The University of Mississippi Athletics

JD

NFL Rebels Update: Week 18

1/6/2026 | Football

OXFORD, Miss. – Here at OleMissSports.com, we are proud to update Rebel fans on the status of our former players who lace up their cleats on Sundays in the NFL.

Twenty-nine former Rebels played this year, with 12 still on active playoff rosters.

*-Denotes players whose team earned a spot in the playoffs.

#33 Daijahn Anthony | S | Cincinnati Bengals
Was not active in Week 18. Appeared in five games this season, finishing with four tackles.

#11 A.J. Brown | WR | Philadelphia Eagles*
Did not play in Week 18. Brown finished the year with 78 catches, 1003 yards, and seven touchdowns. This is his fourth consecutive 1000+ yard season, as he’s hit the total every year since being traded to Philadelphia. In Week Seven against the Vikings, Brown caught four passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns, helping the Eagles fly to a 28-22 win. The Eagles are the NFC East champions and the number three seed in the conference, awaiting a matchup with San Francisco this Sunday.

#77 Ben Brown | OL | New England Patriots*
Started at left guard, playing all 59 offensive snaps in a 38-10 win over the Miami Dolphins. Brown started four games in 2025, playing 100% of offensive snaps in all four of his starts. Brown’s PFF offensive grade of 66.8 ranked third among AFC East guards (min. 300 snaps). The Patriots won the AFC East with a 14-3 record, earning the number two seed. New England takes on the Los Angeles Chargers this Sunday.

#6 Jaxson Dart | QB | New York Giants
Completed 22-of-32 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns, while adding five carries for 32 yards in a 34-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 18. Dart finished his rookie season completing 216-of-339 passes for 2272 yards, 15 passing touchdowns, and five interceptions, adding 86 carries for 487 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. Dart’s nine rushing touchdowns were tied for 11th in the league and second among quarterbacks. In his first career divisional start against the rival Philadelphia Eagles, Dart finished 17-of-25 for 195 yards and one touchdown, adding 13 carries for 58 yards and one touchdown. The Giants went on to beat the Eagles 34-17 on Thursday Night Football.

#1 Evan Engram | TE | Denver Broncos*
Secured three catches for 45 yards in a 19-3 win against the Chargers. Engram finished 2025 with 50 catches, 461 yards, and one touchdown. In Week Five, facing the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, Engram would bring down 4 catches for 33 yards, scoring the game-winning touchdown with 7:36 remaining in the game. The Broncos won the AFC West, going 14-3 to earn the number one seed in the AFC. 

#9 Tre Harris | WR | Los Angeles Chargers*
Finished with two catches for 28 yards in a loss to the Broncos. Finished his rookie year with 30 catches for 324 yards and one touchdown. Harris’ PFF receiving grade of 67.0 ranked fifth among rookie receivers (min. 41 targets).

#18 Malik Heath | WR | Atlanta Falcons
Was not active in Week 18. Finished the season catching six passes on seven targets for 86 yards. In Week Two, while playing for Green Bay, Heath made an incredible 37-yard grab on the sideline to set up a Packers touchdown. His contributions helped the Packers to a 27-18 win against Washington on Thursday Night Football.

#51 Jared Ivey | LB | Seattle Seahawks*
Was not active in Week 18. Appeared in two games in 2025, playing 25 snaps and recording no stats. The Seahawks are the NFC West champions, earning a bye in the first round of the playoffs. They will play the winner of Los Angeles vs. Carolina in the second round.

#52 Cedric Johnson | DE | Cincinnati Bengals
Finished with two tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, and two quarterback hurries in a loss to the Cleveland Browns. Playing in nine games, Johnson finished the 2025 campaign with 20 total tackles, two sacks, two fumble recoveries, two tackles for loss, and five quarterback hits. Both fumble recoveries would come in a Thanksgiving day matchup with the divisional rival Baltimore Ravens, leading the Bengals to a 32-14 win for Cincinnati.

#93 D.J. Jones | DT | Denver Broncos*
Secured two tackles in Week 18. Jones finished the season with 39 tackles, four tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, three sacks, and one pass defended. In Week 16 against Jacksonville, he brought down seven total tackles, two quarterback hits, one sack, and one pass defended.

#33 Jaylon Jones | CB | Chicago Bears*
Secured three tackles in a Week 18 loss to the Detroit Lions. In the 2025 season, Jones had 16 total tackles and one forced fumble. Chicago went 11-6, winning the NFC North and earning the number two seed in the NFC.

#88 Dawson Knox | TE | Buffalo Bills*
Brought down two catches for 17 yards and a touchdown in a 35-8 win against the New York Jets. Finished the season with 36 receptions for 417 yards and four touchdowns. In a Week 15 matchup with divisional foe New England, Knox hauled in three catches for 37 yards and two touchdowns. His second touchdown catch of the day broke the Buffalo Bills’ record for career touchdown receptions by a tight end, and gave the Bills the lead in a game they would win 35-31.

#33 Deane Leonard | CB | Los Angeles Chargers*
Secured two tackles in a loss to Denver in Week 18. In the year, Leonard had five total tackles across eight games.

#4 D.K. Metcalf | WR | Pittsburgh Steelers*
Did not play in Week 18. Finished 2025 with 59 catches, 850 yards, and six touchdowns. In Week four, Pittsburgh traveled to Ireland to take on the Vikings in the NFL’s first-ever game in the country. DK would put on a show for the fans in Dublin, catching all five of his targets for 126 yards and one touchdown, an 80-yard catch and run early in the second quarter. Metcalf helped lead the Steelers to a 24-21 win. The Steelers defeated the Ravens in Week 18 to win the AFC North, earning the number four seed in the AFC.

#81 Jonathan Mingo | WR | Dallas Cowboys
Played 38 total snaps, recording one tackle on special teams, in a loss to the New York Giants. Playing six games in 2025, Mingo finished the year with one catch for 25 yards.

#92 JJ Pegues | DT | Las Vegas Raiders
Secured two total tackles and one fumble recovery in a win against the Kansas City Chiefs. Finished his rookie campaign with nine games played, 11 total tackles, one tackle for loss, and one fumble recovery. 

#95 Tavius Robinson | OLB | Baltimore Ravens
Finished with six total tackles, one sack, and one quarterback hurry in a loss to the Steelers. In 10 games in the 2025 season, Robinson had 28 total tackles, 4.5 sacks, three tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hits, one forced fumble, and one pass defended. Facing the Browns in Week Two, Robinson brought down six tackles, four of them solo, one sack, one tackle for loss, one quarterback hit, and one forced fumble.

#13 Laquon Treadwell | WR | Indianapolis Colts
Played 20 total snaps in Week 18. Treadwell appeared in 10 games this season, primarily on special teams.

#78 Laremy Tunsil | OT | Washington Commanders
Was not active in Week 18. Tunsil started 14 games in the 2025 season, playing all offensive snaps in nine of those games. Tunsil’s PFF pass blocking grade of 88.9 ranked third in the league amongst all offensive linemen.

#3 Princely Umanmielen | LB | Carolina Panthers*
Brought down two total tackles, one for a loss, in a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In his rookie season, Umanmielen finished with 24 total tackles, 13 of those solo, 1.5 sacks, two tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and four quarterback hits. In Week 11, while playing on special teams, Umanmielen was able to recover a fumble by the Atlanta Falcons’ kick returner. The Panthers would end up winning that game in overtime, a key victory in their path to the playoffs this season. Carolina is the 4 seed, and will take on the 5 seed Los Angeles Rams this Saturday.

#17 Jordan Watkins | WR | San Francisco 49ers*
Did not see any action in Week 17. Appeared in four games in his rookie season, hauling in two catches for 26 yards.

#54 Sam Williams | DE | Dallas Cowboys
Finished with eight tackles and one tackle for loss in a loss to the Giants. After missing all of 2024 with injury, Williams in 2025 totaled a career-high 37 tackles, 23 of them solo, seven tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, two passes defended, two blocked kicks, and four quarterback hits. In Week Five against the New York Jets, Williams came down with two solo tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, one quarterback hurry, and recovered one fumble in a 37-22 win.

INJURED RESERVE
Trey Amos | CB | Washington Commanders 
In his 10 games before going down with an injury, the rookie corner totaled 32 tackles, 19 of them solo, and six passes defended. Amos’ PFF coverage grade was the fifth highest among rookie cornerbacks (min. 500 snaps).

AJ Finley | S | Seattle Seahawks*
Did not appear in any games this season.

Mike Hilton | CB | Indianapolis Colts 
Appeared in two games in 2025, finishing with five tackles and one forced fumble.

Benito Jones | DT | Miami Dolphins
Playing 14 games in the 2025 season, Jones finished with 15 tackles, one sack, and one pass defended.

Walter Nolen III | DT | Arizona Cardinals
Appeared in six games in his rookie season, bringing down 11 tackles, two sacks, five tackles for a loss, five quarterback hits, two passes defended, and one fumble recovery. Making his NFL debut on Monday Night Football on the road against the Dallas Cowboys in Week Nine, Nolen instantly made an impact. He finished his first performance with four total tackles, three of them solo, two tackles for loss, one sack, one quarterback hit, and one pass defended. His efforts helped lead the Cardinals to a 27-17 victory. Nolen would finish his season as PFF’s highest graded rookie interior defensive lineman with a grade of 74.1. Nolen’s pass rush grade of 80.1 was over eight points higher than the next closest rookie and ranked tenth in the league overall.

Dayton Wade | WR | Baltimore Ravens
Did not play in any games this season.

PRACTICE SQUAD^

Ulysses Bentley | RB | Indianapolis Colts
Appeared in one game, tallying one carry for no yards.

Nick Broeker | OL | Kansas City Chiefs
Chance Campbell | LB | Philadelphia Eagles*
Elijah Moore | WR | Denver Broncos*
Played in nine games in the 2025 season, bringing down nine catches for 112 yards, and carrying the ball six times for 24 yards and a touchdown.

Royce Newman | OL | Los Angeles Rams*
Chris Paul Jr. | LB | Seattle Seahawks*
Caden Prieskorn | TE | Cleveland Browns
Otis Reese IV | LB | New England Patriots*
John Saunders Jr. | S | New England Patriots*
Trey Washington | S | Indianapolis Colts
Appeared in four games this year, finishing with four total tackles.

^Players on the practice squad did not appear in any games this year unless otherwise noted.

Related News

Skip Ad
All News
CFP Watch Party
Ole Miss to Hold CFP Semifinal Watch Party in the SJB Pavilion
Thursday, January 08
Fiesta Buzz: Jan. 8
Fiesta Buzz: Tune In vs. Miami
Thursday, January 08
Fiesta Buzz: Jan. 7
Fiesta Buzz: What to Watch vs. Miami
Thursday, January 08
Fiesta Buzz: Jan. 6
Fiesta Buzz: Rebel Defense Focused on 'Doing Their Job'
Tuesday, January 06
All News
Skip Ad

Related Videos

Skip Ad
All Videos
PRESSER | Pete Golding - Joint Fiesta Bowl Press Conference (01-07-26)
Wednesday, January 07
PRESSER | Trinidad Chambliss - Fiesta Bowl Media Day (01-06-26)
Wednesday, January 07
PRESSER | Kewan Lacy - Fiesta Bowl Media Day (01-06-26)
Wednesday, January 07
PRESSER | TJ Dottery - Fiesta Bowl Media Day (01-06-26)
Wednesday, January 07
All Videos