Tag: Darryl Williams

Chiefs re-sign OL Darryl Williams to practice squad

A familiar face returns to the practice squad for the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Kansas City Chiefs made a minor transaction on Wednesday, adding a recently released practice squad player back to the practice squad.

According to the NFL’s transaction report, the Chiefs have re-signed Darryl Williams to the practice squad. Williams was released from the practice squad nearly two weeks ago in order to make room for TE Evan Baylis and OT Prince Tega Wanogho.

Williams originally signed with Kansas City as an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State following the 2020 NFL draft. The 6-2 and 304-pound interior offensive linemen spent the entire 2020 offseason with the Chiefs, but he didn’t survive Septmeber roster cuts. He was waived, but signed to the 16-man practice squad where he’d spent the entire season up until his release in January. Now he’s back with the team again ahead of their Super Bowl LV tilt with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It seems like with the injuries to the offensive line, the Chiefs wanted to add someone to the practice squad who already knew the system. Williams is able to play both center and guard for Kansas City, which should be valuable to the scout team offense ahead of Super Bowl LV.

The Chiefs will likely sign someone from their practice squad once LT Eric Fisher is placed on injured reserve due to a torn Achilles. That means there will be another spot on the practice squad available in the coming days.

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Chiefs host 3 players for visits on Thursday

A few familiar faces and one new face were in Kansas City for a visit on Thursday.

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to work on their roster of the future, hosting three free agents for visits.

According to the NFL’s official transaction report, the Chiefs hosted DB Rodney Clemons, OL Darryl Williams and OL Justin Britt at team facilities for visits on Thursday. The team is very familiar with Clemons and Williams as both were UDFA signings following the 2020 NFL Draft. They each spent the regular season on the practice squad in Kansas City and were released recently. Bringing these players back on visits signals that they intend to sign them to reserve/future contracts or keep them in the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols should they need to return to the practice squad.

Britt, 29, is a former second-round draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks by the way of the University of Missouri. He has experience playing all over the offensive line including center, left guard, right guard and right tackle. He started in 86 career games over the span of 2014-2019 but spent the 2020 NFL season as a free agent as he recovered from a serious knee injury suffered late in the 2019 season.

The Chiefs have some future needs along the offensive line at a number of positions and having a versatile player like Britt in the fold could be valuable. If the visit went well, expect the team to sign him to the practice squad or possibly even a reserve/future deal. If you’re not familiar with reserve/future contracts, they allow players to sign with a new team prior to the beginning of the new league year without counting them toward the 53-man roster.

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Chiefs release OL Darryl Williams from practice squad

In order to make room for DE Austin Edwards, the Chiefs have released Darryl Williams from the practice squad.

The Kansas City Chiefs have released a player who has been on the practice squad for the entire season.

According to the NFL’s official transaction report, the Chiefs have released OL Darryl Williams from their 16-man practice squad. The team has made a number of moves on the practice squad this week, shuffling their roster ahead of their divisional-round playoff game against the Cleveland Browns.

Williams had originally signed on with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State following the 2020 NFL draft. He didn’t make the 53-man roster out of training camp but was among the players signed to the practice squad initially. He’d spend the entire regular-season on the practice squad. Despite the ability to use a standard elevation on Williams, he was not among the players elevated to the 53-man roster during the course of the season.

The decision to release Williams comes after the team signed DE Austin Edwards to the practice squad. They needed the free spot and this seems to be a numbers game, with two centers on the 53-man roster already and OL’s Bryan Witzmann and Patrick Omameh both also on the practice squad.

Williams appears to be more of a long-term developmental prospect than someone the Chiefs felt confident in calling up this season. Look for him to rejoin the team on a reserve/future contract with the team assuming he clears waivers.

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2 Bills players land on PFF’s Team of the Week

Darryl Williams and Levi Wallace land on Pro Football Focus’ Week 3 Team of the Week.

We’re three games into the 2020 NFL season and four members of the Buffalo Bills have already appeared on Pro Football Focus’ Team of the Week honors so far.

In Week 3, the Bills doubled up with one player on offense and another on defense making the squad. On offense, new right tackle Daryl Williams cracked the roster while on defense, cornerback Levi Wallace found his name being recognized.

In Week 3, Williams had a massively huge game for the Bills, according to PFF. Entering the meeting with the Rams, Williams had an overall PFF grade of 71.2, which is pretty solid in its own right. That has since jolted up to 79.8, good for the 12th best tackle grade in the NFL per PFF’s grading system this year.

Wallace actually might be the more surprising one to appear here because Buffalo’s defense didn’t preform well against the Rams in Week 3. But if there was one bright spot on the day, it was Wallace. He had an interception on Rams quarterback Jared Goff and actually did not lead the Bills in tackles in this one.

For a cornerback, that’s a good sign. In Week 2, the Dolphins appeared to be picking on Wallace and he led Buffalo’s defense in tackles a week prior. More tackles indicates the ball is being throw to you much more in most cases.

Through three games this season, Wallace also is graded as Buffalo’s best cornerback per PFF as well at a 68.4 mark. Tre’Davious White currently sits at 64.7.

Williams and Johnson join Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs (Week 2) and safety Jordan Poyer (Week 1) in being named to PFF’s Team of the Week so far this season.

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Chiefs UDFA OL Darryl Williams ready to impose his will in Kansas City

Williams is soaking up everything he can during the course of the Kansas City Chiefs’ virtual rookie minicamp.

The Kansas City Chiefs prioritized undrafted free agent offensive lineman Darryl Williams following the 2020 NFL Draft. The Chiefs had communication with Williams throughout the pre-draft process, intrigued by his versatility, character, work ethic and competitive drive.

Several of those traits were put to the test right away with the Chiefs’ virtual rookie minicamp. Unlike a normal rookie minicamp, players aren’t out on the field learning in a hands-on capacity. Instead, they’re forced to do things a little differently.

“I’m glad to be here, and I can’t wait to compete my tail off each and every day I step out on the practice field,” Williams told reporters. “Then, just watching those guys on film it’s been truly a blessing just trying to learn the things they do. The technique they used to keep defenders off their bodies and keep Patrick Mahomes safe. It has really been an awesome deal during our virtual meetings. We are able to really break down the film and break down the plays and things of that nature. Just really learn the scheme and learn the concept of how we want to do things in Kansas City, so it’s been awesome.”

Williams could easily have a different outlook, but you can tell that he’s as motivated as ever to learn and have a chance to make an NFL team. As he learns the scheme and different concepts the Chiefs use on offense, he’s also looking to soak up all the tips and tricks from the salty veterans in Kansas City.

“Like I said, learn from the veterans and just soak it all in,” Williams said. “Try to come in and compete at a high level and earn the respect of not just the veterans but the coaches as well. Continue to work my tail off, that is something that I’m always going to do and show my worth and show that I want to be here and I want to learn and want to be that guy that competes at a high level.”

While the plan is to soak up info from the veteran guys and show what he’s all about, Williams is also bringing a wealth of knowledge that he picked up with the Bulldogs. There’s one saying in particular that has informed his mindset on the football field.

“We have a saying in our offensive line room back at Mississippi State,” Williams said. “It’s called ‘MTMW’ [which stands for] ‘Make Their Mama Worry.’ It’s something I enjoy doing. I want to go out there each and every day and try to impose my will for 60 minutes and be the best lineman that I can be. It’s something that I enjoy about being an offensive lineman.”

Williams will look to bring that mentality with him to the practice field, with the hope that it’ll help him earn a roster spot with the Chiefs come September.

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Chiefs GM Brett Veach talks UDFA offensive linemen Yasir Durant, Darryl Williams

Veach is excited about the size and versatility of some of the Kansas City Chiefs’ undrafted offensive linemen.

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The Kansas City Chiefs added 18 undrafted free agents following the 2020 NFL Draft. While the Chiefs hadn’t officially confirmed any of their undrafted free-agent signings at the time of Brett Veach’s post-draft press conference, he still spoke about a few of the offensive linemen they had added. He started things off, talking about Missouri OT Yasir Durant.

“We feel [there’s a lot of versatility in] (Yasir) Durant from Missouri,” Veach said. “Certainly, a local guy that we got to watch a lot. He played a bunch of tackle, but we do think that sliding him to guard might be his best position. Any time you can get a couple 6-6 guys inside there protecting Pat (Mahomes) will be beneficial.”

Durant spent the 2018 season as the starting left tackle for a Missouri team led by now-Broncos QB Drew Lock. In 2019, he continued to play the left tackle spot, this time protecting QB Kelly Bryant.

Positional flexibility is obviously the biggest asset in any offensive lineman, but for undrafted free agents, it can be the difference between making the team or practice squad and being released in 53-man roster cuts. Veach also sees Mississippi State OL Darryl Williams as a player that has some positional flexibility.

“With Darryl (Williams), he was an extremely productive player at Mississippi State,” said Veach. “That’s a guy that we feel has center-guard flexibility, has done both there at Mississippi State. As I mentioned to Willie (Gay Jr.) on our conference call the other day, we’ve had a lot of success with Mississippi State players. It’s funny when you take a step back and look at some of these schools that tend to produce a lot of players, Mississippi State seems like every year when they go to the NFL – I don’t have numbers in front of me, I don’t have statistics, just my overall impression of when I think of players that get drafted from Mississippi State – they always tend to work out. Hopefully, Darryl falls in that line and is able to crack our roster and is able to help us compete next season.”

After hearing that from Veach, it won’t surprise you to learn that the school with the most players on the Chiefs’ roster right now is Mississippi State with five. They drafted Gay Jr., signed Williams, and already had Braxton Hoyett, Chris Jones and Martinas Rankin on the roster. Hopefully, the latest additions among this group will keep the trend of Mississippi State success alive in Kansas City.

It sounds like each of these players will get a shot to come in and compete. Their positional flexibility will give both of them a shot to stick with the Chiefs. It’s never a bad thing to have competition on the offensive line as it will help to provide the best possible protection for Patrick Mahomes moving forward.

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Report: Mississippi State C Darryl Williams lands $107K guaranteed UDFA contract with Chiefs

Big money for one of the Kansas City Chiefs undrafted free agents.

The Kansas City Chiefs are in the process of signing undrafted free agents following the 2020 NFL Draft.

As teams battle it out to sign the best remaining players, they have to get a little tricky in order to lure players from other teams. The Chiefs, of course, have the draw of being the reigning Super Bowl champions. They also happen to have the best QB in the league in Patrick Mahomes.

When those two facts don’t help draw an undrafted free agent to the team, sometimes it comes down to cold, hard cash. That was the case for Mississippi State center Darryl Williams, who landed some monster guaranteed money with the Chiefs according to a report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

Williams is set to sign a deal worth $107K in guaranteed money per Pelissero, which is a substantial amount for an undrafted free agent. While the deal only includes a $7K signing bonus, it indicates that the Chiefs expect Williams to come in and compete along the interior offensive line, perhaps making the team.

While Williams played center with the Bulldogs, the 6-2 and 304-pound athlete also has the ability to play guard. The more you can do in the NFL, the better chances you have to stick around.

2020 NFL Draft: Most underrated prospects at every position

Luke Easterling’s picks for the most underrated prospects at every position in the 2020 NFL draft class

We’re two weeks away from the 2020 NFL Draft, and while there are plenty of top prospects getting their well-earned attention in the first-round conversation, others are flying under the radar.

Here are my picks for the most underrated prospects at every position in this year’s draft:

QUARTERBACK

Jalen Hurts | Oklahoma

It’s hard to imagine a player with Hurts’ resume being underrated, but he’s still not getting enough respect as a top quarterback prospect in this class. Hurts made huge improvements as a passer in his senior year, similar to what we saw from Dak Prescott in his final season at Mississippi State.

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Hurts has a similar skill set to Prescott, too, and has the ability to make a similar impact at the next level. Hurts should be in the second-round conversation after one of the most incredible careers of any college quarterback in history.

Runner-Up

James Morgan | FIU

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Chargers stack deck in Draft Wire’s 4-round mock draft

The Los Angeles Chargers address both sides of the ball in Draft Wire’s latest four-round mock draft.

The majority of the signings and trades have concluded. Now all that’s left to the roster-building process for the Chargers and the rest of the teams in the league is the 2020 NFL Draft.

With the remaining needs, Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling pieced together a four-round mock draft that sees Los Angeles adding a quarterback, two offensive linemen and a linebacker.

Here’s who he has the Bolts taking with those four selections in the upcoming draft:

  • Round 1 – QB Justin Hebert, Oregon
  • Round 2 – OT Austin Jackson, USC
  • Round 3 – LB Malik Harrison, Ohio State
  • Round 4 – OL Daryl Williams, Mississippi State

Kicking things off, the Chargers address arguably their biggest need by selecting Herbert, the 6-foot-6 and 236 pounder. While some mental aspects of his game draw some concern, Herbert has all the physical tools in the world to become a successful franchise quarterback.

Following that up, Los Angeles selects Jackson, the 6-foot-5 and 322 pound tackle. Jackson is gifted with athleticism and talent for the position, but he needs to approve his footwork and hand technique. The Phoenix native would offer competition with Trey Pipkins at the left tackle position.

To conclude Day 2, the Bolts take an immediate contributor at the linebacker position. Harrison offers the skillset to push for the team’s starting Mike while Drue Tranquill mans the Will. Harrison, the 6-foot-3 and 246 pounder is a physical thumper in the run game who offers plus special teams value.

In Round 4, the Chargers add a key piece to the interior part of the offensive line. Williams played left guard for two seasons before moving to center in 2019. With Los Angeles, he projects as a multi-position interior offensive lineman who is a reliable in pass protection and run blocking.