Great start in Vegas: Browns score first on 15-play drive

The Browns strike first!

In their Week 4 road game in Las Vegas against the Raiders, the Cleveland Browns started their first drive at their own 30-yard line.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson completed all eight of his passes for 40 yards and rushed once for seven yards on the opening drive, which was capped off by a one-yard play-action touchdown pass to tight end Blake Whiteheart.

Cleveland converted all three third-down attempts on the drive, including an 11-yard completion to Amari Cooper with a roughing-the-passer penalty added on. Running back Jerome Ford rushed four times for 13 yards, while seven different receivers made a catch on the first drive.

https://twitter.com/Browns/status/1840492156118839546?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Looking to get back to .500, the Browns are off to a great start thanks to their scripted opening plays. The offense will aim to build on this strong start and break out of their early-season lull with the help of strong defensive play.

Cardinals promote TE Blake Whiteheart from practice squad with Zach Ertz injury

Whiteheart, an undrafted rookie, replaces Zach Ertz, who lands on injured reserve. The Cardinals have two rookie tight ends on the roster.

The Arizona Cardinals announced the reported move that tight end Zach Ertz would land on injured reserve. He has officially been placed on IR and will miss at least the next four games with a quad strain.

As the Cardinals have kept four tight ends on the 53-man roster all season, to replace him, they signed undrafted rookie tight end Blake Whiteheart from the practice squad to the active roster.

Whiteheart initially made the 53-man roster after final cuts but was cut and signed to the practice squad when the team acquired tight end Elijah Higgins on a waiver claim before the season.

Whiteheart, who signed with the Cardinals as an undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest, played a lot in the preseason on offense and special teams.

He might not be active for games. Higgins, the team’s fourth tight end all season, was active for the first time this past Sunday.

The Cardinals now have two rookie tight ends in Higgins and Whiteheart on the active roster.

The Cardinals announced the release of safety K’Von Wallace from the active roster and cornerback Quavian White from the practice squad.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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3 undrafted rookies make final roster for Cardinals

The Cardinals had three undrafted rookie make the team initially on offense.

The Arizona Cardinals will be relying on youth in 2023. They did not cut any of their draft picks, although two are not on the 53-man roster (OL Jon Gaines went on season-ending injured reserve and CB Garrett Williams is on NFI to start the season).

They also had three undrafted rookies make the team initially.

Who are they?

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

Cardinals training camp roster preview: TE Blake Whiteheart

A look at undrafted rookie tight end Blake Whiteheart and his chances at making the team.

The Arizona Cardinals open training camp at the end of this month, so we will do a roster review, highlighting each player currently on the roster, going over last season, their salary and cap number, questions they face and what their expected roster status will be.

Next up is tight end Blake Whiteheart.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

Cardinals gave signing bonuses, salary guarantees to 9 undrafted rookies

Of the 10 undrafted rookies the Cardinals initially signed, nine got signing bonuses and seven get salary guarantees.

The Arizona Cardinals signed undrafted rookie free agents following the NFL draft. Originally, it appeared that only two players got any signing bonus or guaranteed money in their salaries.

It took a while for the final contract numbers to come in, but now Over the Cap shows that nine of the 10 undrafted rookies the Cardinals signed initially got at least a signing bonus and some received salary guarantees for 2023.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

Lions 2023 draft: A tight end prospect for every round

A tight end prospect for each round of the 2023 NFL draft for the Detroit Lions to consider selecting

Up next in the series of “a prospect for every round” is a position group where Lions fans absolutely want nothing to do with a first-round talent, even though the current roster might reflect tight end as a big need. Detroit’s rather inglorious history of drafting first-round TEs and not having those players finish their rookie contracts with the team. That list includes Brandon Pettigrew, Eric Ebron and T.J. Hockenson, who was traded for a second-round pick in the middle of last season.

The Lions bring back their top three TEs from the end of the 2022 season. Brock Wright, James Mitchell and Shane Zylstra performed well in a more limited usage in the passing game. Mitchell, the Lions’ fifth-round pick a year ago, is a player widely viewed as someone who could take a big step forward with a healthy offseason.

Here is one tight end prospect that fits the Lions from each round of the draft. Detroit doesn’t currently have any picks in the fourth or seventh rounds, but players from those ranges are included because trades happen all the time during the draft weekend.

The purpose here isn’t to advocate for any one player but to give a better idea of the type of talent available at each level of the 2023 NFL draft.

Former teammate of Sam Hartman believes Notre Dame can compete for a title

Do you believe?

There is plenty of buzz coming from Indianapolis from the [autotag]NFL combine[/autotag], and Wake Forest tight end had some glowing comments about [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] quarterback [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag].

While meeting with the media, [autotag]Blake Whiteheart[/autotag] was asked about what he expects Hartman to do in South Bend. His response was extremely interesting. He thinks his former teammate will do big things and has the potential to lead the Irish to a championship.

Hartman comes to Notre Dame with 12,967 career passing yards and a 110 to 41 touchdown to interception ratio. The expectations are exactly what Whiteheart mentioned, to compete for a [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag] championship.

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