The Packers elevated a former Wisconsin OL to the active roster ahead of today’s game

The Packers elevated a former Wisconsin OL to the active roster ahead of today’s game

The Green Bay Packers elevated former Wisconsin offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen to the active roster ahead of today’s game against the Baltimore Ravens.

The team had protected the former sixth-round pick on the practice squad for weeks, meaning other teams could not come in and sign him to an active roster. With the Packers experiencing injury issues along the line and needing more depth as a result, Van Lanen will now dress for an NFL game for the first time in his career.

Related: Jonathan Taylor set another NFL mark last night

We now wait and see whether the former Badger will see the field during game action.

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Brendan Daly excited by development of Chiefs DTs Khalen Saunders, Tershawn Wharton

With training camp coming to a close this week, #Chiefs DL coach Brendan Daly is excited by what he has seen from the depth on the defensive interior. | from @TheJohnDillon

Despite the close of training camp on Wednesday, defensive line coach Brendan Daly seems to think the Kansas City Chiefs have only scratched the surface with his unit so far.

The most obvious difference in the team’s new-look defensive front is Chris Jones‘ move to the end position, but the more intriguing change being born out of the camp process is lower on the depth chart. With a healthy mix of veteran talent and younger competitors, Kansas City hopes to have found linemen that can be stout against the run while maintaining the Chiefs’ signature knack for pass rush.

Jones’ move outside, playing opposite Frank Clark, has opened up an opportunity in the middle of the line for several players to claim rotational roles. As the cream rises to the top in their remaining preseason games, the Chiefs’ coaching staff will seek to find the top defensive tackles to anchor the defense this season.

The key battle in the middle of the line appears to be between Khalen Saunders and Tershawn Wharton, which is expected to heat up in the coming weeks. Daly told reporters on Wednesday that Saunders has had a strong camp, and praised his football acumen ahead of Friday’s game in Arizona.

“It’s been great to see,” Daly said of Saunders’ emergence, “I’d say he’s had the best training camp he’s had since he’s been with us. I’m pleased with the way he’s working. He’s expanded his role. One of the things that jumps out to me about Khalen, he’s one of the smartest guys in the room. He understands adjustments, the calls, the schemes. A very, very high football IQ, which is impressive to me.”

Saunders was a third-round pick by Kansas City in 2019, and would make a big statement by increasing his role this season. While he has expectations dating back to when the Chiefs drafted him, second-year defensive tackle and Missouri S&T product, Tershawn Wharton, is hot on his tail. Wharton was a relative unknown last season before bursting on the scene to make appearances in all 16 regular-season games, playing in about half of the team’s defensive snaps.

Wharton has a good chance to land a bigger role if his play continues to impress in this preseason. From Daly’s comments to media, he seems to be something of a favorite among the coaches, and prepares with an intensity that would lend itself to a starting role.

“If you watch this guy practice its a thousand miles an hour,” Daly told reporters, “He doesn’t seem to get tired, he’s a relentless energy and effort about him and he’s got a really good skillset. He’s explosive, he’s powerful, he’s got good quickness.”

It’s too early to say definitively whether the interior defensive line will be the Chiefs’ biggest strength on defense this season. Between Daly’s comments and the way the unit has carried itself in camp, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them excel. The next two preseason games will give fans a better idea of what to expect in September. They should provide valuable insight into the development of Kansas City’s talent in the trenches.

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Seahawks add T Lukayus McNeil, WR Anthony Ratliff-Williams to roster

The Seahawks have added tackle Lukayus McNeil and wide receiver Anthony Ratliff-Williams to the roster ahead of the first preseason game.

The Seattle Seahawks announced a couple of roster moves ahead of Tuesday’s training camp practice. Seattle has signed tackle Lukayus McNeil and wide receiver Anthony Ratliff-Williams to the roster.

With so many injuries to the offensive line and veteran left tackle Duane Brown still sitting out as he waits on a contract extension, adding some depth to the tackle position was clearly a major need for the Seahawks.

McNeil originally signed with the Raiders as an undrafted free agent out of Louisville in 2019. He also spent time with the Cowboys and the Falcons his rookie season but was not with an NFL team last year.

As for Ratliff-Williams, he also went undrafted, and has spent time with the Titans and Raiders.

To make room for McNeil and Ratliff-Williams on the 53-man roster, Seattle waived Darece Roberson and tight end Michael Jacobson, who the Seahawks had just signed last week.

Seattle has its first preseason game this Saturday night against the Raiders in Las Vegas.

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Report: 49ers finalizing deal with former Seahawk Ziggy Ansah

After suffering two brutal injuries to key defensive linemen on Sunday, the 49ers are working to sign former Seattle Seahawk Ziggy Ansah.

Once again, the Seattle Seahawks will be facing one of their former players dressed in the red and gold of their biggest rival, the San Francisco 49ers.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported early Monday morning that defensive end Ziggy Ansah, who was a free agent entering the 2020 season, would be meeting with the 49ers after the team suffered likely season-ending injuries to defensive linemen Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas on Sunday.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN confirmed the news, reporting that the 49ers are finalizing a one-year deal with Ansah that is expected to be completed this week.

Ansah previously met with the 49ers just one week ago, but the two sides could not agree on a deal. Now, however, the team’s pass-rushing depth is suddenly much thinner.

As a member of the Seahawks in 2019, Ansah defended two passes, forced (and recovered) two fumbles, and had eight quarterback hits with two and a half sacks.

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Ron Rivera admits WR depth is a concern, team ‘keeping its eyes open’ for help

The depth at wide receiver is an issue for Washington, and it’s something they plan to address with roster moves going forward.

There’s been a constant theme for Washington both this offseason and during training camp where the team has been monitoring wide receiver talent across the league and looking for an answer to their depth problem.

Fans may wish that the coaching staff and front office decision-makers were a bit more proactive when it came to adding WR depth to the roster, even if that means trading away future assets for a player like Allen Robinson, or potentially adding a free agent like Mohamed Sanu to the roster. Nonetheless, Washington knows that they need help at that position, and head coach Ron River admitted as much when talking to the media on Wednesday.

Earlier in the week, Washington held a try out for a number of free-agent receivers, among the most notable being former Arizona Cardinals WR Hakeem Butler, who was released earlier this year. With few major names on the FA market, it’s possible that the team could try to trade for a big name, though it seems unlikely given what we’ve seen so far from this coaching staff. Regardless of who they get, though, it’s clear that they need to get someone to come into D.C. and help add some experience and depth to the receiving corps. That much we know.

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Cowboys fear TE Blake Jarwin suffered torn ACL, season may be over

The Cowboys have suffered injuries in Week 1, but Jarwin’s may be the worst.

Non-contact injuries are normally as bad as they appear and unfortunately for Dallas Cowboys starting tight end Blake Jarwin, that turned out to be the case. In the season opener, in his first opportunity to own the position in what’s expected to be a vibrant offense, Jarwin went down and clutched his right knee in the second quarter.

It appears the team believes the worst, an ACL tear, occurred. Dallas fears they’ve lost Jarwin for the season.

Jarwin was expected to be a major part of Mike McCarthy and Kellen Moore’s offense this year, augmented by the addition of rookie CeeDee Lamb to Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup. Instead, the young player will have to spend the next several months rehabbing and hoping to return in 2021.

The former Oklahoma State product was a restricted free agent this past offseason, but Dallas rewarded him with a four-year contract. A $4 million signing bonus accompanied what the RFA tender would have earned Jarwin in base salary.

In his absence, 2017 draft pick Dalton Schultz will move into the primary pass catcher role, however it’s doubtful he plays as central a role in the offense as Jarwin was planned to. Taking over for Jason Witten, Jarwin was going to be a fifth or sixth option, but those targets may get distributed to others, including running backs Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard and possibly fourth receiver Cedrick Wilson.

Dallas also has veteran Blake Bell on the roster, as well as UDFA rookie Sean McKeon, who was ruled inactive for the Week 1 contest against the Rams.

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Seahawks claim former 49ers cornerback D.J. Reed off waivers

The Seattle Seahawks claimed former San Francisco 49ers cornerback D.J. Reed off waivers, but he will miss at least the first six weeks.

After the San Francisco 49ers released cornerback D.J. Reed on Tuesday, the Seattle Seahawks scooped him up on waivers the following day, adding another piece to their secondary.

Reed was waived with a non-football injury designation and will likely be unable to play for the first six weeks of the 2020 season while he heals from his torn pectoral muscle that he suffered during an offseason workout.

Seattle may have made this move for depth purposes, as Reed will not be expected to make a significant impact even if he returns in 2020. He recorded a mere 13 tackles on defense in 16 games and zero starts last season.

The Seahawks look to have a solid secondary with Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs and Shaquill Griffin in the fold, but their plans for Reed are relatively unknown at the moment.

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Mitchell Schwartz confident in Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive line depth

Schwartz thinks that the Kansas City Chiefs can withstand some losses along the offensive line.

The biggest question for the Kansas City Chiefs entering training camp is who will earn the vacant jobs at left and right guard. The team will be without former starters Stefen Wisniewski and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. Wisniewski left in free agency to join the Pittsburgh Steelers and Duvernay-Tardif has opted out for the 2020 season.

As things start to gear up for training camp, right tackle Mitchell Schwartz is feeling very confident in the group of players that Brett Veach has brought in. Whether it’s the rookies or the free agents, Schwartz knows that they’ll all be ready for whatever is thrown their way.

“In terms of new guys, we have guys who have been here and a couple of new guys,” Schwartz said. “That’s something that Coach [Andy] Heck has been extremely good with in terms of moving people around and making sure that throughout training camp and the practice time, he’s cross-training as many people as possible so that when you inevitably do have guys get hurt or something happens, you’re not playing next to someone that you’ve never played with before. Even if it’s drill-to-drill, it doesn’t really matter where you line up, you just kind of get a feel for who is next to you. We’ve got a lot of good players. I think our offensive line is going to be awesome this year. It’s nice to get back into the normal swing of things.” 

While Schwartz says the offensive line won’t really get a feel for things until they get into pads, he’s not worried. They’ll be getting just as many padded practices as they normally would. That means there will be no disadvantages as he gets used to someone new working at right guard. Schwartz does seem to have a preference toward lining up next to one of the veteran players on the team.

“Honestly, with the older guys, I think that the longer they’ve played, the easier it is to mesh them together,” Schwartz said. “Obviously, K.O. [Kelechi Osemele] has had an awesome career and [Mike] Remmers has too. Those are guys who understand how to play with people and next to people. That’s something that I’m not too worried about. [Martinas] Rankin played great last year. I was really excited to see him keep progressing. It was a bummer, my injury kind of made him get hurt as well because he had to move to right tackle. I hope to see him healthy. I don’t know what exactly his status is going to be, but I know that he played really well last year. I’m excited to keep seeing that growth. We’ve seen offensive lineman get injured every year. It could be one, it could be five. They’ve always had really good depth here, and that’s what’s allowed us to keep having success.” 

Left tackle Eric Fisher seemed to have a preference toward playing next to a veteran player too, so that’s certainly something to watch as training camp progresses. But as Schwartz explained, the depth on the offensive line is what will make this group successful. Offensive line coach Andy Heck will likely have guys playing at a number of different spots during camp, not only to find out their best position but so they’re prepared in the event of an injury.

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Chiefs have second-deepest roster in the NFL

Mark Schofield of Touchdown Wire says the Kansas City Chiefs have one of the deepest rosters in the NFL.

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The Kansas City Chiefs boast one of the deepest rosters in the league and their Super Bowl-winning season proved that much. They dealt with attrition at a number of positions throughout the year, including receiver, quarterback, offensive line and defensive line. No matter who was out, including star QB Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs seemed to have a suitable alternative waiting in the wings.

Mark Schofield over at Touchdown Wire took a crack at naming the 11 deepest rosters in the league. Kansas City came in No. 2 on his list behind only the Baltimore Ravens. Here’s a look at what Schofield had to say:

First the good news: they have Patrick Mahomes. Sure, this is a list of depth charts, but that is a very good starting place. They also have weapons all over their offense, and when you look at players such as Mecole Hardman and Sammy Watkins as your third and fourth receivers, that shows the depth you have at that position. They can even trot out Anthony Sherman, one of the game’s best fullbacks. Plus, they drafted Clyde Edwards-Helaire, a perfect fit in their offense, along with Damien Williams and Darwin Thompson.

“They also have depth up front on defense, with players like Mike Pennel, Tanoh Kpassagnon and Khalen Saunders forming a formidable second unit on the defensive line. Depth at linebacker was a question but the addition of Willie Gay Jr., who lit up the Combine with his performance, is a certain boost.

In 2019, the Chiefs played stretches without some of their best players including Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Eric Fisher, Frank Clark and Chris Jones. The fact that they were able to reach and win the Super Bowl in spite of that fact speaks to the depth of the team. A number of players who are still on the team — Mecole Hardman, Tanoh Kpassagnon and Khalen Saunders — they had valuable snaps that will make an impact during the upcoming season.

It’s easy to marvel at the depth of the skill positions for Kansas City in 2020. The only position on offense that is noticeably lacking is the tight end group, but even then we’ve seen some flashes from some of the unknowns behind Travis Kelce. The offensive line depth is as deep as I’ve ever seen it, especially at tackle. Andy Reid has also proven throughout his career that he can scheme his way to victory with a backup quarterback, as he did with Matt Moore in 2019.

On the defensive side of the ball, the one area of concern for depth is the cornerback position. This past season most people felt the same way about the group and they exceeded expectations. This year there’s just a number of unknown commodities. Guys like Antonio Hamilton, L’Jarius Sneed, BoPete Keyes, Lavert Hill, Javaris Davis, Jalen Julius, Hakeem Bailey are all just names on a piece of paper at this point. All of the other position groups seem to have substantial depth, including a number of guys who’ve played in the system for at least a season.

No matter the names they have at the second string, Kansas City does next man up perhaps better than any team in the NFL. It’s a product of coaching and preparedness as much as it is the sheer talent of the individual players. The Chiefs’ backup players are coached as hard and asked to prepare as if they were starting. That mentality alone should give them a big advantage in terms of roster depth.

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Lions agree to terms with WR Geronimo Allison on a 1-year deal

The Detroit Lions announced they have agreed to terms with former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Geronimo Allison on a 1-year deal.

The Detroit Lions announced they have agreed to terms with former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Geronimo Allison.

The Lions did not announce the terms of the deal, but NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that it’s a veteran minimum one-year deal for $910,000 including a $137,500 guaranteed signing bonus.

“Allison spent the last four seasons (2016-19) with the Green Bay Packers after signing with the team as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Illinois in 2016,” the Lions said in a press release. “He has appeared in 46 career games (14 starts) and has logged 89 receptions for 1,045 yards (11.7 avg.) and six touchdowns.”

At 6-3, 202 pounds, Allison operated mainly as a big slot with the Packers in 2019, but he does have the ability to play outside as well. He doesn’t provide much help on special teams, so he will likely have to win a job outright on offense in order to make this roster. Allison gives the Lions a different body type on the interior and has a chance to earn a job as the Lions fourth or fifth wide receiver on the current roster.