Tag: Anfernee Orji

Several New Orleans Saints rookies among NFL’s highest-paid undrafted free agents

Several New Orleans Saints rookies rank among the NFL’s highest-paid undrafted free agents. Expectations are high for them with rookie minicamp on the horizon:

There’s a lot to be said for hearing your name called in the NFL draft, but in some cases it pays to be patient and reach undrafted free agency. Those seas are turbulent, but there’s big profits to be won from sailing them. Several New Orleans Saints rookies have certainly cashed in this year after hammering out undrafted free agent contracts in the hours and days after the draft.

Once you get into the later rounds, some players may prefer to not be picked at all because of the unique contract quirks that comes with that status. For drafted players, contract guarantees are tied to their draft slot — so a sixth-round pick may only receive a signing bonus valued between $218,000 and $133,000, for example. Seventh-rounders receive even less in guarantees: former South Alabama wide receiver Kawaan Baker, the Saints’ seventh-round selection in 2021, only received $80,076 in guarantees as the No. 255 overall pick.

Not only do undrafted rookies get more guaranteed money, they also may have the luxury of choosing their team if there are competing offers on the table. Last year, the Saints signed returns ace Rashid Shaheed out of Weber State to an undrafted free agent contract carrying $222,000 in guarantees. He was the only undrafted rookie to get more than $200,000 in guarantees from New Orleans last season. At least three players have earned that in this cycle. Here’s why the Saints valued them so highly:

New Orleans Saints sign undrafted Vanderbilt LB Anfernee Orji

New Orleans Saints sign undrafted Vanderbilt linebacker Anfernee Orji, via @DillySanders

The New Orleans Saints sign linebacker Anfernee Orji out of Vanderbilt to a big underafted free agent contract following the 2023 NFL draft, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2.

The Saints are getting another undersized, but very athletic linebacker to join their team and fight for special teams snaps to keep his roster spot. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound linebacker had a 4.53-second 40-yard dash and an even better 1.51-second 10-yard split to earn an impressive 9.23 Relative Athletic Score.

At Vanderbilt, in four seasons, he had 269 tackles with 21 for a loss and three sacks. He also had one interception, coming in 2022. He’s a solid run defender in the box, but that’s really all he has brought consistently as a linebacker.

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Giants trade down, select a CB in latest Chad Reuter mock draft

In the latest 4-round mock from NFL Network’s Chad Reuter, the New York Giants trade down and add another top-100 pick before landing a CB.

Are the New York Giants and general manager Joe Schoen likely to make a trade during the 2023 NFL draft? And if so, will they move up or down?

That’s a scenario NFL Network’s Chad Reuter recently experimented with during his four-round mock draft. In it, he had the Giants trade back with the Kansas City Chiefs, acquiring an additional third-round pick (No. 95) before selecting South Carolina cornerback Cam Smith at No. 31 overall.

The Giants land a versatile defender in Smith, who has the skill set to line up outside, in the slot and at safety during his pro career.

The versatile Smith is becoming a more common mock to the Giants with just two-plus weeks remaining before the annual event gets underway.

On the other end of this Giants-Chiefs trade, Kansas City pleases their hometown crowd with the selection of Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt, who has also been a common mock to the Giants.

In Round 2, the Giants find their new starting center with Wisconsin’s Joe Tippmann. Then they begin to fill in gaps with LSU wide receiver Kayshon Boutte and Florida State safety Jammie Robinson at No. 89 and No. 95, respectively.

The Giants close things out with Vanderbilt linebacker Anfernee Orji in Round 4.

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6 underrated prospects to watch for the Saints in 2023 NFL draft

Penn State TE Brendon Strange and San Jose State DE Viliami Fehoko are among 6 underrated prospects to watch for the Saints in the 2023 NFL draft’s third day:

Everyone knows the big names in the 2023 NFL draft: the first-round prospects who get fans excited and who draw swarms of scouts and coaches to their pro day workouts. But the New Orleans Saints have done well in the later rounds of the draft, and it’s important to identify players they could be looking at in rounds four, five, six, and seven — as well as undrafted free agency. They always seem to find some diamonds in the rough.

So who qualifies as a sleeper? Draft coverage is so oversaturated these days that even casual fans can recognize dozens of names, and some dedicated draftniks even have their own top-100 rankings (with the real sickos among them ranking hundreds of prospects).

To help thin out the herd, we’re only considering prospects who were ranked outside the top 150 at both NFL Mock Draft Database and Pro Football Network’s industry consensus big board. That gives us an opportunity to highlight some undersung players who should be available on Day 3 of this year’s event. These aren’t going to be perfect prospects, or even players who can step into a big role right away. The goal is to find guys with enough traits that can give them a shot at making the roster as a backup or on special teams, buying them time to develop into better pros.

Here are six underrated prospects we could see the Saints targeting on the draft’s third day:

Colts’ 7-round mock draft post NFL combine

Here’s a 7-round mock draft for the Colts following the NFL combine.

The 2023 NFL Scouting Combine has come and gone, which means it’s time to roll out another seven-round mock draft for the Indianapolis Colts.

With the majority of athletic testing numbers assigned to hundreds of prospects, the Colts will have a better idea of what type of athletes they are dealing with in this class.

But as we know with the Colts, the interviews and face-to-face meetings with these prospects are just as important as their production and measurements. Unfortunately, that’s a side of the draft process we get little insight into.

So with the combine now behind us, here’s an updated look at a seven-round mock for the Colts using Pro Football Network’s mock draft simulator:

2023 NFL Combine Winners Day 1: Blazing-fast DTs give the Bears plenty to consider

DL Bryan Bresee looking so smooth headlines our highlights from Day 1 of the Combine.

With questions out of the way, Thursday was put up or shut-up time at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine. Day 1 of workouts featured the big boys on the front seven — defensive linemen and linebackers.

Hoo boy did it ever transcend past our initial expectations.

We had an EDGE player running faster than current star professional running backs. A defensive tackle surpassed Aaron Donald (yes, that Aaron Donald) on the 40-yard dash. Oh, and a potential first-round pick went all-in on his “toughness” rating — he tested and passed with flying colors just two days after a sky-high fever.

And that’s just the start.

All of this had to be music to the ears of teams looking for front-seven help near the top of the 2023 NFL Draft. The most noteworthy might be the Chicago Bears, who own the No. 1 overall pick, but likely won’t stay there for too long.

The league-worst Bears could use an infusion of talent essentially everywhere but quarterback. They’re, how do we put this: good with Justin Fields.

But for a team with the 29th-ranked defense by yardage and the 32nd-ranked unit by Football Outsiders’ DVOA — Chicago had to be salivating watching these larger defenders put on a show. GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus know they can act as kingmakers of sorts this offseason. And whatever ransom of draft picks they get for the top pick could potentially be used on one of the names from our Day 1 winners of the 2023 Combine.

East-West Shrine Bowl practice notes: Day 2

Highlighting what stood out on the second day of practices at the East-West Shrine Bowl.

Day 2 of all-star game practices are frequently the most important of the week – not only is it another opportunity to evaluate players, but seeing how they’ve reacted and adjusted to the events of Day 1 shows their football character.

Let’s take a look at my notes from practice on Sunday to see who did just that.

First things first, the Chargers continued to have a large scouting presence at practice on Sunday. Two scouts stuck in a spot with a wider view of the field, likely evaluating wide receivers and defensive backs. Senior director of college scouting Kevin Kelly was also spotted along the sidelines. LA does not frequently make their presence known at other events given the smaller size of their staff, so the fact that they’re so visible in Las Vegas is something worth keeping an eye on down the line.

One of the standouts of the day was Purdue linebacker Jalen Graham. After being pulled aside to receive some extra coaching from the Patriots staff, Graham flipped a switch and showed the ability to apply coaching right away. It was obvious he was paying attention when other players in his group were being coached up as well, applying those lessons to his next rep in a drill and receiving some vocal praise from the staff. As an example: the linebackers spent much of the early part of practice working on a rip move on the tackling sled, but without generating much satisfaction from the coaches. New England’s staff made more clear what they were looking for, and then Graham executed a picture-perfect rip move in team period to force a run stop.

If you’re looking for the linebackers with the best movement skills in Vegas, I’d direct you to North Carolina State’s Drake Thomas and Boston College’s Jaiden Woodbey. Thomas was another standout on the day, frequently finding the range to hold contain on the outside and showing good awareness in coverage. Thomas is on the smaller side, but that could actually endear him to a Chargers team that needs their linebackers to be mobile. Woodbey was a bit more up-and-down. The converted safety is still working on his instincts at linebacker, and that was fairly obvious in the lateness of his trigger on Sunday.

A Division II school in New York, Pace has never produced an NFL player. When offensive tackle Jacky Chen was invited to Las Vegas, most people outside league circles had never heard of him. But through two days, Chen has mostly held his own, and some scouts have gone as far to say that he’s “everyone’s favorite” undrafted free agent prospect. The Setter had a great rep on Sunday against Pitt edge rusher Habakkuk Baldonado, a Saturday standout.

On the East side, the linebacking group had a rough end to their weekend. Falcons linebacker coach Frank Bush was all over the group, reminding them that “you are who you put on tape” and that Sunday’s session was “a job interview, not practice.” Arizona State’s Kyle Soelle looked the best of the group, maintaining a steady but not remarkable presence and taking a leadership role amongst the other linebackers.

For Tennessee’s Jeremy Banks, Vanderbilt’s Anfernee Orji, and Florida’s Amari Burney, things were a bit more inconsistent. Banks hit hard in one on one drills with the running backs and team period, but those violent collisions often still resulted in him being unable to disengage from blocks. He lost the final rep of one on ones to Fresno State RB Jordan Mims, forcing the linebackers to do push-ups. Orji brought a similar physicality, but dropped a few balls during drills and was pulled aside for additional coaching on more than one occasion. Burney had to have a fire lit under him to start practice, then was injured in one on ones and limited for the remainder of practice.

Some quick hitters from the rest of practice:

  • Georgia Tech LB Charlie Thomas has his fans in league circles, but he’s a lighter player without elite movement ability. I wonder how such a player fits in today’s NFL.
  • Watching Bill Belichick coach these prospects up is one of the cooler sights on a football field. Belichick spent three or four minutes educating an entire group of players on punt gunner technique on Sunday.
  • Minnesota CB Terell Smith had a few nice reps in team period, while Hampton WR Jadakis Bonds continued to have a few issues reeling in the ball.
  • Louisville EDGE Yasir Abdullah, South Carolina State WR Shaq Davis, Fresno State WR Jalen Moreno-Cropper, and Louisville CB Kei’Trel Clark all had a few reps that drew my attention away from other parts of practice on Sunday.

Browns reenforce defensive interior with Byron Young in 2023 NFL Mock Draft

The Cleveland Browns need to overhaul their defensive front, and they do just that here in this 2023 NFL Mock Draft

We would be doing a 2023 NFL Mock Draft even if the Cleveland Browns were undefeated at this point in the season. However, starting with a record of 2-5 in 2022, draft season is getting highly incentivized once again as the Browns might be offloading some of their expiring contracts for additional draft picks before Tuesday’s trade deadline.

This year is a bit different for the Browns, however, as they do not have a first round pick for the third time since 2019. Last year the Browns traded out of the second round as well to then select Martin Emerson in the third.

Who do the Browns land here in this 2023 NFL Draft simulation? Let’s dive right in and take a look as we work through their eight current picks. Pro Football Network’s mock draft simulator was used for this exersize.