Tag: Brandon Powell

Vikings 90-man roster player profile: WR Brandon Powell

After returning a punt for a touchdown against the Vikings in 2021, Brandon Powell signed to hopefully make the 2023 roster.

Welcome to the beginning of our 2023 season preview content!

Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at each player on the roster in-depth with backgrounds and how they currently project forward on the Minnesota Vikings roster.

What is the best-case scenario? What is the worst-case scenario? What should we expect from them during the preseason and beyond? We will break all of that down here.

As a staff, all of us at Vikings Wire ranked the entire 90-man roster 1-90 and will be releasing player profiles in reverse order.

Vikings state of the roster: Wide receiver

The latest in our multi-part series looking at the state of the Minnesota Vikings roster, we take a look at the wide receiver position.

The 2023 season is inching closer and closer by the day and we here at Vikings Wire are previewing the season from every angle.

We are currently writing player profiles on each Minnesota Viking on the roster with projections for what their 2023 season could look like. How things look projecting forward is where the real intrigue lies.

Leading up to training camp, we will be looking at each position from a more in-depth perspective. Today, we will be looking at the wide receiver position.

Rams free-agent WR Brandon Powell signing with Vikings

Brandon Powell is leaving the Rams, signing with the Vikings as a free agent and reuniting with Kevin O’Connell

Brandon Powell has been the Rams’ primary return specialist for the last two seasons, but they’ll need a replacement in that role. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Vikings are signing Powell to a one-year deal.

This reunites him with Kevin O’Connell, who was the Rams’ offensive coordinator before he left to become the Vikings’ head coach.

Powell returned 24 punts for 177 yards last season, as well as 30 kickoffs for 605 yards. He had one punt return for a touchdown in 2021, his first year with the Rams.

Last season, he got more opportunities on offense, catching 24 passes for 156 yards. He also rushed the ball 17 times for 80 yards, getting carries on jet sweeps and out of the backfield.

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Vikings sign WR/KR Brandon Powell to a one year deal

The Minnesota Vikings fortified their special teams unit by signing Brandon Powell to a one year deal.

The Minnesota Vikings continue to bring in talent in terms of depth. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Vikings are signing former Los Angeles Rams wide receiver/kick returner Brandon Powell to a one year deal.

This move is nothing more than a depth signing at the moment. The Vikings currently have Kene Nwangwu as the kick returner and Jalen Reagor as the punt returner and the real competition will be at the punt returner. Reagor struggled this past season.

As a receiver, Powell hasn’t been much more than a gadget guy. He has 47 career receptions for 354 yards and two touchdowns in his career.

Vikings fans might know him from the December 26th, 2021 game at U.S. Bank Stadium when Powell returned this punt for a touchdown.

Rams finish 29th in 2022 special teams rankings

The Rams didn’t have the best year on special teams, despite Matt Gay’s near-perfect season

The Rams had one of the best kickers in football this season, but even Matt Gay couldn’t lift the overall play of the special teams unit. It was a rough year for the Rams’ special teamers outside of Gay, and as a result, they once again ranked near the bottom of the league in that phase of the game.

As he does every year, Rick Gosselin ranked every team’s special teams unit and in 2022, the Rams came in at No. 29. These rankings are based on 22 different categories, ranging from kickoff returns to punt coverage to field goals and extra points. Field position is also factored in, and the Rams really struggled in that area.

They had the fifth-worst average starting position, while their opponents had the fourth-best in the league. The Rams didn’t have any big returns on special teams, either; Brandon Powell’s longest punt return was just 22 yards and this longest kickoff runback was 34 yards.

Riley Dixon ranked 13th among all punters with a net average of 42 yards, but he downed just 19 of his punts inside the 20-yard line. His longest punt was 67 yards.

Gay was really the only consistent and reliable special teams player. He ranked fourth with a field goal conversion rate of 93.3%, going a perfect 21-for-21 inside 50 yards. He’s a pending free agent, just like Dixon and Powell, but Gay should be a high priority for the Rams.

Last year, the Rams ranked 16th in Gosselin’s poll, but in 2020, they were 30th in the NFL.

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5 free agents the Rams should consider re-signing this offseason

The Rams should consider re-signing these 5 free agents in the offseason.

After winning a Super Bowl a season ago, the Los Angeles Rams are entering unchartered territory in the Sean McVay era. Regardless of whether or not McVay returns in 2023 following a 5-12 campaign, the Rams are expected to have a decent amount of roster turnover this offseason.

With the Rams not being in the postseason, they’ll have a little more time to determine what free agents they want to bring back next season. While Los Angeles has 24 total free agents, we’ll be focusing on unrestricted or restricted free agents in this article.

Taking that into account, let’s take a look at the five free agents the Rams should consider bringing back in free agency this offseason.

Brandon Powell rented out a movie theater for kids to go see ‘Avatar’

Brandon Powell treated kids from the Boys and Girls Club of Broward County to a showing of “Avatar” by renting out a theater for them

Brandon Powell got his biggest shot yet with the Rams this season, playing a career-high 241 snaps on offense and making five starts for Los Angeles. His 23 receptions match the total he had entering this season, racking up 219 yards from scrimmage – also surpassing his total from the four previous years combined.

But he’s not all about on-field production. He also gives back to the community, using his platform as an NFL player to support those back home in South Florida.

This week, Powell rented out a movie theater in his home area and hosted about 90 kids from the Boys and Girls Club of Broward County to see “Avatar: The Way of Water.” It was a special gesture by Powell because he used to attend the same Boys and Girls Club, and given the price of movies he wanted to treat them to a day at the theater.

“I used to walk there every summer,” Powell told Gilbert Manzano of the OC Register. “I used to go to the Boys and Girls Clubs, play football with my friends. I remember I was in the same position as those kids, going there to hang out with friends. You don’t want to be home and you stay off the streets. It’s nice to do something for them.”

Unfortunately, because Powell is in Los Angeles preparing for the Rams’ season finale on Sunday, he wasn’t able to attend the showing with the kids back home. He did have a video call with them, however.

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John Wolford praises Tutu Atwell, Brandon Powell after Week 13 loss to Seahawks

John Wolford praised the performances of Tutu Atwell and Brandon Powell in the Rams’ Week 13 loss to the Seahawks.

The Los Angeles Rams suffered a narrow loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 13 with John Wolford making his third career start at quarterback. Despite losing on a last-minute touchdown, Wolford took some time to speak about how well Tutu Atwell and Brandon Powell performed on Sunday.

“Yeah, Tutu was rolling today, made some great plays and really showing his talent. He’s got a great demeanor about him. He’s kept working,” Wolford said. “I’m so happy to see him do that and then Brand Powell’s just a consistent competitor. He’s given everything he has every play, and he was able to make some plays in the run game and catch on screen, so he did a good job too.”

The Rams were without the likes of Cooper Kupp, Allen Robinson, and Lance McCutcheon on Sunday against the Seahawks, so the other wideouts on the roster received more opportunities. In an offense that was desperate to get a spark from someone, Atwell and Powell made the most of their opportunities in Week 13.

Atwell caught two of his five targets (including an impressive one-handed grab) for 48 yards while he rushed for 23 yards on four carries. The second-year wideout should have had a long touchdown pass from Wolford on a play where he ran past his defender, but Wolford delivered an underthrown pass that was deflected.

Meanwhile, Powell caught all four of his targets for 39 yards while he tallied 45 rushing yards on three carries. Powell has spent most of his time with the Rams as a returner, however, he’s shown potential as a receiver in recent weeks amid all of the injuries at the position.

With the Rams shorthanded at the wide receiver position, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t expect to see more of Atwell and Powell in the offense moving forward.

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6 takeaways from Rams’ 27-23 loss to the Seahawks

Here are our immediate takeaways from the Rams’ heartbreaking loss to the Seahawks in Week 13

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The Los Angeles Rams were unable to put an end to their losing streak in Week 13 versus the Seattle Seahawks. The Rams suffered a 27-23 loss to the Seahawks, dropping their sixth straight game.

The reigning Super Bowl champions are now 3-9 this season and Sean McVay is running out of solutions for all of the injuries on the roster. Los Angeles shouldn’t use injuries as an excuse for Sunday’s loss to Seattle, though, as the Rams had a shot to win with the defense needing a stop late in the game.

Following another heartbreaking loss for the Rams, here are six immediate takeaways from the divisional showdown versus the Seahawks.

Brandon Powell banged his knee, Rams awaiting results

Brandon Powell banged his knee and while the Rams are awaiting the results, Sean McVay doesn’t seem too concerned.

The Rams wrapped up training camp at UC Irvine on Wednesday with one last practice that was closed to the public. Sean McVay met with the media afterwards and revealed that Brandon Powell banged his knee and the Rams are awaiting the results.

McVay didn’t seem too concerned, according to team reporter Stu Jackson, but it’s something to monitor. Powell is firmly entrenched as the team’s return specialist and he wasn’t going to play in the preseason regardless of his health.

The Rams simply don’t want to risk injury to their stud returner.

In Powell’s place this preseason, Tutu Atwell, Kyren Williams and Raymond Calais could all get opportunities to return punts and kickoffs in the three exhibition games.