlet Knights who did play, only three saw their names in their respective box scores.
Isiah Pacheco saw a nearly-identical stat sheet compared to other weeks of the season, though he did register a couple more explosive plays in a Monday Night Football loss to Christian Braswell and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Once again, however, quarterback Patrick Mahomes led the team in rushing and Kareem Hunt took much of the red-zone work, in addition to rookie Brashard Smith’s role increasing within the offense.
Sebastian Joseph-Day played a big part in one of the day’s wilder games, as the Tennessee Titans finally got in the win column despite trailing by 15 points in the fourth quarter. Joseph-Day registered two pressures in the victory, including a first-down sack in the fourth quarter to help set up Tennessee’s viral interception-turned-fumble touchdown.
Jude McAtamney could not keep the New York Giants’ good vibes going, as New York’s offense turned the ball over five times and fell to the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome. McAtamney did his job, converting both extra-point attempts, but was replaced by punter Jamie Gillan on kickoff duties.
Giants’ special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial said the move was more to help Gillan “get into the flow of the game, not knowing when the team will be punting.”
Andrew DePaola and the Minnesota Vikings’ special-teams unit have been largely solid all year, but caught some headlines after Minnesota’s victory over the Cleveland Browns in London. Kicker Will Reichard badly missed a potential game-tying field goal attempt in the fourth quarter, but many speculated the ball hit the NFL’s SkyCam wire on the way up, causing the misfire.
The Vikings ultimately won the game in the final minute, and DePaola has remained solid as the team’s long snapper, grading out as the second-best at his position according to Pro Football Focus.
ICYMI: Scarlet Knights’ mid-season draft stocks?
Continuing off of last week’s topic discussing some of the Scarlet Knights’ early draft season darlings, TKR got to hear a more in-depth view from an NFL perspective.
Trevor Sikkema, Pro Football Focus’ lead NFL Draft analyst and co-host of the NFL Stock Exchange podcast, joined The Knight Report Podcast to talk about Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis and wide receiver Ian Strong‘s blossoming draft profiles.
The episode can be found below, and on all other podcasting platforms:
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