We are through 2 weeks of the 2018 NFL season, and former NC State All-American Defensive End Bradley Chubb has lived up to the hype. His ProFootballFocus grade of 76.6 through 2 games is the highest of any player drafted in the Top-10 of this summer’s draft.

Bradley Chubb has been impressive for the Denver Broncos so far.

See how every first rounder has graded through two weeks ($)

👇 👇 👇 https://t.co/LeUwJGAXBu

(via @PFF_Chichester) pic.twitter.com/pnc6TxgqsK

— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) September 18, 2018

2018 SEASON GRADE: 76.6
Through two games, Chubb has played 102 of his team’s 122 defensive snaps and has produced eight total quarterback pressures from his 49 snaps as a pass-rusher. As productive as he’s been as a pass-rusher, Chubb’s best work has come against the run, where he’s already tallied four defensive stops – the most among rookie edge defenders. (PFF)

Chubb has adjusted well to the switch to Linebacker, and he’s only scratching the surface.

Week 2 of the 2018 NFL season is in the bag, and 10 former NC State players were active. Here’s a breakdown of their performances.

QB Philip Rivers (Starter) was 23 of 27 for 256 yards and 3 touchdowns (no interceptions) in the Chargers 31-20 victory over the Bills. His QB Rating was an absurd 143.2.

He threw three touchdowns.
And only FOUR incompletions.@Chargers QB Philip Rivers in Week 2: ⚡⚡⚡ #LACvsBUF #FightForEachOther pic.twitter.com/bZo2Hlj7NR

— NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2018

RB Nyheim Hines scored his 1st career NFL touchdown (8-yards), helping the Colts beat the Redskins 21-9. He finished the game with 4 carries for 7 yards, and 1 reception for -2 yards.

Quarterback Russell Wilson (Starter) has had a rough start to the 2018 season, as have the Seahawks. Yesterday he was 23 of 36 for 226 yards and 2 touchdowns (1 interception that went for a pick-six) in the Seahawks 17-24 loss to the Bears. His QB Rating was 86.1. Wilson has been sacked 6 times in each of the first two games in 2018.

.@DangeRussWilson dropped a DIME 😮

Seahawks now down 17-10

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/qNVwrn9bq9

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 18, 2018

Linebacker Bradley Chubb (Starter) had 3 tackles in the Broncos 20-19 victory over the Raiders.

Defensive Tackle Justin Jones had 1 tackle for the Chargers as a reserve in their 31-20 win over the Bills.

Defensive End BJ Hill (Starter) started for the Giants 13-20 loss to the Cowboys, but didn’t record any stats.

Ted Larsen (Starter) started at Center for the Miami Dolphins in their 20-12 victory over the New York Jets. Larsen has seen action in both games this season, but this was his first start.

Joe Thuney (Starter) started at Left Guard for the Patriots as usual, and the Pats suffered an unexpected loss to the Jaguars 20-31.

Offensive Guard JR Sweezy (Starter) started once again for the Seahawks in their 17-24 loss to the Bears.

Place Kicker Stephen Hauschka (Starter) was connected on both of his field goal (40 and 43) attempts and extra point attempts in the Bill’s 20-31 loss to the Chargers.

Inactive
Steelers RB Jaylen Samuels (healthy)
Jets CB Juston Burris (healthy)
Packers S Josh Jones (ankle injury)
Chargers DT T.Y. McGill
Colts QB Jacoby Brissett (healthy)
Cardinals QB Mike Glennon (healthy)
Jaguars OT Will Richardson
Seahawks CB Dontae Johnson (IR)

Three former NC State players were among the 102 Modern-Era Nominees for the 2019 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class released Friday.

Wide Receiver Torry Holt
Safety Adrian Wilson
Head Coach Bill Cowher

I’ve already made a case for the Holt and Wilson belonging in the Hall of Fame, and in this piece I will make the case for Bill Cowher landing in Canton, Ohio with the rest of the greats.

The former NC State linebacker was the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers for 15 seasons, compiling a record 161-91-1. His 161 career wins ranks 19th in NFL history. Cowher led the Steelers to a 149-90 record in regular season play, and his 149 wins are the 10th most regular season wins by a head coach in NFL history.

His career winning percentage of 61.9% ranks 18th all-time.

Cowher is one of only 23 coaches in NFL history to lead teams to more than one Super Bowl. In 1996, Cowher, at the age of 38, became the youngest coach to lead their team to a Super Bowl. The Steelers lost to the Cowboys 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX. Ten years later, Cowher once again made it to the Super Bowl, and this time he walked away with the Lombardi trophy. The Steelers defeated the Seahawks 21-10 in Super Bowl XL. The fact that the Steelers were the #6 seed makes Cowher’s Super Bowl victory that much more impressive. Only two #6 seeds in this history of the NFL have gone on to win the Super Bowl.

In 15 seasons as the head coach of the Steelers, Cowher led them to 8 divisional titles (1 of only 6 coaches to claim 7+ divisional titles) and 10 playoff appearances.

Conclusion

This marks the 5th time that Cowher has been nominated, but he has yet to be a semi-finalist. Cowher’s detractor’s point to his 2-4 record in the AFC Championship game, and point to what could have been. I understand that, but he is one of only 23 coaches in NFL history to win 2 Conference Championships. I expect Mike Shanahan and Tom Coughlin to make it in before Cowher. They both have have more career wins, and won 2 Super Bowls (Coughlin won’t be eligible until 2020). I could also see Mike Holmgren going in before Cowher. He also won one Super bowl, but went to 3, and has more career wins. It’s worth noting that Cowher’s career winning percentage is better than all three of the above mentioned coaches. It might not be this year, but I believe Cowher deserves to be in the Hall of Fame one day.

During training camp, it seemed as if former Wolfpack RB Nyheim Hines would be seeing a decent number of snaps in his rookie campaign. However, a preseason fumbling problem cast doubt on his role with the Colts.

Now, after 2 weeks, it seems as if the Colts staff is looking past those fumbles and giving him a chance to shine in the regular season.

Last week Hines had the most surprising performance of any Pack pro. He was 3rd on the depth chart heading into the game, and he ended up playing 37 snaps and was targeted in 14 of them. Hines had 5 carries for 19 yards and 7 receptions (9 targets) for 33 yards in the Colts 23-24 loss to the Bengals.

This week, while he didn’t have quite as much usage, Hines did finally hit pay dirt. His 4 carries only went for 7 yards, but one of them was this nifty little touchdown run. Check it out…

The rookie makes the play. 👀@TheNyNy7 | #INDvsWAS pic.twitter.com/Z11ctX3xL7

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) September 16, 2018

Stay tuned as we’ll have a full Week 2 update on all Pack Pros.