BBNFL: Mike Edwards returns fumble 97 yards for a touchdown
Mike Edwards put an exclamation point on the BBNFL regular season in Week 18, returning a fumble 97 yards for a touchdown in a Chiefs’ win.
The game was scoreless in the 1st quarter with the Los Angeles Chargers deep inside the Kansas City red zone. Charger quarterback, Easton Stick (who has the ideal name for a certain baseball bat company), scrambled for the endzone but lost the ball. It bounced directly into Edwards’ waiting arms and the former Kentucky defensive back was off to the races.
This was Edwards’ second fumble recovery of the season, his first touchdown of the season, and the first scoop-and-score of his five years in the league. The former Super Bowl champion will be an unrestricted free agent after this season, but he has made a good case for a team to extend his NFL career.
Wan’Dale Robinson sets season-high in receiving yards
The Giants have long been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but Wan’Dale Robinson keeps getting better. In the Giants’ Week 18 upset over the reeling Philadelphia Eagles, Robinson caught five of his six targets for a season-high 85 yards.
As rightly downtrodden as every Giant fan is based on their team’s overall crappiness, they are equally high on Wan’Dale Robinson’s future. He has come into his own his season after coming off injury his rookie year, and no matter who will be throwing him the ball next season, he’ll be out there catching it in space and making defenders miss.
Bud Dupree finishes season a half-sack shy of million-dollar bonus
For teams out of playoff contention, statistical incentives are one of the reasons star players actively compete. Bud Dupree fell into this category. The Atlanta Falcons have been eliminated from the playoffs for weeks, but Dupree has been chasing a contract incentive. If he were to record seven total sacks, he would get a bonus of… [extreme Dr. Evil voice] one million dollars.
Dupree had 5.5 sacks going into Week 18 and picked up a strip sack against Derek Carr and the New Orleans Saints not even two minutes into the game. Unfortunately, that was it. Dupree failed to record a sack the rest of the day, so he fell 0.5 sacks short of the seven he needed for an extra million bucks.
Similar to Mike Edwards and Josh Allen, Dupree enters the offseason as an unrestricted free agent. The former Kentucky lineman turned 30 years old this season but still has plenty of football left in him. There will most certainly be a team more than happy to sign the trusty veteran.
BBNFL in the Playoffs
19 former Wildcats suited up in the NFL this season, but only four of them will do so in the postseason and vie for a Super Bowl ring. In the AFC, the aforementioned Mike Edwards will work to ride the momentum of his big play into the playoff for the Chiefs, and Za’Darius Smith will use the rest he received in Week 18 to help win a playoff game for the Cleveland Browns.
Over in the NFC, Josh Paschal will look to continue to help make Detroit Lions history with their tough-nosed football style has led to the best season in a generation. Meanwhile, rookie Carrington Valentine will get a taste of the playoffs as the Green Bay Packers look to shock the world and make a deep run as a 7-seed.
Other BBNFL Notes:
- All the Jacksonville Jaguars had to do was win and they were in the playoffs. Their opponent, the Tennessee Titans, did not have anything to play for. And yet, the Jags went down and will be watching the playoffs from their couch. It very likely was Josh Allen’s final game in Jacksonville, as the Pro Bowl edge rusher is an unrestricted free agent and is in line for a bidding war for his services. He added a sack to his season total in Week 18, finishing tied for second in the NFL with 16.5.
- Randall Cobb caught one pass for four yards in what might have been the last reception of his great career. Cobb returned to join his buddy Aaron Rodgers in New York, but the reunion did not last long. It is possible he could return to get one more shot to play with Rodgers, but at 33 years old, the dynamic playmaker could hang the cleats up now and no one would question the decision.
- Finally, shout out to Devon Key. Dane’s brother and the former Western Kentucky Hilltopper was elevated by the Denver Broncos from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. He played 13 snaps on special teams and made his Lexington-based family extremely proud, including KSR’s own Ryan Lemond.
BBNFL snap counts and PFF player grades for Week 18
PFF grades reflect the players’ respective offensive or defensive grades unless the first snap count listed is special teams (ST), in which case it is the special teams’ grade.
| Player | Pos | Stats | PFF Grade |
| Bud Dupree (ATL) | LB | 45 snaps, 3 pressures, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble | 78.3 |
| Mike Edwards (KC) | S | 26 snaps, 1 fumble recovery, 1 TD | 77.7 |
| Quinton Bohanna (TEN) | DT | 11 snaps, 1 tackle | 76.8 |
| Wan’Dale Robinson (NYG) | WR | 46 snaps, 6 targets, 5 rec, 85 yards | 75.9 |
| Josh Allen (JAX) | LB | 49 snaps, 2 pressures, 1 sack, 1 tackle, 2 assists | 68.6 |
| Brandin Echols (NYJ) | CB | 15 ST snaps | 64.1 |
| Josh Paschal (DET) | DE | 60 snaps, 3 pressures, 2 tackles | 59.7 |
| Randall Cobb (NYJ) | WR | 7 snaps, 1 target, 1 rec, 4 yards | 57.9 |
| Luke Fortner (JAX) | C | 69 snaps, 1 pressure allowed | 57.4 |
| Carrington Valentine (GB) | CB | 43 snaps, 3 tackles, 1 assist | 54.1 |
| Lynn Bowden (NO) | WR | 20 snaps, 1 target, 5 yards, 1 rush, -2 yards, 1 fumble | 31.7 |
| Will Levis (TEN) | QB | Inactive | |
| Lonnie Johnson Jr. (NO) | CB | Inactive | |
| Za’Darius Smith (CLE) | DE | Inactive | |
| Landon Young (NO) | OT | Inactive | |
| Kelvin Joseph (HOU) | CB | Inactive | |
| Chris Rodriguez Jr. (WAS) | RB | Injured Reserve | |
| Jamin Davis (WAS) | LB | Injured Reserve | |
| Josh Ali (ATL) | WR | Injured Reserve |
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard