Mountaineers in the Pros: Former players making a mark in the NFL
Every offseason, West Virginia football puts former Mountaineers into the professional ranks, where these players go to show their skills on the largest stage of football, the National Football League.
This is a comprehensive list of every former West Virginia player making an impact in the NFL, which will be updated every week as games are played. Now that the Week Three of the NFL regular season has passed, here's every former Mountaineer who's active on an NFL roster and some players who are making a big splash in the professional ranks.
-- QB Will Grier - New England Patriots
The biggest storyline from this week surrounded former WVU quarterback Will Grier, who after being cut from the Dallas Cowboys, was picked up on the Bengals practice squad last week. On Thursday, the New England Patriots signed Grier from the practice squad and added him to the active roster, which placed him as the team's third-string quarterback behind starter Mac Jones and backup Bailey Zappe, so Grier did not play in the Patriots 15-10 win over the New York Jets on Sunday.
-- LB Kyzir White & DL Dante Stills - Arizona Cardinals
These two former Mountaineers in particular had a huge impact in the Cardinals' 28-16 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Defensive lineman and newest member of the NFL from WVU, Dante Stills, started his first career game for the Cardinals but was unable to record any statistics.
However, linebacker Kyzir White made the play of the night for Arizona, intercepting Dak Prescott with just under three minutes to go in the game to seal the win for the Cardinals. He also put together an outstanding all-around performance, with 14 total tackles, eight solo stops, one tackle for loss and one pass deflection.
-- QB Geno Smith - Seattle Seahawks
Smith led the Seattle Seahawks to another win on Sunday over the Carolina Panthers with a dominant 37-27 final score, which is the team's second-straight victory. Smith finished with a modest day but got done what was needed for Seattle, passing 23-for-36 with 296 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
-- LB David Long Jr. - Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins put together an historic game on Sunday as they routed the Denver Broncos 70-20, coming up three points shy of an NFL record for most points scored in a single regular-season game. Long didn't have an impact on the offensive performance of course, but the former Mountaineer accumulated eight tackles and five solo stops in the win.
-- CB Rasul Douglas - Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers stormed back to defeat the New Orleans Saints by the score of 18-17 on Sunday, but Douglas was not much of a factor in the decision statistically despite starting as usual. The former Mountaineer standout cornerback finished the game with two solo tackles and one pass deflection.
-- OT Colton McKivitz - San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers walloped the New York Giants on Thursday Night Football in Week Three, defeating them 30-12. McKivitz started at his usual right tackle position for San Francisco and led the charge for 441 yards of offense, as the group finished 300 yards passing and 141 yards rushing on the night.
-- CB Daryl Worley - Baltimore Ravens
After being elevated from a backup role and playing significant time on Sunday, Worley recorded seven total tackles and four solo tackles in the Baltimore Raven's 22-19 overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Players who are rostered but did not appear or record a statistic in Week One:
-- TE Trevon Wesco - Tennessee Titans - he remains the Titans' backup tight end.
-- LB Tony Fields II - Cleveland Browns - Did not see the field in last week's Monday Night Football loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers and did not play against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
-- WR David Sills V - Denver Broncos - he remains on the Broncos' practice squad.
-- WR Bryce Ford-Wheaton - New York Giants - Ford-Wheaton remains on the Giants' injured reserve with a torn ACL.
-- OG Adam Pankey - New York Jets - he remains on the Jets' practice squad.
-- OG Mark Glowinski - New York Giants - he was moved into a backup role at right guard for the Giants's game against the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday.
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