Tag: defensive back

Texas sends offer to 2021 four-star cornerback out of California

Texas recently jumped into the competition to recruit four-star cornerback Jaylin Davies out of California.

Although Alabama has been heavily recruiting four-star cornerback Jaylin Davies since last summer, the Longhorns have recently jumped into the competition.

According to 247Sports Composite, Davies is a four-star prospect who has received offers from Alabama, UCLA, Auburn, Arizona, and many others. The 6-0, 165-pound defensive back is the No. 11 overall player out of California in the 2021 recruiting class.

It appears Davies had a great talk with Texas’ new defensive coordinator Chris Ash. Davies is a physical, natural cover corner out of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana that would likely compete for playing time immediately for the Longhorns.

He was part of the 2019 MaxPreps High School Junior All-American team and the California All-State Football Team presented by Suddenlink by Altice.

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Texas defensive back to undergo shoulder surgery, miss spring practice

Texas defensive back B.J. Foster will undergo shoulder surgery that will cause him to miss spring practice.

Texas defensive back B.J. Foster has been battling a nagging shoulder injury for several months now.

Foster was favoring his left shoulder heavily throughout the 2019 season, missing games against Rice, Oklahoma State, and TCU. He also missed time due to shoulder evaluations in the medical tent against West Virginia and Oklahoma. Even when Foster was present on the field, he sported a heavy shoulder brace and was playing less than 100 percent.

Head coach Tom Herman announced yesterday that Foster would be undergoing surgery on that same shoulder, as it appears the nerve has finally calmed down enough to have a successful rehab.

Foster’s best game in 2019 came against LSU, where he recorded 8 total tackles and one tackle for loss.  In 2018, Foster was the No. 1 overall player in the state of Texas according to ESPN. As a true freshman, he compiled 46 tackles, one interception, two forced fumbles and five passes broken up.

The promising defensive back will miss spring football practice, but is expected to return for summer conditioning.

Ex-Broncos safety Rahim Moore records INT in first XFL game

Former Broncos safety Rahim Moore grabbed an interception in his first game in the XFL.

Former Broncos safety Rahim Moore was cut by the DC Defenders when XFL teams trimmed their rosters from 71 players down to 52 players in January. After that, Moore was signed by the Tampa Bay Vipers.

It’s unclear what happened from there but somehow Moore ended back on the Defenders’ roster before Week 1. Either the safety was cut by Tampa Bay and ended up back in Washington, D.C. or the Defenders worked out a trade to acquire a player they had already released.

Making his XFL debut (for DC) against the Seattle Dragons on Saturday, Moore totaled three tackles and one interception. He also broke up a pass. Here is Moore’s interception in the second quarter:

DC went on to defeat Seattle 31-19 in the XFL’s first game of 2020.

Moore (6-1, 200 pounds) was selected by the Broncos in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft out of UCLA. He spent the first four years of his career in Denver and then had brief stints with the Texans, Browns and Giants.

Moore played in the now-defunct AAF with the Arizona Hotshots last year. The 29-year-old safety has now recorded 10 interceptions as a pro.

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Broncos spoke with DB Elijah Riley at East-West Shrine Bowl

The Broncos spoke with Army defensive back Elijah Riley at the East-West Shrine Bowl last week.

The Broncos spoke with Army defensive back Elijah Riley after an East-West Shrine Bowl practice on Jan. 13, according to Charlie Campbell of WalterFootball.com. Riley is projected to be a late-round pick in this year’s NFL draft.

Riley (6-0, 205 pounds) spent time at both cornerback and safety during his four seasons with the Black Knights. He totaled 201 tackles — including 17.5 tackles for losses — 6.5 sacks and seven interceptions in college. Riley also broke up 21 passes, returned a fumble for a touchdown and forced three fumbles for Army’s defense.

Denver cornerback Chris Harris set to become an unrestricted free agent in March and the Broncos will undoubtedly add several cornerbacks to the roster this offseason. Even if Harris is re-signed, Denver will need more depth.

Riley could be a key special teams player and versatile rotational defensive back on defense. The Broncos are projected to have final selections in the final three rounds of the draft.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Denver select a player like Riley to add competition at cornerback this summer.

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Broncos release safety Dymonte Thomas

The Broncos have released safety Dymonte Thomas.

The Denver Broncos released 26-year-old safety Dymonte Thomas this week, according to a report from KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis.

Thomas (6-2, 199 pounds) entered the league as a college free agent out of Michigan with the Broncos in 2017. Thomas spent most of his rookie season on Denver’s practice squad, dressing for just three games in 2017.

In 2018, Thomas emerged as a key special teams contributor and rotational defensive back. He dressed for 12 games that season, totaling 12 tackles, one sack and one interception. Thomas also had one pass breakup in 2018.

When the Broncos made final roster cuts last summer, Thomas was waived/injured and placed on the team’s injured reserve list. After spending the entire 2019 season on reserve, Thomas is now a free agent.

After moving on from Thomas, Denver’s remaining safeties under contract are Kareem Jackson, Trey Marshall, P.J. Locke, Tyvis Powell and Kahani Smith. Justin Simmons and Will Parks are set to become unrestricted free agents in March. Parks’ future is unclear — Simmons will be a high priority for the Broncos’ front office this offseason.

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Texas DB Donovan Duvernay Enters the Transfer Portal

Texas will be losing two players with the name Duvernay this offseason, as Devin’s twin brother Donovan has entered the transfer portal.

Texas will be losing two players with the last name Duvernay this offseason, as Devin’s twin brother Donovan has entered the transfer portal. According to the Longhorn football website, he played in four games this season, recording two tackles against Rice.

Listed as a redshirt junior, Donovan Duvernay played in six career games. He had two other tackles that came in 2018, one in the loss to West Virginia and the other in the win against Texas Tech.

Nobody knows where Donovan is off to yet, but Devin will hopefully be selected in the 2020 NFL Draft. The two are twin brothers who both committed in the 2016 recruiting class.

Devin came in as a four-star wide receiver, while Donovan was listed as a three-star athlete. Four years later, both players will be leaving the program via the draft and transfer portal respectively.

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Broncos will have Trey Marshall fill in for Kareem Jackson at safety

The Broncos will start Trey Marshall in the place of suspended safety Kareem Jackson to close out the season.

With starting strong safety Kareem Jackson suspended, the Denver Broncos plan to start first-year defensive back Trey Marshall across from free safety Justin Simmons in the final two games of the season, coach Vic Fangio said Wednesday.

“We haven’t seen Trey play a lot of defense since preseason, but he gets reps in practice and we’re confident he can go out there and do his job,” Fangio said.

Marshall has played primarily on special teams this season but he has gotten some rotational reps on defense and has totaled nine tackles.

There had been some speculation that Will Parks might fill in for Jackson but Denver plans to keep Parks at nickelback. Parks has been playing through a hand injury and still performing well.

“He’s overall giving us good play for the most part and he’s playing with an injured hand where he has to wear a cast,” Fangio said. “That hinders him somewhat, but overall he’s done a good job.”

With Marshall at safety and Parks at nickelback, cornerback Duke Dawson will be called on in dime situations to serve as a sixth defensive back.

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Seahawks Quandre Diggs, Bobby Wagner suffer ankle sprains in Carolina

Coach Pete Carroll provided a number of injury updates during his postgame press conference and confirmed both Diggs and Wagner suffered ankle sprains.

The Seattle Seahawks took the field Week 15 in Carolina down four defensive starters, as defensive ends Ziggy Ansah and Jadeveon Clowney, linebacker Mychal Kendricks and cornerback Shaquill Griffin were all inactive due to injuries.

Despite the win, things got even worse for Seattle in the health department as the game progressed with three more defenders sustaining injuries throughout the matchup. Safety Quandre Diggs was the first to leave with an ankle injury, linebacker Bobby Wagner was next – also with a sore ankle – and finally, safety Lano Hill appeared to get banged up in the fourth quarter.

Coach Pete Carroll provided a number of injury updates during his postgame press conference and confirmed both Diggs and Wagner suffered ankle sprains.

“He sprained his ankle a little,” Carroll said of Wagner. “We don’t know how bad it was – he was pretty good getting off the field today.” Carroll did say Wagner was not cleared to return to the game.

As for Diggs, it appears his injury could possibly linger a bit longer.

“Quandre sprained his ankle also and he looks a little more serious than Bobby did,” Carroll explained. “That would be a big loss if we can’t get him to get back next week. He’s been playing great football for us.”

Carroll should have further updates on both injured players Monday afternoon after both are checked out more thoroughly by the Seahawks’ medical staff.

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WATCH: Seahawks DB Quandre Diggs picks off Rams Jared Goff twice

Seattle Seahawks defensive back Quandre Diggs intercepted Rams quarterback Jared Goff twice Sunday night, once for a return for a touchdown.

The Seahawks are back in the ballgame Sunday night after defensive back Quandre Diggs picked off Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff and ran the interception back 55 yards for a touchdown – Seattle’s first of the night.

Before the score, the Seahawks had entered the half trailing the Rams 21-3. Despite Jason Myers missing the extra point attempt, Digg’s huge defensive play put Seattle right back in the action.

Equally as impressive, just a couple plays later, Diggs intercepted Goff again to give the Seahawks another much-needed takeaway. Diggs now has three picks on the year, after logging his first of the season – and first with Seattle – Week 10 against the 49ers.

The Seahawks acquired Diggs earlier this year in a trade with the Lions that has proved to be monumental for Seattle, who gave up very little in the deal.

As of this post, the Rams still lead the Seahawks 21-9 near the end of the third quarter.

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Broncos coach Vic Fangio hinting that Justin Simmons will be re-signed

Broncos coach Vic Fangio has been hinting that Denver will re-sign safety Justin Simmons.

Broncos general manager John Elway, who is in charge of building the team’s roster, will listen to input from coach Vic Fangio this offseason to hear his opinion on certain players. It’s safe to assume Fangio is going to give safety Justin Simmons a glowing review.

Simmons, 26, will earn a little more than $2 million this season before becoming an unrestricted free agent in March. Fangio has hinted more than once this year that Simmons will be re-signed by Denver.

“He’s playing very well for us,” Fangio said on Nov. 25. “We’re awful happy to have him. I think he’s going to have a great career — here. He’s been playing well all year.”

A few weeks before his most recent comments about Simmons’ future, Fangio said earlier in November that he foresess “a bright future for him in a Broncos uniform.”

Simmons appreciates his coach’s praise.

“It means a lot,” Simmons said on Nov. 26. “As you guys know, Vic is the type of guy that doesn’t really sugarcoat anything.

“He says exactly what’s on his heart and on his mind. Hearing something like that definitely goes a long way.”

Simmons was selected by Denver in the third round of the 2016 NFL draft out of Boston College. Through 12 games this season he has totaled 70 tackles and three interceptions. Simmons has also broken up 10 passes.

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