Tag: Chase Cota

Kayvon Thibodeaux, Chase Cota lead Pro Ducks in Week 2 of NFL preseason

A year-two leap is on the way for Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Chase Cota is well on his way to earning a roster spot in Detroit.

The second week of preseason action in the NFL brought a lot of highlights for Oregon Duck fans to be excited about. Whether it was Kayvon Thibodeaux showing that he has a potential huge second-year breakout coming, or Chase Cota making a great case for earning a roster spot on the Detroit Lions, there were Pro Ducks all over the place this weekend.

We got a Royce Freeman sighting in Los Angeles, and the NFL debut for Noah Sewell. On top of that, Juwan Johnson continued to shine in New Orleans, while Pharaoh Brown developed a nice connection with Anthony Richardson in Indianapolis.

Did you miss any of the action? We’ve got you covered. Here are the highlights you need to see from the Pro Ducks in the NFL:

LOOK: Chase Cota scores first NFL touchdown in preseason game with Lions

LOOK: Chase Cota scores first NFL touchdown in preseason game with Lions

Former Oregon Ducks wide receiver Chase Cota continues to impress during his first looks at the NFL.

After going undrafted in the 2023 NFL Draft, Cota has been one of the most impressive you receivers so far during this preseason. After the first week, Cota was tied for the league lead of 1st down receptions with 4, is second in 15+ yard receptions with 2, and is fifth in receiving yards with 60.

On Saturday in the Lions’ second preseason game of the year against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cota scored the first touchdown of his NFL career on a short out-route from the two yard-line.

As a Duck, Cota’s career was short but strong. After transferring from UCLA for his senior year, Cota had his best season as a college athlete. In 2022, he racked up 36 receptions, 497 yards, and 3 TDs, all of which were the best marks of his career.

Cota is fighting for a roster spot in Detroit, which is an uphill battle after signing as an undrafted free agent. However, he’s impressing so far and showing that he deserves a spot on some roster in the NFL.

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Studs and Duds for the Lions preseason loss against the Jaguars

Who helped and hurt themselves this week? Here are this week’s Stud and Duds for the Lions preseason loss against the Jaguars

The preseason is an opportunity for teams to assess their players, and the Detroit Lions relied on their backup players during their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Unfortunately, they were unable to perform well and lost 25-7 in their second preseason game.

Since the starters were resting, we were able to observe the players who needed to prove themselves to secure a spot on the team. Although the offense was not performing at its best and the defense had some weaknesses, some players stood out, while others struggled.

Here are the Studs and Duds for the Lions in their game against the Jaguars this week. In this week’s edition, I focused on players who are right at the borderline of making the roster. I know Cominsky, Campbell, Walker, and Houston all had fantastic games, but we all know they are sticking around.

Lions vs. Jaguars: Detroit roster bubble players to watch in the preseason matchup

With the starters sitting for Detroit, it’s a big chance for these Lions on the roster bubble to prove they belong on the team

The second preseason game for the 2023 Detroit Lions will go a long way in determining which players wind up comprising the back half of the team’s 53-man roster. With head coach Dan Campbell indicating that pretty much every important Lions player will sit out Saturday’s matchup with the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars, it’s showtime for the depth.

Position battles will dominate the conversation for the Lions against the Jaguars. Here are a few combatants who can help sort things out with their play against the visiting cats from Jacksonville.

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Chase Cota has turned heads early in NFL preseason with Detroit Lions

Chase Cota has been one of the best rookie WRs in the NFL this preseason, leading the league in first downs so far.

After the 2022 season, several former Oregon Ducks dovetailed their time as student-athletes into professional careers. Probably the most notable name of that group is New England Patriots CB Christan Gonzalez, who was taken in the 1st round of the 2023 NFL Draft and is the best CB in his draft class according to many experts.

However, Gonzalez isn’t the only Pro Duck to make an early splash. Through one week of the preseason, Detroit Lions WR Chase Cota has been an important weapon for the Lions’ offense. Cota is currently tied for the league lead of 1st down receptions with 4, is second in 15+ yard receptions with 2, and is fifth in receiving yards with 60.

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As a Duck, Cota’s career was short but strong. After transferring from UCLA for his senior year, Cota had his best season as a college athlete. In 2022, he racked up 36 receptions, 497 yards, and 3 TDs, all of which were the best marks of his career.

While Cota was impactful all season, he shined most in Oregon’s head-to-head matchups at Oregon State and Washington State. Against the Beavers, Cota had 9 receptions, 136 yards, and a TD. All afternoon he was QB Bo Nix’s favorite target, but despite Cota’s best efforts, the Ducks were unable to grab a win in Corvallis.

While one game is much too small of a sample to be an accurate predictor of future success, it is still nice to see Cota doing well in his professional career. At the least, it demonstrates that he is able to compete and at times thrive against NFL-caliber football players. Furthermore, Cota’s early burst of production could ensure that he remains a Lion after the preseason. Hopefully, he will be able to sustain this early success over the course of a season, and perhaps a career, but only time will tell.

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Lions vs Giants: Best and worst PFF grades from Detroit’s preseason win

Here are the standout performances from this week’s best and worst PFF performers for the Detroit Lions against the New York Giants.

The Detroit Lions kicked off their season with a 21-16 victory over the New York Giants in their first preseason game. Despite many of the team’s key players sitting out, the Lions’ management was able to evaluate potential roster candidates.

The game started off slowly, with the offense struggling, but the defense saved the day by repeatedly stepping up to the challenge and shutting down their opponents. Although some areas showed promise, others may require further evaluation by the Lions’ management.

Here are the standout performances from this week’s best and worst Pro Footbal Focus (PFF) performers, highlighting those who impressed and those who fell short in their bid for a coveted roster spot.

Lions OTA notebook: June 1st observations on Gibbs, Goff, Jamo, kickers and more

Here are some quick notes and observations from the Detroit Lions June 1st OTA session

The Lions held the second session of OTAs open to the media on a sunny, hot Thursday afternoon to kick off June. It’s still non-contact and voluntary, so drawing any conclusions from what we saw is way too hasty, but there were a few interesting developments from the practice fields in Allen Park.

Here are some quick notes and observations from the unpadded practice session that leads into next week’s mandatory minicamp.

Chase Cota signs with Detroit Lions as UDFA

Chase Cota signs with Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent.

Now that the 2023 NFL draft has come to a close, some players that weren’t fortunate enough to have their names called in Kansas City will begin to sign with teams as undrafted free agents. One of those players is former Oregon Ducks wide receiver, Chase Cota, who is now a Detroit Lion.

Chase Cota surprised a lot of Oregon Ducks fans in 2022. After coming from UCLA as a 3-star transfer there wasn’t much expectation that he would have a large role in the team’s offense.

Last year Cota caught 36 passes for 497 yards receiving, which were the best marks of his career. In the fourth game last year against Washington State, Cota broke onto the scene as a high-caliber Ducks receiver. He caught 7 passes that game for 84 yards. His best game, however, came against Oregon State — something not a lot of players from last year’s team can say — grabbing nine passes for 136 yards and a touchdown.

Hopefully, Cota will be able to translate those big games to the NFL and break into the Lions’ roster. While he doesn’t have the usual athletic traits to be a top WR, Cota still has speed to offer on the outside, and is 6’3″. At Oregon’s Pro Day back in March, Cota ran a 4.50 40-yard dash, making him the fastest Duck of the day.

The Lions and Jared Goff are in desperate need of depth at their offensive skill positions. Besides Amon-Ra St. Brown and D’Andre Swift, their offense lacks talent, which could give Cota a chance to break into an NFL lineup.

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Detroit Lions 2023 undrafted free agent tracker

Tracking all the undrafted free agent signed by the Detroit Lions after the 2023 NFL draft

The 2023 NFL draft might be over, but the Detroit Lions are not done adding players. Prospects who went undrafted during the seven rounds are now free to sign with any team.

Detroit GM Brad Holmes has typically been one of the most aggressive in signing undrafted free agents, or UDFAs.

Here are the players the Lions have either signed as undrafted free agents or invited to the rookie minicamp for an in-person audition. Some reported signings are subject to change.

Assessing Chase Cota’s performance at Oregon Pro Day

Oregon WR Chase Cota showed what he could do in front of 31 NFL scouts at the Oregon Pro Day, putting up some impressive numbers.

No one can see the future, but if Chase Cota didn’t transfer to Oregon for his senior season from UCLA, today might not have happened.

Cota came to Eugene and had a stellar senior season and then obviously built upon that with a stringent off-season workout program to improve his size and speed. It paid off as Cota had an outstanding Pro Day in front of nearly every team scout in the NFL.

The 6-foot-3 receiver finished with the best 40-yard dash time of the day and showed his speed and agility in the workout.

According to The Draft Network’s Brentley Weissman, he is “an above-average route-runner (and) is a good technician and it shows that he is a son of an NFL player. Cota is tough as nails and is an excellent blocker. I expect him to be a very good special teams player as a kick coverage guy at the next level.