Sunday was a big day for former Vols in the NFL. Jason Croom hauled in his first career touchdown in the NFL, Alvin Kamara turned in a huge day on offense, and Derek Barnett had a career-day that ended with a sack that clinched a win for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles were hosting the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, and they were clinging to a four-point lead late in the fourth quarter as the Colts drove into the red zone. Andrew Luck dropped back on fourth down with less than a minute and a half to go, but Derek Barnett beat his man and took Luck down, preserving the win for the Eagles.
No.#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/DrMYJx9In2
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 23, 2018
The sack capped off what was a brilliant day for the Eagles’ second-year player. Barnett finished the game with five tackles, 1.5 sacks, two tackles for loss, and two quarterback hits. His defensive performance helped the Eagles defeat the Colts 20-16 and push Philadelphia to 2-1 on the year.
Coming into Sunday’s game, Barnett had just four tackles on the year and hadn’t recorded a sack in his second season in the league yet. But Sunday saw him post a career-high in tackles in a game, and he finished half a sack away from tying his career-high for most sacks in a single game.
Barnett was selected with the 14th overall pick in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Eagles after he finished his Tennessee career with the school’s all-time sack record. He totaled 33 sacks in three seasons with the Vols, and he amassed 52 tackles for loss and 198 total tackles as well.
So far in the NFL, Barnett has 6.5 total sacks and 27 total tackles in 18 games. He’s been a starter at defensive end for the Eagles this year after appearing in 15 of their 16 regular season games last year but not starting.
