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Playoffs Up Next for Former Commodores

Former Vandy standouts begin quest to get to Super Bowl

by Chad Bishop

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The National Football League playoffs start this weekend and the action will be littered with former Commodores.

Eleven former Vanderbilt standouts are on rosters of teams still alive in the quest to win Super Bowl LIV. There’s a 66 percent chance a former Vandy student-athlete will be on hand for right to win the Lombardi Trophy on Feb. 2 in Miami, Florida.

Here’s a closer look at all the Commodores still playing into the month of January:

WILD CARD WEEKEND

Saturday’s playoff slate will feature a large number of Commodores starting at 3:35 p.m. CT when Buffalo travels to Houston. That game features one of the NFL’s best linebackers in Zach Cunningham.

Cunningham was drafted 57th overall by Houston in the 2017 NFL Draft and has had a breakout season. In 16 games in 2019, the 6-foot-3, 238-pound Cunningham has racked up 137 tackles.

Twice this season Cunningham totaled 16 tackles in a single game and in a win over Indianapolis on Nov. 21 he recorded 13 solo stops. Cunningham, a consensus first team All-American in 2016 at Vanderbilt, also made seven tackles for a loss this season, forced two fumbles and made two sacks.

 

 

TENNESSEE AT NEW ENGLAND

Saturday’s nightcap will feature a few more Commodores looking to survive the postseason when Tennessee visits New England at 7:15 p.m. CT.

The defending Super Bowl champion Patriots feature Adam Butler and Joejuan Williams. Butler (6-5, 300) was signed as an undrafted free agent by New England in 2017 while Williams (6-3, 212) was selected 45th overall during the NFL Draft in April.

Butler has now played in 54 games for New England and this season had a career-high 26 tackles and six sacks. The nose tackle also made eight tackles for loss and will be playing in his seventh career playoff game.

Williams has played in nine games for the Patriots and registered four tackles. He broke up his first career pass Oct. 21 at the New York Jets.

 

Butler and Williams will see a familiar face on the opposite sideline in fullback Khari Blasingame.

Blasingame was signed in 2019 as an undrafted free agent by Minnesota before moving back to Nashville in November. In six games with the Titans, the 6-foot, 233-pound rookie has four receptions for 54 yards.

 

 

VIKINGS AT SAINTS

Sunday’s doubleheader in the National Football Conference begins at 12:05 p.m. CT when Minnesota visits New Orleans and includes Stephen Weatherly.

Weatherly, a 6-foot-5, 265-pound defensive end, has spent four years with Minnesota and is having his second straight solid campaign. A seventh-round draft pick in 2016, Weatherly has made 24 tackles, 2.5 sacks and forced a fumble for the Vikings.

DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS

Four other teams will kick their feet up this weekend while they await their opponent in the divisional playoffs Jan. 11-12.

San Francisco will play Jan. 11 and two former Commodores are on the 49ers’ roster – six-year veteran wide receiver Jordan Matthews (6-3, 215) and rookie offensive tackle Justin Skule (6-6, 315).

Matthews, a former second-round pick (2014) who spent the month of November with Philadelphia, has four receptions for 33 yards this season with San Francisco.

Skule has played in all 17 games this season and started eight straight at one point. In seven of those starts he played every offensive snap.

Baltimore will also play Jan. 11 and the Ravens have Will Holden on their practice squad. The 6-foot-7, 330-pound guard played 11 games with Arizona the past two seasons before being signed by Seattle, San Francisco and now Baltimore.

On Jan. 12, Kansas City will make its playoff debut. Both linebacker Emmanuel Smith and quarterback Kyle Shurmur are on the Chiefs’ practice squad.

Finally, and also Jan. 12, Green Bay and linebacker Oren Burks will get the chance to take the field.

Burks (6-3, 233) has played in 12 games this season and made six tackles. A third-round pick (88th overall) in 2018 by Green Bay, Burks made 16 stops as a rookie last season.

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