Tag: Chris Thompson

Breaking down Bears’ latest roster moves ahead of matchup vs. Bucs

Here’s a look at the roster moves the Bears made on Tuesday, including placing Robert Quinn on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

The Chicago Bears (3-3) are gearing up for a rematch against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-1), where Chicago is looking to rebound following a frustrating loss to the Green Bay Packers (5-1).

Ahead of Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers, the Bears made several roster moves, including some that could have a significant impact for a defense looking to contain Tom Brady and Tampa Bay’s offense.

Here’s a look at the roster moves the Bears made on Tuesday, which included losing a couple of key defensive players.

49ers roster moves: Jordan Matthews returns, 2 RBs released from practice squad

The #49ers made a number of moves on their practice squad, including the release of a pair of veteran RBs.

The 49ers on Tuesday made a series of moves on their practice squad to reflect some of the changing injury statuses on their active roster.

Running back Elijah Mitchell is expected to return for Week 5 and should be a full go at practice, giving the 49ers a healthier running back room than they had when they made a slew of RB additions to their practice squad.

They also added another tight end to the practice squad as George Kittle battles through a calf injury.

Here’s a quick rundown of the moves, which were first sent out by NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco:

 

Jags bring back DT Caraun Reid to practice squad, send RB Chris Thompson to IR

The Jags are now down on running back as cHRIS Thompson is headed to injured reserve.

After releasing him last week, the Jacksonville Jaguars brought back defensive tackle Caraun Reid to their practice squad on Tuesday. They also placed veteran running back Chris Thompson on injured reserve with a back injury.

The Jags cut Reid on Saturday with a series of roster moves to move various players up from practice squad and activate safety Andrew Wingard from injured reserve in preparation for the Green Bay Packers. He had previously spent three games on the active roster (Weeks 5-7), registering 47 snaps on defense and 17 on special teams.

As for Thompson, he sustained his back injury early in Sunday’s game against the Packers. It was revealed when he was taken out of the game to be evaluated for a concussion, however, he was cleared for that but didn’t return because of the back injury. Coach Doug Marrone informed the media that Thompson would be going on IR Monday, so the move was one that was expected.

Thompson will have to miss a minimum of three games now that he’s on injured reserve, which means he won’t be eligible to return until after the Jags’ Week 13 game against the Minnesota Vikings. With that being the case, the Jags are now down to Dare Ogunbowale as their No. 2 tailback behind James Robinson. Second-year layer Devine Ozigbo also could be ready to go Sunday as he will resume practicing after re-agitating a hamstring injury against the Houston Texans that he sustained early in the season.

The Jags also have rookie running back Nathan Cottrell on their practice squad if needed. He was a player the Jags activated Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts, although he registered all of his snaps on special teams.

Jags RB Chris Thompson ruled questionable to return vs. Packers

The Jags could be down a running back in the second half as Chris Thompson is dealing with a back injury.

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The Jacksonville Jaguars’ backfield might be a little thinner as running back Chris Thompson left the game due to being evaluated for a concussion. While his concussion evaluation went positively, he was still ruled questionable in the first half of Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers with a separate injury to his back.

With Thompson dealing with his injury, Dare Ogunbowale has seen a few offensive snaps on the field. Both he and James Robinson will continue to hold it down if Thompson remains sidelined once the game continues after half time as the only two active running backs for Week 10.

 

More updates will be available as information becomes forthcoming.

Jaguars elevate 2 from practice squad, activate RB Devine Ozigbo

Jags RB Devine Ozigbo has finally been activated and will get to take the field Week 7 against the Chargers.

As they typically have this season, the Jacksonville Jaguars made a few Saturday roster transactions to add some final touches to their team for Week 7’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

They announced that they used two standard elevation spots from their practice squad to temporarily promote safety Doug Middleton and tight end Eric Saubert to the active roster. The transactions come after the Jags ruled veteran safety Jarrod Wilson (hamstring) and tight end Tyler Eifert (neck) out on Friday’s injury report.

Sunday’s game won’t be the first time Middleton has been activated for the Jags this season. They also had to activate him for Week 4’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The team released him after the game and picked him back up on practice squad the following Monday.

Middleton has also spent time with the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans and will enter Week 7 with four starts and 35 tackles.

Saubert joined the Jags’ practice squad in September. He was a fifth-round pick for the Atlanta Falcons in 2017 and also spent time with the New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders and Chicago Bears. He’ll enter Sunday’s game with seven receptions for 69 receiving yards.

The Jags also activated running back Devine Ozigbo after he was designated to return from injured reserve a week ago. He was placed on the Jags injured reserve list before Week 1’s game with a hamstring injury. Ozigbo was expected to share the workload with James Robinson this season after a solid training camp performance and will now get a chance to be worked into the offensive mix.

To make room for Ozigbo’s transaction, the Jags placed veteran running back Chris Thompson on their Reserve/ COVID-19 list. He was mostly used for third-down situations and left the active roster with 16 receptions for 111 receiving yards and a touchdown. As a rusher, he was also able to garner five carries for 17 yards, but has yet to get his first rushing touchdown with the team.

Jags RB Devine Ozigbo designated to return from IR

The Jacksonville Jaguars could be on the verge of getting one of their training camp standouts back.

The Jacksonville Jaguars announced that running back Devine Ozigbo has been designated to return from the team’s injured reserve list Wednesday. With that being the case, they now have 21 days to officially place him on the active roster.

After an impressive training camp, Ozigbo was placed on injured reserve prior to the Jags’ Week 1 game against the Indianapolis Colts with a hamstring injury. That resulted in rookie James Robinson seeing a bulk of the snaps Week 1, allowing him to solidify himself as one of the league’s top running backs.

Currently the Jags have three running backs on their roster in Robinson, Chris Thompson, and Dare Ogunbowale. As previously stated, Robinson has handled a majority of the workload on offense accumulating just under 200 offensive snaps (59%). Thompson has mostly been used on third-downs, accumulating 119 snaps (36%) while Ogunbowale has only seen five offensive snaps (2%) and 55 special teams snaps (42%).

The Jags will be taking on a Detroit Lions team that is currently 30th against the run and has allowed an average of 170.3 yards on the ground. That makes for the perfect situation to possibly ease Ozigbo into the lineup, but Robinson has more than proven he can handle things in the backfield if the Jags want to wait.

Texas Football vs UTEP: Areas of concern for the upcoming game

With the Texas Longhorns set to kick off the season on Saturday, Longhorns Wire takes a look at areas of concern for the opener.

Image courtesy of Texas Sports

The start of the Texas Longhorns football season is finally upon us. A little over 24 hours away from the UTEP Miners and Texas Longhorns kicking off at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Recently the Texas Longhorns named their team captains for the season, really no shocking selections. It just means that we are that much closer to 18,000 fans piling into DKR. Hopefully this is a Big 12 Championship contending season for the burnt orange faithful.

This game is not expected to be one that is even relatively close. The UTEP Miners are coming off a 1-11 season in 2019. They struggled to defeat a FCS foe in Stephen F. Austin, in which they fell behind early 14-3. While they were able to rally from behind, if the Miners and quarterback Gavin Hardison find themselves down early it could be over before the first quarter ends. Texas is clearly the more talented team, it is just a matter of if the Longhorns buy into their own hype and overlook UTEP.

Even being heavy favorites according to BetMGM, there are still areas for concern in the upcoming game. This is the first live action for many of these Longhorns. The incoming freshman class such as Bijan Robinson and Alfred Collins getting their opportunity to prove their value and why they were 247Sports Composite five-star recruits.

We start with Longhorns Wire’s areas of concern with the health of the team.

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Daily Fantasy: The one Jaguars player you need to start in Week 1 on DraftKings

Jaguars running back Chris Thompson could be a daily fantasy sports sleeper in Week 1.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will host the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season on Sunday, Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. ET on CBS. The game will feature several intriguing daily fantasy sports options.

For the Jaguars, Gardner Minshew II has a low cap hit of $5,800 in DraftKings’ daily fantasy salary cap challenge (roster limit: $50,000). Minshew is cheaper than 20 other QBs, making him an interesting option after he had several strong fantasy performances last season.

Minshew is a risky play, though, because the Colts’ secondary forced 15 interceptions last season, the seventh-highest total in the NFL.

Jacksonville running back Chris Thompson might be the team’s best value in DFS this week. Thompson has a very low cap hit ($4,000) on DraftKings and he could be a sleeper against Indianapolis in Week 1.

Thompson is listed as the third-string running back on the Jaguars’ depth chart but he will likely serve as the team’s top receiving back this year. The Colts are considered 7.5-point favorites against Jacksonville and the Jags will have to throw often if Indianapolis builds a lead early in the game.

A pass-heavy attack would mean more action for Thompson, who caught 42 passes for 378 yards last season. Granted, Thompson’s yards per catch average wasn’t great last year, but he has good value in PPR formats for his catches alone.

Thompson has totaled at least 35 receptions in each of the last five seasons, totaling 1,772 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns in his career. He has also rushed for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns.

Thompson probably won’t be the lead back in the Jaguars’ offense but his receiving skills make him an intriguing RB for daily fantasy sports.

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Fantasy football forecast after Jaguars waive Leonard Fournette

Where do the Jags turn after waiving Leonard Fournette, and which team will take a chance on him?

Reports had swirled for months about the Jacksonville Jaguars’ intent of trading running back Leonard Fournette, yet his release still feels like a surprise thanks to the timing of it all. In 10 days, the NFL will kick off its season, and the Jaguars will look much different on both sides of the ball after waiving Fournette and trading defensive end Yannick Ngakoue mere hours apart from each other.

Where will Leonard Fournette land?

Fournette is entering his fourth year, which means he’ll be subjected to the NFL’s waivers system. Any team can place a claim on him and pick up his $4.17 million in remaining salary, which clears the Jaguars of that cap charge. In the offseason, waivers are ordered from the worst to best record of the prior season, meaning the Cincinnati Bengals have the first crack at acquiring Fournette. Should he pass through waivers unclaimed, he becomes a free agent and is available to sign with any club at any price.

Looking through the order, the teams with higher levels of needing a running back include the Washington Football Team, Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams and Houston Texans. All of those rosters have someone at least penciled in as a starter, suggesting Fournette would be in a tough spot to enter the year as a starter. He could serve as an expensive insurance policy for Todd Gurley, David Johnson, Jordan Howard or David Montgomery — none of which appears to be likely.

A surprise team to watch may be the Detroit Lions. Running back Kerryon Johnson is flimsy, and second-round rookie D’Andre Swift continues to miss time with an undisclosed leg ailment.

In all likelihood, Fournette will hit the open market and be free to find the best fit. That said, those teams also are the premium options for now, unless an injury or surprising cut prior to the season opens a roster spot for him.

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In 2019, Fournette overcame a tumultuous offseason battle with the organization to have a bounce-back year for the Jags. He averaged 17.4 PPR points after a career high of 17.7 as a rookie, regressing to 15.1 in the middle. His worth last year was largely carried by a whopping 76 receptions — mostly dump-off passes — and the bruising back’s touchdown count has dwindled each year since entering the league. Combine those concerns with injury history and a questionable attitude, it will be no shocker if Fournette remains unemployed well into the regular season.

The team to watch closely is Chicago. Quarterback Nick Foles spent a year with Fournette and could vouch for him to the front office. Of course, Montgomery is expected to miss up to four weeks with a groin injury, but there’s no guarantee he is up to speed until several weeks afterward.

Replacing Fournette

From the Jaguars’ perspective, this move leaves second-year back Ryquell Armstead tentatively the starter and Chris Thompson the change-up guy locked in as a third-down specialist. Running backs Devine Ozigbo, Nathan Cottrell, James Robinson and fullback Bruce Miller round out the remaining stable. Yeah, those impressive guys…

The free-agent market is barren at the moment, aside from Devonta Freeman. He’d cost a similar amount to what Fournette was on the books for prior to being sent packing. Alfred Blue, a former Jaguar, is a 29-year-old free agent.

There’s a reasonable chance Washington cuts Adrian Peterson if Bryce Love and Antonio Gibson continue to impress, so All Day would get a chance to be reunited with Jay Gruden, making the transition seamless. Derrius Guice is a free agent and knows the offense, although he’s likely to be suspended after an offseason arrest.

Other former Gruden guys with a possibility to sign could include Samaje Perine and Wendell Smallwood — hardly starting material. Both currently are on rosters and would need to get cut first.

Carlos Hyde could be an option to return to Jacksonville, should he be released by the Seattle Seahawks now that Rashaad Penny (knee) is once again on the field and rookie DeeJay Dallas has impressed.

Fantasy football takeaway

No matter the name, Jacksonville’s primary runner isn’t going to set the world ablaze in fantasy football in 2020. The offensive line is suspect, and everyone but Thompson is learning a new system in a tough defensive division.

Watch the situation play out as the Saturday, Sept. 5, roster deadline nears. Veterans are bound to be cut, and all it takes is one proven back to be thrown into this mix to muck it up for Armstead, the current front-runner for a starter’s workload. As it stands, he’s a fringe RB2 and a better flex target. Thompson is a matchup-based flex, but only in PPR formats. Earmark an RB3 or flex spot should a veteran enter the fray.

As for Fournette, his value is solely contingent upon where he lands. Talent alone, he’s a No. 2 fantasy back. Situationally, he could fall all the way down to unplayable, should a team with a star back add him for depth.

The primary format to select all of these backs is in best-ball drafts. You won’t have to invest as much draft capital, and the penalty isn’t be as harsh for being wrong, but the pay-off ends up being more lucrative for taking such a gamble.

Fantasy football forecast after Jaguars waive Leonard Fournette

Where do the Jags turn after waiving Leonard Fournette, and which team will take a chance on him?

Reports had swirled for months about the Jacksonville Jaguars’ intent of trading running back Leonard Fournette, yet his release still feels like a surprise thanks to the timing of it all. In 10 days, the NFL will kick off its season, and the Jaguars will look much different on both sides of the ball after waiving Fournette and trading defensive end Yannick Ngakoue mere hours apart from each other.

Where will Leonard Fournette land?

Fournette is entering his fourth year, which means he’ll be subjected to the NFL’s waivers system. Any team can place a claim on him and pick up his $4.17 million in remaining salary, which clears the Jaguars of that cap charge. In the offseason, waivers are ordered from the worst to best record of the prior season, meaning the Cincinnati Bengals have the first crack at acquiring Fournette. Should he pass through waivers unclaimed, he becomes a free agent and is available to sign with any club at any price.

Looking through the order, the teams with higher levels of needing a running back include the Washington Football Team, Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams and Houston Texans. All of those rosters have someone at least penciled in as a starter, suggesting Fournette would be in a tough spot to enter the year as a starter. He could serve as an expensive insurance policy for Todd Gurley, David Johnson, Jordan Howard or David Montgomery — none of which appears to be likely.

A surprise team to watch may be the Detroit Lions. Running back Kerryon Johnson is flimsy, and second-round rookie D’Andre Swift continues to miss time with an undisclosed leg ailment.

In all likelihood, Fournette will hit the open market and be free to find the best fit. That said, those teams also are the premium options for now, unless an injury or surprising cut prior to the season opens a roster spot for him.

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In 2019, Fournette overcame a tumultuous offseason battle with the organization to have a bounce-back year for the Jags. He averaged 17.4 PPR points after a career high of 17.7 as a rookie, regressing to 15.1 in the middle. His worth last year was largely carried by a whopping 76 receptions — mostly dump-off passes — and the bruising back’s touchdown count has dwindled each year since entering the league. Combine those concerns with injury history and a questionable attitude, it will be no shocker if Fournette remains unemployed well into the regular season.

The team to watch closely is Chicago. Quarterback Nick Foles spent a year with Fournette and could vouch for him to the front office. Of course, Montgomery is expected to miss up to four weeks with a groin injury, but there’s no guarantee he is up to speed until several weeks afterward.

Replacing Fournette

From the Jaguars’ perspective, this move leaves second-year back Ryquell Armstead tentatively the starter and Chris Thompson the change-up guy locked in as a third-down specialist. Running backs Devine Ozigbo, Nathan Cottrell, James Robinson and fullback Bruce Miller round out the remaining stable. Yeah, those impressive guys…

The free-agent market is barren at the moment, aside from Devonta Freeman. He’d cost a similar amount to what Fournette was on the books for prior to being sent packing. Alfred Blue, a former Jaguar, is a 29-year-old free agent.

There’s a reasonable chance Washington cuts Adrian Peterson if Bryce Love and Antonio Gibson continue to impress, so All Day would get a chance to be reunited with Jay Gruden, making the transition seamless. Derrius Guice is a free agent and knows the offense, although he’s likely to be suspended after an offseason arrest.

Other former Gruden guys with a possibility to sign could include Samaje Perine and Wendell Smallwood — hardly starting material. Both currently are on rosters and would need to get cut first.

Carlos Hyde could be an option to return to Jacksonville, should he be released by the Seattle Seahawks now that Rashaad Penny (knee) is once again on the field and rookie DeeJay Dallas has impressed.

Fantasy football takeaway

No matter the name, Jacksonville’s primary runner isn’t going to set the world ablaze in fantasy football in 2020. The offensive line is suspect, and everyone but Thompson is learning a new system in a tough defensive division.

Watch the situation play out as the Saturday, Sept. 5, roster deadline nears. Veterans are bound to be cut, and all it takes is one proven back to be thrown into this mix to muck it up for Armstead, the current front-runner for a starter’s workload. As it stands, he’s a fringe RB2 and a better flex target. Thompson is a matchup-based flex, but only in PPR formats. Earmark an RB3 or flex spot should a veteran enter the fray.

As for Fournette, his value is solely contingent upon where he lands. Talent alone, he’s a No. 2 fantasy back. Situationally, he could fall all the way down to unplayable, should a team with a star back add him for depth.

The primary format to select all of these backs is in best-ball drafts. You won’t have to invest as much draft capital, and the penalty isn’t be as harsh for being wrong, but the pay-off ends up being more lucrative for taking such a gamble.