The third week of NFL play was by far the craziest in some time, due to multitudinous reasons that began with upsets galore and ended with crazy finishes.
D2 football alum continued their stellar start to the year in the third week of play, with the normal faces continuing to be dominant and some new names starting to break through. The season is going by fast, but these players below had a week to remember for the rest of the year.
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Morgan Fox and Matt Longacre, DE — LA Rams
Fox: 1 tackle, 1 sack
Longacre: 3 tackles, 1 sack
Two former D2 defensive linemen helped to make up half of the Rams' sack total in a shootout victory over the 49ers, both of them helping the Rams defense assert themselves in the first three quarters of the game.
Fox, a grad of CSU-Pueblo, ran his sack total on the season to 1.5 (a career-high after none in his first year) while former D2 national champion with Northwest Missouri State Longacre notched his second of the 2017 campaign, also his only two career sacks.
The Rams defense has some issues, but clearly the defensive line is not one of them. With some more positive performances in the coming months, Longacre and Fox could become some of the best depth D-Linemen in the league.
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Adam Shaheen, TE — Chicago Bears
Stats: 1 reception, 2 yards, 1 TD
The second round pick from Ashland finally notched his first career touchdown reception in a big upset of the Steelers, finding himself wide open in the back of the endzone on a play that started at the goal line.
The touchdown was the first catch of the season as well for the former D2 All-American who has struggled to adapt to the pro game while sitting behind tight ends Zach Miller and Dion Sims. But hopefully for a potential steal in the draft this can be the start of a breakout stretch, leading Bears fans and brass to believe an early choice on a D2 player was worth it.
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Adam Thielen, WR — Minnesota Vikings
Stats: 5 receptions, 98 yards
Thielen continued his torrid start to the year, nearly breaking 100 yards for the second time this year. With the 98 yards he put up against the Bucs, Thielen remains behind only Antonio Brown for the league-lead in receiving yards.
The former Minnesota State standout is on pace for 1,595 receiving yards based on his current averages (99 ypg), but he has yet to find the endzone through three games. If the scoring starts to come around, then the conversation may start to turn for Thielen being a top-five receiver in the game.
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