South Dakotans in the NFL Week 1
Sep. 11—SIOUX FALLS — The NFL season got underway last week, first with the Lions' thrilling win over Kansas City on Thursday and the getting into full swing with Sunday's slate of games.
Of the handful of South Dakotans to take the field nobody made a bigger impact than former USF edge Dennis Gardeck, who had a monster game for the Cardinals in their loss to Washington. Here's a closer look at Gardeck and the rest of this week's local pros.
Jack Cochrane, LB, Kansas City (USD)
Played 21 snaps in the Chiefs' loss to Detroit on Thursday night, all on special teams. Did not record any statistics.
Dennis Gardeck, LB, Arizona (USF)
Gardeck was all over the field for the Cards on Sunday, notching two sacks, four tackles, a forced fumble and getting in three hits on the quarterback. It marked an important return to form for the former Cougar, as he'd totaled just one sack in the last two seasons after recording seven sacks in 2020.
Dallas Goedert, TE, Philadelphia (SDSU, Britton-Hecla)
In a somewhat stunning turn of events, Goedert had no catches and was targeted only once in the Eagles' 25-20 win over the Saints. Fantasy owners the world over were upset and Goedert himself likely wasn't pleased, either, as Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for just 170 yards on 33 throws.
C.J. Ham, FB, Minnesota (Augustana)
Played 22 snaps on offense and 20 on special teams, catching a pair of passes for seven yards and dropping another.
Tucker Kraft, TE, Green Bay (SDSU, Timber Lake)
Kraft was expected to compete for the starting job with fellow rookie Luke Musgrave but found himself behind both Musgrave and Ben Sims as well as H-back Josiah Deguara. Kraft was active for Sunday's rout of the Bears and played 13 snaps on offense and four on special teams without recording any statistics.
Trey Pipkins, OL, Los Angeles Chargers (USF)
Started at right tackle and played all 81 offensive snaps for the Chargers in their loss to the Dolphins.
Christian Rozeboom, LB, Los Angeles Rams (SDSU)
Made his first career defensive start and notched six tackles for the Rams in their win over Seattle.
Pierre Strong, RB, Cleveland (SDSU)
Played 13 snaps on special teams and had a tackle in the Browns' win over the Bengals.
On practice squad/IR: Kameron Cline, Bufffalo (USD), Cade Johnson, Seattle (SDSU), Chris Oladokun, Kansas City (SDSU), Riley Reiff, New England (Parkston High)
