SAN DIEGO -- Many former San Diego State football players are making plays four weeks into the NFL season. Six former Aztecs are on active NFL rosters to go along with a player on injured reserve and one player on the practice squad.
Seattle Seahawks running back Rashaad Penny missed his second consecutive game with a hamstring injury, but started off the season with 80 rushing yards and a touchdown on 16 carries (5.0 avg.) over the first two games. Penny, who also has a 3-yard catch and three kick returns for 44 yards, has been on 39 snaps on offense and eight on special teams so far this season. Penny is expected to play Thursday night for the 3-1 Seahawks against the Los Angeles Rams.
Penny led the nation in rushing yards (2,248) as a senior with San Diego State in 2017, finishing fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting, and being named a consensus All-American, Mountain West Offensive and Special Teams Player of the Year, and finalist for the Walter Camp Player-of-the-Year award.
Blocking for Penny in 2017 was fullback Nick Bawden, now a member of the Detroit Lions. Bawden caught one of his two targets for four yards last Sunday vs. Kansas City, and has three receptions on four targets for 14 yards, including an eye-popping hurdle over Philadelphia Eagles safety Rodney McLeod Jr. in Week 3. On the season, Bawden has played in 60 offensive snaps and 81 special teams snaps, helping the Lions to a 2-1-1 start heading into their bye week. He was the lead blocker for back-to-back 2,000-yard rushers Donnel Pumphrey (2016) and Rashaad Penny (2017).
San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Daniel Brunskill did not make it into the game in Week, but on the field at right tackle for two snaps in Week 3. Brunskill and the 3-0 49ers play host to Cleveland on Monday night. Brunskill was a second-team all-MW performer in 2016 at right tackle after earning honorable-mention accolades as a tight end in 2015. Most recently Brunskill played with the San Diego Fleet of the now-defunct Alliance of American Football.
Kameron Kelly, one of Brunskill's teammates with the Fleet, is now a safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Kelly, a first-team all-MW selection as a senior at SDSU in 2017, has 10 tackles (seven solo) on the season in four games. Kelly started Week 1 vs. New England and played all 70 defensive snaps and additional 15 on special teams, making seven tackles (five solo). Kelly followed the New England game with three tackles (two solo) in 32 snaps (23 on defense) against Seattle in Week 2, before logging 21 snaps (one on defense) over the past two weeks. Kelly and the Steelers host Baltimore this Sunday.
After tying for the league lead in interceptions in 2018, the Atlanta Falcons moved Damontae Kazee back to cornerback, the position he played for the Aztecs. After recording 23 tackles and three forced fumbles as a rookie in 2017, 82 stops and seven interceptions last year, Kazee has 16 tackles (10 solo) in four games this season. He has logged 151 defensive snaps so far in 2019 and an additional 26 on special teams. Kazee, a two-time MW Defensive Player of the Year (2016-17) while with the Aztecs, had one solo tackle last week against Tennessee. Kazee and the Falcons travel to Houston this Sunday.
The longest tenured Aztec in the NFL, Arizona Cardinals long snapper Aaron Brewer played in seven special teams snaps in Week 4. He now has a total of 37 snaps this season on special teams ahead of a road game at Cincinnati this Sunday. Brewer helped the Denver win Super Bowl 50 over Carolina in 2016. Brewer earned four letters with SDSU from 2008-11.
Houston's Kahale Warring (injured reserve) and New England's Calvin Munson (practice squad) are also members of NFL teams this season.
After a bye week, San Diego State (3-1, 0-1 MW) heads to Colorado State (1-4, 0-1 MW) for a Saturday night game, beginning at 8 p.m. MT (7 p.m. PT).
Aztecs in the NFL: Week 4
