Hawkeyes in the NFL: Tyler Sash meets an NFL tight end, Karl Klug starts for Tennessee, A.J. Edds is a tackle machine, and more

I'm back from vacation and here to give you a bit of a roundup on former Iowa Hawkeyes in Week 1 of the NFL's preseason games. The focus here will be on rookies and players fighting to make teams, not established veterans like Dallas Clark, Jonathan Babineaux and Marshal Yanda, whose places are secure.

Let's start with rookie safety Tyler Sash, a sixth-round draft pick of the New York Giants last April. Sash was involved, to say the least, in the Giants' 20-10 loss at Carolina Saturday.

From this New York Post story headlined Rough debut for Giants safety Sash:

He was beaten badly by Panthers tight end Greg Olsen on an 18-yard touchdown catch and was later beaten again by Olsen, this time for 30 yards. Sash did come back to make a play on the ball in the end zone and he also forced a fumble.

OK, it was one game, an indocrination. But Sash is going to have a presence in the NFL. At least Mike Garofalo of the Newark Star-Ledger thinks so. He wrote this last week:

Rookie safety Tyler Sash is going to be some kind of player.

Again, he hasn't made a live tackle in the NFL yet and I'm already penciling him in as a 10-year veteran. I know, crazy talk. But I can't help it. To see him be in the right place so often in a year where the rookies had no offseason workouts, OTAs or minicamps is quite remarkable.

Sash wrote the following on his Twitter feed late Saturday night:

@TSash Feels good to have one game under my belt. Looking to improve each and everyday.

Karl Klug didn't get the fanfare of fellow Iowa defensive linemen Adrian Clayborn and Christian Ballard entering the NFL draft. But Klug will be heard from in the NFL. The fifth-round draftee of the Tennessee Titans was thrust into the starting lineup of the Titans' 14-3 win over Minnesota Saturday.

Klug was involved in three tackles. Here is an excerpt from TitansOnline.com:

The (Tennessee) touchdown occurred one play after rookie defensive linemen Jurrell Casey and Karl Klug stopped Lorenzo Booker for a loss, and Casey forced and recovered a fumble by Booker. Casey, Klug and fellow rookie lineman Zach Clayton all made significant pushes into the Vikings' offensive line.

John Glennonat of The Tennesseean was impressed with Klug. He wrote:

Back on the line, rookie tackle Karl Klug continued to open eyes.

He earned the start, bypassing Casey and veteran Jovan Haye. Klug once put a ton of pressure on (Vikings quarterback Donovan) McNabb, leveling the veteran just after he threw an incompletion.

Linebacker A.J. Edds had a lost first season last year with the Miami Dolphins, tearing an ACL in the preseason and missing the entire regular-season. The 2010 fourth-round draftee is back, and ready to help the Dolphins if his first preseason game is any indication. He had a game-high seven tackles in Miami's 28-23 win at Atlanta on Friday.

Last week, Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun Sentinel wrote this story with a lot about Edds. A snippet:

Edds currently is backing up Karlos Dansby, but the team's vision is for him to be paired with Dansby on passing downs, covering tight ends and tailbacks.

One former Hawkeye has joined the Jacksonville Jaguars to play the same position (defensive end) is another former Hawkeye on the Jags. The first is Matt Roth, the second is Aaron Kampman. Roth was a free agent who signed with Jacksonville last week.

Here is the link to a video from Jaguars.com with both players speaking about themselves and each other:

"He was my mentor in college," Roth said of Kampman.

Roth played outside linebacker last year with the Cleveland Browns in their 3-4 defense, but will switch back to DE in the Jags' 4-3 alignment. Kampman did the same when he signed as a free agent with the Jaguars after leaving the Green Bay Packers.

Roth signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Jaguars.

The leading tackler for the Carolina Panthers Saturday against the New York Giants was safety Sean Considine, recently signed as a free agent after he left Jacksonville. Considine had four stops.

Undrafted free agent tight end Allen Reisner is trying to make the Minnesota Vikings' roster. He caught a 16-yard pass from fellow rookie Christian Ponder in the Vikings' 14-3 loss at Tennessee. Teammate Christian Ballard, a fourth-round pick of the Vikings in April, had the team's only quarterback sack against the Titans.