Tag: chris garrett

10 players work out for Broncos, including Nigerian DL Kenneth Odumegwu

The Broncos brought in 10 players for workouts on Monday, including Nigerian defensive lineman Kenneth Odumegwu.

The Denver Broncos brought in 10 players for workouts on Monday, according to the NFL’s transaction wire (via KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis).

One of the most interesting players on the list is Kenneth Odumegwu, a Nigerian defensive lineman who entered the league as a member of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program with the Green Bay Packers in 2023. He grew up playing soccer and later switched to basketball before being recruited to Osi Umenyiora’s football camp. The 23-year-old lineman is yet to appear in a regular season game in the NFL.

Former CFL draft pick Luiji Vilain is also on the list. The 26-year-old linebacker turned down a chance to play in Canada and opted to instead join the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He has dressed for five games (four with the Vikings and one with the Carolina Panthers), totaling four tackles.

View the full list of players below.

10 players worked out for Broncos

  1. DT Kenneth Odumegwu (No College)
  2. LB Chris Garrett (Concordia, St. Paul)
  3. LB Tyreek Maddox-Williams (Rutgers)
  4. LB Donavan Mutin (Houston)
  5. LB Luiji Vilain (Wake Forset)
  6. DB Christian Holmes (Oklahoma State)
  7. DB Zech McPhearson (Texas Tech)
  8. DB Chris Wilcox (Bringham Young)
  9. DB Damarion Williams (Houston)
  10. DB A.J. Woods (Pittsburgh)

Denver’s 53-man roster and 17-player practice squad are both full, so if the Broncos add any free agents, the team will have to cut somebody to make room for any potential new arrivals.

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Broncos worked out 4 players this week

The Broncos worked out four players on Thursday and signed Austin Ajiake after placing Jonas Griffith on injured reserve.

After losing inside linebacker Jonas Griffith to a season-ending torn ACL, the Denver Broncos worked out four players on Thursday.

The Broncos worked out Austin Ajiake, Chris Garrett, Breeland Speaks and “Olasunkanmi,” according to Aaron Wilson and Mike Klis. “Olasunkanmi” is presumably how Ola Adeniyi’s name showed up on the NFL’s transaction wire.

Denver ended up signing Ajiake. The Broncos had an open spot for Ajiake on the 90-man offseason roster after officially placing Griffith on injured reserve on Thursday.

“We liked him,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said of Ajiake. “We felt like he had good athletic traits. We felt like he could help us in the kicking game. We brought him back for a workout with the other guys, and we thought he did pretty well.”

Meanwhile, wide receiver Tim Patrick (Achilles) underwent successful surgery on Thursday. Patrick is now facing a six-month recovery timeline. If all goes well, the veteran will be able to return before training camp in 2024.

Seahawks sign another rookie nose tackle before first OTAs practice

The Seattle Seahawks have signed another undrafted rookie nose tackle to add to their robust competition at the position.

The Seattle Seahawks have signed another undrafted rookie nose tackle to add to their robust competition at the position. Just before their first OTAs practice of the year was scheduled to begin, Seattle announced that they have signed rookie LaTrell Bumphus.

A converted tight end, Bumphus (6-foot-3, 280 pounds) totaled three sacks and 12 tackles for a loss during his time at Tennessee.

Bumphus will compete with veteran Forrest Merrill plus fellow rookies Cameron Young, Jonah Tavai and Robert Cooper.

To make room on the 90-man roster for Bumphus, the Seahawks waived outside linebacker Chris Garrett.

7 storylines to follow during Seahawks 2023 OTAs

Former Rams edge rusher Chris Garrett signs with Vikings’ practice squad

Chris Garrett signed with the Vikings’ practice squad on Wednesday following his recent release from the Rams.

Fans of the Los Angeles Rams had high hopes for Chris Garrett, only for him to be released by the team to trim their roster down to 53 players ahead of Week 1. After having to wait for over a week, Garrett has signed with the practice squad of the Minnesota Vikings.

Garrett was taken by the Rams in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL draft out of Concordia college in Minnesota. The young edge rusher was extremely productive at the collegiate level, recording 36 sacks in his three years at Concordia, including two years where he had 14-plus sacks.

The 24-year-old pass rusher was only active for one game for the Rams in 2021. With Von Miller departing in free agency in the offseason, many were expecting Garrett to have an opportunity to be a rotational edge rusher for Los Angeles.

It’s not a surprise that the Vikings are the team that signed Garrett to their practice squad due to Kevin O’Connell being the head coach in Minnesota. O’Connell spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator of the Rams from 2020 to 2021, so he got a glimpse of Garrett’s potential.

Vikings sign former Rams OLB Chris Garrett to practice squad

The Vikings fill the spot on the practice squad vacated by Janarius Robinson

After losing Janarius Robinson off of their practice squad to the Philadelphia Eagles active roster, the Minnesota Vikings replaced him quickly by signing former Los Angeles Rams OLB Chris Garrett. They had hosted Reggie Roberson and Khalil Davis on a visit and tryout, respectively, on Tuesday in hopes of adding them to the practice squad.

A seventh-round pick of the Rams in 2021, Garrett was a star pass rusher for local Concordia-St. Paul and became their second-ever NFL draft pick.

The draw in signing Garrett is what we have seen with a lot of the players general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been bringing in. He has a great 10-yard split. That and his 20-yard split both were in the 94th percentile but the rest of his athletic testing was average or slightly below.

Over 28 games for Concordia-St. Paul, Garrett accumulated 36.5 sacks including a career-high 16.5 in 2018. His 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19.

With the addition of Garrett, the practice squad is now full at 16 players.

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Ravens try out two LBs on Monday

The Ravens tried out two linebackers on Monday

The Baltimore Ravens currently have just two healthy outside linebackers on their roster in Odafe Oweh and Justin Houston. The team is awaiting the returns of Tyus Bowser and David Ojabo, although it’s unclear when either will be able to be back on the field and contributing at a high level.

Baltimore’s outside linebacker group is undoubtedly thin, and on Monday they tried out two linebackers in Kyler Fackrell and Chris Garrett. Both players could fill some kind of void on the Ravens’ defense, even if it is just as a depth piece while the organization waits for their players to get healthy.

Fackrell is a well-traveled veteran, playing on the field with three teams over the course of his six-year NFL career. He was a third-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2016, and has totaled 162 tackles and 23.5 sacks, including a year with 10.5 sacks in 2018.

Garrett was a seventh-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 2021, and won Super Bowl LVI with the organization.

Rams’ 4 most surprising roster cuts

The Rams made their final roster cuts to reduce their roster to 53 players and a few of them were a bit surprising.

Teams around the NFL made hundreds of moves to trim their rosters to 53 players ahead of Week 1 of the 2022 campaign. Every single year, there are always a decent number of surprising releases that take place, and the Los Angeles Rams had a few of their own.

Of course, there’s a chance that the players listed below re-sign with the Rams via the team’s practice squad. Players that are released must clear waivers for them to sign on the practice squad, so other teams have a chance to claim them before they become free agents.

Following the flurry of roster moves that occurred across the NFL, let’s take a look at the most surprising roster cuts the Rams made to reduce their active roster to 53 players.

Rams waiving OLB Chris Garrett

The Rams are waiving OLB Chris Garrett as part of Tuesday’s final roster cuts

Chris Garrett came into the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams looking like a potential draft steal, dominating in college at Concordia. But unfortunately, he’ll be hitting the waiver wire after being cut by the Rams on Tuesday.

This doesn’t mean his time with the Rams is definitely over because he can still land on the practice squad if he clears waivers, but the team doesn’t seem as high on him after more than a year of struggles with injuries and COVID-19.

Garrett was selected by the Rams in the seventh round of the 2021 draft but only appeared in one game and played four defensive snaps.

Rams OLB Chris Garrett has groin injury, could miss up to a couple of weeks

Chris Garrett is dealing with a groin injury and could miss anywhere from a couple days to a couple weeks

Chris Garrett is battling to make the Rams’ 53-man roster this year, just as he did last year after putting together a strong preseason as a rookie. Unfortunately, he may not have many opportunities in the preseason to prove his value.

Sean McVay told reporters Tuesday that Garrett is dealing with a groin injury that could sideline him for up to a couple of weeks. Thankfully, the preseason hasn’t started yet so Garrett still has time to recover and get back on the field, but this is an unfortunate setback for a player who hasn’t yet locked up a roster spot.

“Chris Garrett, he ended up getting his groin,” McVay said. “Those soft-tissue things can be anywhere between a couple days to a couple weeks. So I kind of defer to Reggie (Scott) and his group and I know he’s gonna do everything in his power to get out, get back out here as quickly as possible.”

Garrett missed time early last season after spending a few weeks on the COVID-19/reserve list, which McVay said was a setback for the rookie pass rusher. He never quite got on track after that, being active for just one game all season and spending most of the year as a healthy scratch.

How Von Miller trade impacts Rams’ depth chart at OLB

The addition of Von Miller will alter the depth chart at outside linebacker for the Rams moving forward.

During the first eight weeks of the season, the Los Angeles Rams have had an edge-rushing unit of Leonard Floyd, Terrell Lewis, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Justin Hollins (who is on injured reserve).

While the current rotation has performed well, Von Miller will be joining the Rams via trade ahead of Week 9. The arrival of Miller will definitely shake up the depth chart at outside linebacker moving forward.

Floyd is a lock to maintain his spot as he continues to play at a Pro Bowl level with 21 pressures, a team-high 6.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. But the likes of Lewis and Okoronkwo will probably see their snaps on defense decrease a bit, which could actually help them stay healthy in the long haul.

Here’s a look at how the depth chart could shake out with Miller now in the mix.

Starter Backup Third-string
LOLB Leonard Floyd Jamir Jones Chris Garrett
ROLB Von Miller Terrell Lewis Ogbonnia Okoronkwo

Lewis has done well with limited snaps, logging three sacks in his second season. On the other hand, Okoronkwo has recorded 1.5 sacks, showing off the ability to use his speed to cause havoc in the backfield.

Having depth off of the edge, especially come playoff time, is a valuable asset in the NFL. Whenever you add an All-Pro talent like Miller, you realize that some guys will see their roles decrease for the rest of the season.

For Jamir Jones, who the Rams claimed off waivers from the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this season, he could become expendable. If Jones isn’t released by Los Angeles, he could be relegated to strictly playing special teams.

And for anyone that was hoping to see Chris Garrett more in his rookie season, barring an injury, he likely won’t see much time on the field moving forward. I didn’t even mention that Hollins could play some edge — along with some time at inside linebacker — once he returns from injured reserve.

While certain guys aren’t going to have the roles they’ve had to begin the season, I’m sure Rams fans will sacrifice that in exchange for the opportunity to see Floyd and Miller on the field more with Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey.

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