Tag: Benny LeMay

Giants host nine players for tryouts

The New York Giants hosted nine players for tryouts, including a former Pan American Wrestling Championships gold medal winner.

The New York Giants had been relatively quiet in terms of workouts, tryouts and visits in recent weeks, but that changed on Monday.

Per the NFL’s transaction wire, the Giants hosted or are slated to host nine players on a tryout basis. The list includes 2019 Pan American Wrestling Championships gold medal winner, Adam Coon.

The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Coon, who has two Greco-Roman wrestling silvers to go along with his gold, went undrafted out of Michigan in the 2018 NFL draft. After several years pursuing other dreams, he was signed by the Tennessee Titans earlier this year before being waived off of injured reserve in August.

Coon, who has never appeared in an NFL game, can play both offensive guard and linebacker.

In addition to Coon, the Giants also hosted wide receivers Tarik Black and Travis Jonsen, defensive backs John Brannon and Nate Brooks, punter Joseph Charlton, quarterback Jacob Dolegala, running back Benny LeMay, and defensive end Justus Reed.

Of that group, Charlton is the most notable and has the most NFL experience.

With punter Riley Dixon struggling this season, perhaps the Giants want to get a look at what else is out there. Charlton has appeared in 21 NFL games and punted the ball 66 times for 2,903 yards (44.0 average).

As of this writing, none of the nine has been signed.

[pickup_prop id=”16312″]

[vertical-gallery id=681365]

Colts waive RB Benny LeMay

Colts waived RB Benny LeMay.

The Indianapolis Colts waived running back Benny LeMay as they get closer to reducing the roster to 53 players before Tuesday’s deadline, per Jim Ayello of The Indianapolis Star.

LeMay had a solid showing for the Colts during the preseason but made even bigger headlines when he was fined for taunting during the preseason opener. It was a questionable call at best, but the league doubled down on it by fining LeMay the next week.

LeMay will be subject to waivers but if he clears them, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Colts brought him back to the practice squad.

Like Colts Wire on Facebook
Follow Colts Wire on Twitter
Follow Kevin on Twitter (@KevinHickey11)

[lawrence-related id=61394,61392,61360]

Colts’ player of the game vs. Lions: RB Deon Jackson

RB Deon Jackson is the player of the game for the Colts in the preseason finale.

The Indianapolis Colts finished off their first undefeated preseason in 27 years with a comeback 27-17 win over the Detroit Lions.

While we had some impressive showings on both sides of the ball by a handful of players, including first-round pick Kwity Paye’s strip-sack or Dezmon Patmon’s two big catches for 64 yards sparking the offense.

Another impressive night came from kicker Rodrigo Blankenship finishing off a perfect preseason himself going 4 for 4 on field goals with a long kick of 43 yards. But without a doubt, the player who stepped up the most this game and sealed the win for Indianapolis was undrafted running back Deon Jackson.

While the Colts rested many starters for this game, it gave the young running back out of Duke a great opportunity to show this coaching staff what he could do running the ball. Jackson did not disappoint rushing for 81 yards on just 10 carries. Jackson more importantly added two touchdowns on the day, one three-yard goal-line catch where he also ran the two-point conversion successfully, the other the 42-yard rushing touchdown to clinch the win.

The Colts may have one of the deepest running back rooms in the NFL, but teams always seem find a spot for players like Jackson. Be it on the practice squad, or possibly another teams roster, Jackson’s performance to end the preseason should go a long way in moving his career forward in the right direction.

[lawrence-related id=61279,61267,61265]

6 Colts on the roster bubble entering preseason finale

These Colts are on the roster bubble entering the preseason finale.

With the Indianapolis Colts concluding training camp 2021 at the Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, they have one final preseason game to go against the Detroit Lions.

More importantly, the team has one more opportunity for fringe roster players to impress and earn a role going forward, be that on the active roster or the practice squad.

Head coach Frank Reich said Wednesday that the team will not play starters this game, which provides even more opportunity and snaps for roster bubble players.

Here, we’ll take a look at five players who are on the bubble entering the preseason finale:

Colts’ Benny LeMay fined for taunting

Colts RB Benny LeMay fined $3,667 for taunting.

The NFL doubled down on the taunting penalty against Indianapolis Colts running back Benny LeMay by slapping him with a fine on Saturday.

After a strong run during the third quarter of the preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers, LeMay did a little flexing to celebrate a good play. A roster bubble player getting excited after a big play should be able to show some emotion right?

Nope. The officials immediately hit LeMay with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The league doubled down and smacked LeMay with a fine of $3,667 on Saturday, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

For those who haven’t seen it, here is a look at the penalty that cost LeMay.

Hopefully, this is just an example of the league feeling out the new taunting rule. But if this trend continues into the season, it will be a tough look for the league, especially when the penalties in question are as soft as the one given to LeMay.

Regardless, LeMay will be down a few thousand dollars due to the new rule over taunting.

[lawrence-related id=61046,61037,61032]

Colts sign two more to futures contracts

Colts add two more futures contracts.

The Indianapolis Colts signed wide receiver Gary Jennings and running back Benny LeMay to reserve/futures contracts, the team announced Wednesday.

The Colts got their futures signings underway earlier this week with the addition of two other players. The futures contracts won’t count against the active roster until the day after the Super Bowl so the Colts can sign as many players to futures contracts as they like.

Once the offseason officially begins after the Super Bowl, though, the rosters will expand to the 90-man limit.

Jennings was a fourth-round pick with the Seattle Seahawks in 2019. He has also spent time with the Miami Dolphins (2019), Baltimore Ravens (2020) and Buffalo Bills (2020).

LeMay signed with the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted rookie in 2020 and mostly spent time on the practice squad during his rookie season.

[vertical-gallery id=54915]

Benny LeMay: What the Browns are getting in their UDFA RB

Scouting report on Browns UDFA RB Benny LeMay

With most of the Browns media turning to consistent Jadeveon Clowney coverage and the rest of the NFL Draft universe shifting to the 2021 class, we at Browns Wire are still diving into the underrated and underappreciated undrafted free agents of the class. This week we dive into one of the two new running backs.

Name: Benny LeMay

Position: Running Back

School: Charlotte

Height: 5-8

Weight: 221 pounds

Strengths: It is a bit shocking LeMay didn’t get drafted after having an outstanding East-West Shrine Bowl week and finishing the event off by earning the game MVP. It is even more confounding when you look at his insane 2019 campaign which includes a healthy average of 120.4 all-purpose yards per game. LeMay runs with a ton of power behind his pads and thrives when pouring the ball between the tackles.

Weaknesses: We discussed how it was surprising LeMay went undrafted, but the reasoning does appear very clear: his production is skewed from facing inferior competition. Also, LeMay lacks the ideal speed to be a reliable main back as evidenced by his 4.75-second 40-yard dash time at the combine. His lack of overall athleticism also limits how he can contribute on special teams, which pushes his stock even further down the list.

Overall: 

No one was more excited about Cleveland adding LeMay than me, but he will have a tough time making the final roster. There’s a lot of depth in the backfield and the fact that he will be competing with another undrafted back with much higher upside in Brian Herrien. LeMay does have the talent to stick in the NFL, but is likely never going to be the main back and will always be on the roster bubble.

[lawrence-related id=47905]

Browns announce their 2020 UDFA class with 15 new players

Browns announce their 2020 UDFA class with 15 new players

The Cleveland Browns have agreed to terms with 15 rookie free agents who went undrafted in the 2020 NFL Draft in April.

Most of the names had previously been linked to the Browns, but none of the UDFA deals were officially confirmed by the team until Tuesday’s press release. That includes Oklahoma State CB A.J. Green, who received a hefty signing bonus to join the Browns.

 

Name Position College
Solomon Ajayi LB Liberty
Elijah Benton S Liberty
Ja’Marcus Bradley WR Louisiana
Tony Brown WR Colorado
Kevin Davidson QB Princeton
Drake Dorbeck T Southern Mississippi
A.J. Green CB Oklahoma State
Brian Herrien RB Georgia
Jameson Houston CB Baylor
Ben LeMay RB Charlotte
Jovante Moffatt S Middle Tennessee State
George Obinna DE Sacramento State
Alex Taylor T South Carolina State
Jeffery Whatley DE South Alabama
Nate Wieting TE Iowa

This group joins the six players drafted by the Browns to make up the rookie class of 2020 in Cleveland.

[vertical-gallery id=45261]

Report: Panthers video call with Northern Colorado QB prospect

Panthers video call with Northern Colorado QB prospect Jacob Knipp.

The pandemic has profoundly changed the way teams prepare for the NFL draft. Instead of the usual Pro Days and official top-30 visits, teams are holding hour-long video calls with prospects.

That includes the Panthers, who are going into what will be general manager Marty Hurney’s last draft class. While Hurney has an excellent track record of making first-round picks, he has had notably less success at finding gems in the middle and later rounds.

With so many roster holes to fill this year, it’s more critical than ever that they get at least a few of those Day 3 picks right.

Carolina seems to be focused on those prospects right now. Yesterday, it was reported that the team will be video conferencing with TCU running back Sewo Olonilua, who is projected to be a seventh-round pick. We can add another name to that list of late-round interests.

According to Jourdan Rodrigue at the Athletic, the team held a video call with Northern Colorado quarterback Jacob Knipp. They were also on hand at his Pro Day.

Knipp (6-foot-4, 213 pounds) is probably not on the radar for most fans. Last season, he completed 61.3% of his passes and totaled 2,867 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Considering that’s against Big Sky competition, that’s not going to generate a lot of excitement.

If the Panthers are really interested in Knipp, it’s hard to see where he would fit in with the current QB room.

Teddy Bridgewater will be the starter and P.J. Walker is projected to be his first backup. That leaves last year’s third-round pick Will Grier in a rough spot, to say nothing of Knipp.

If Carolina picks him up, Knipp might be in the mix for the practice squad job. He is expected to be an undrafted free agent.

[lawrence-related id=620644]

[vertical-gallery id=620579]

2020 NFL draft: Benny LeMay scouting report

Everything NFL draft fans need to know about Charlotte running back prospect Benny LeMay

Benny LeMay | RB | Charlotte

Elevator Pitch

LeMay is a back that could work his way into the later rounds. Small-school back, but has some power to his game. Not very fast so that will limit impact he could have on special teams. He is better between the tackles than on the boundary.

Vitals

Height | 5-8

Weight | 221

Class | Senior

College Stats

College Bio

Combine Profile

Strengths

LeMay has terrific contact balance. With his short and compact frame, he can absorb contact and keep pushing forward. Runs with physicality and his stiff arm can create some separation when running the football. He isn’t a back that goes down on first contact so defense have to bring more than one body to bring him down.

He is a back that you can trust with the ball. Only fumbled it four times in four years at Charlotte. Also shows good ability to catch the football when running routes. He will be a good outlet throw for a quarterback needing to get rid of the ball to avoid a sack. He does have some quickness and shiftyness to create problems when in the open field and good vision to boot.

Weaknesses

LeMay doesn’t possess blazing speed as evident of his 4.75 40 time that he posted at the NFL Combine. It confirmed what was on tape from his time in Charlotte. Not a guy who will house very many runs. Running on the boundary will be a concern due to the inability to beat many defenders to the corner on plays outside the tackle.

He can be slow to hole but not due to his speed. Seems slow to diagnose the blocking up front. Needs to make a decision, plant his foot and get up field. Will dance around a bit trying to make something happen when nothing is there. With his size and power, needs to just lower his shoulder and go.

Right now he isn’t a three-down back as he is a liability in pass protection. He should be fine in protection once he shows better technique. Needs to use his hands and power to take on blitzers in pass protection.

Projection: Day 3

[vertical-gallery id=616154]