Tag: dravon askew-henry

4 ex-Giants selected in the 2024 UFL super draft

The newly-created UFL held their 2024 super draft on Monday and four former members of the New York Giants were among those selected.

Following the merger of five XFL teams and three USFL teams to form the United Football League (UFL), a dispersal draft was held in early January.

During Phase 1 and Phase 2, players from the remaining teams who were not a part of the official merger were pooled together and an allocation process began.

All remaining USFL and XFL players, as well as free agents who recently signed with the league, were made available again on Monday as part of the first-ever UFL super draft.

Phase 3 saw four former members of the New York Giants selected.

Texans bring in CB Brandon Williams for a visit, other workouts

The Houston Texans brought in CB Brandon Williams for a visit and DB Dravon Askew-Henry and OT Jalen Williams for a workout.

The Houston Texans continue their roster evaluation with three games to go in the regular season.

On Friday, the Texans had former Texas A&M cornerback Brandon Williams in for a visit. The former Arizona Cardinals 2016 third-round pick recently played six games with the New York Giants this season, recording one tackle on defense, as he was primarily on special teams. Williams played for the Cardinals from 2016-19, collecting 38 combined tackles and five pass breakups in 45 games, three of which he started.

Houston also brought in safety Dravon Askew-Henry, a former 2019 undrafted free agent from West Virginia, for a workout. Askew-Henry spent the 2019 offseason and preseason with the Pittsburgh Steelers before being cut at the end of preseason. During the regular season, he spent time on the Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots practice squads. He played for the XFL’s New York Guardians, and was signed by the New York Giants in the offseason. The 6-0, 203-pounder was cut at the end of training camp.

The Texans also worked out former Cleveland State tackle Jalen Williams.

Giants roster outlook: Upgrades, downgrades or lateral moves on defense

Giants Wire examines the New York Giants defense and the changes made this offseason, offering a verdict on each unit.

The New York Giants went into the offseason knowing they had to make some changes on their 25th ranked defense.

General manager Dave Gettleman used his free agent money and seven of his 10 draft picks in an attempt to revamp and revive a group that simply allowed way too many easy scores to opponents in 2019.

Here is a quick rundown on each unit as training camp begins

Al Bello/Getty Images

Defensive line

Gained: Austin Johnson

Lost: Olsen Pierre

The Giants’ big move was made last October when they traded two draft choices to the Jets for Leonard Williams, an impending free agent. They could not come to an agreement this offseason, so they applied the franchise tag to retain Williams at a price of $16.1 million. He’ll be a starter along with Dalvin Tomlinson and Dexter Lawrence. B.J. Hill, R.J McIntosh and Chris Slayton are returning as well. Johnson will provide some veteran depth.

Verdict: Slight upgrade

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Giants training camp preview: What to expect in the secondary

The New York Giants have a lot of young talent, but also quite a few question marks in their secondary entering training camp.

New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman has made major changes to the team’s roster (like it or not) since his arrival at the end of the 2017 season. Every unit — every position — has undergone some type of reconstruction, but no unit has experienced a greater overhaul than the secondary.

Gettleman has used both free agency and the draft to reform a unit that has been one of the NFL’s most yielding and forgiving the past several seasons.

Here’s a quick look at what to expect this summer at training camp.

Naomi Baker/Getty Images

Cornerback

Gettleman reached into free agency and grabbed “young veteran” James Bradberry, a player he drafted during his days as GM in Carolina, signing him to a three-year, $43.5 million deal. He will be a starter on the outside. The 26-year-old Bradberry is considered one of the best all-around corners in the NFL.

Who will start across from Bradberry? Good question. It was thought to be DeAndre Baker, who the Giants have their fingers crossed could mature into a solid cover corner after a rough rookie season. But he’s still dealing with his legal problems in Florida. Even if that situation pans out, you can’t unring a bell. Baker could still be suspended and the Giants could see him as expendable.

Baker is still going to have to compete with a fairly large field of contenders for the job this summer as it is. Sam Beal, Corey Ballentine, Darnay Holmes, Chris Williamson and veteran Montre Hartage are all aiming for playing time and will give Baker a good run for his money.

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2020 NFL Free Agency: A look at the Giants’ newest contracts

With NFL free agency all but over, here’s a quick breakdown of each new contract the New York Giants handed out.

The New York Giants have done substantial work to their roster this offseason, including the big additions of cornerback James Bradberry and linebacker Blake Martinez.

Initially, there was some confusion over the new contracts and how bonuses were structured, but the vast majority of that has been cleaned up thanks to The Athletic.

Here’s a quick breakdown of each new contract:

Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Linebacker, David Mayo

Deal: Three years, $8.4 million with $3.5 million guaranteed. $2 million roster bonus in 2020. $50,000 workout bonuses all three years.

Base salary (cap hits):

  • 2020 – $1.5 million ($3.55 million)
  • 2021 – $2.25 million ($2.3 million)
  • 2022 – $2.5 million ($2.55 million)
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Dravon Askew-Henry will use lessons learned on ‘Revis Island’ to benefit Giants

New York Giants DB Dravon Askew-Henry is determined to capitalize on his latest opportunity using lessons learned on “Revis Island.”

They may only be distant cousins by marriage, but Dravon Askew-Henry and Darrelle Revis consider each other family. And that is exactly why Revis opened his home to Askew-Henry for four months ahead of the 2019 NFL Combine.

“We’d just sit on the beach for hours talking football,” Askew-Henry told NJ Advance Media. “Out of nowhere, he’d say, ‘Let’s go run,’ or ‘Let’s go watch this game, I want you to tell me what you think of this player right here and how he moves.’ It was all mental and he was helping to take my game to the next level. Darrelle’s mentality is similar to Kobe [Bryant] in a way. How he approached the game. I really want to copy that from him. That’s the majority of the battle. That mentality is something I’ll take with me forever.

“He had ‘Revis Island.’ Hopefully, if this continues, we can get an ‘Askew-Henry Island.'”

There was certainly an ‘Askew-Henry Island’ during his brief stint with the New York Guardians of the XFL, but will that translate to the NFL?

Jamar Summers, a Guardians teammate and roommate of Askew-Henry certainly thinks so.

“[The Giants] are getting a versatile football player who is always going to compete,” Summers said. “He’s always going to look for something to improve, someone he can latch onto to help him improve mentally, physically, and he always puts a smile on your face because you know he’s going to give his all every single rep and have fun doing it.”

Meanwhile, the level-headed Askew-Henry is determined to focus on one workout at a time, never taking the opportunity he has ahead of him for granted — something that will certainly benefit the Giants.

“Waking up with a chip on my shoulder, being thankful for where I was [with the XFL] but knowing it was not where I wanted to be, made me humble every day,” Askew-Henry said. “I wanted to go in and dominate anyone I came across. I know going into this [with the Giants], I’m not going to take anything for granted, not one workout, not one rep in practice, not one game.

“I’m just going to control what I can control. I can come in and play safety, nickel or corner, and I feel like I’ll be a very valuable piece to them.”

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Report: Giants expected to sign XFL DB Dravon Askew-Henry

The New York Giants are expected to sign DB Dravon Askew-Henry, who last played for the XFL’s New York Guardians.

The New York Giants dipped their line into the XFL waters on Tuesday and reeled in defensive back Dravon Askew-Henry, who had been playing for the New York Guardians under Kevin Gilbride before the league was forced to end its season due to COVID-19.

Prior to joining the Guardians, Askew-Henry signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted rookie free agent out of West Virginia in 2018. He later spent a brief amount of time with the New England Patriots before signing a reserve/futures contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers released Askew-Henry as a part of final cuts in August of 2019. He did not sign with another NFL club and has not appeared in an NFL regular season game.

In five games with the Guardians, Askew-Henry recorded 11 tackles and was tied for third in the XFL with six passes defensed (five of those coming in the team’s final game against the Dallas Renegades).

The 6-foot, 202-pound Askew-Henry will compete for the Giants’ nickel job, which has been most recently manned by Grant Haley.

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Watch: Guardians’ Dravon Askew-Henry throws penalty flag at official

The New York Guardians’ Dravon Askew-Henry was flagged twice on one play, once for throwing the marker at the official.

The New York Guardians have had trouble keeping their composure this XFL season. First, quarterback Matt McGloin threw a vintage fit on the sidelines in Week 2. In Week 3, center Ian Silberman got into it with an opponent, was flagged and benched. And Saturday, against the LA Wildcats, DB Dravon Askew-Henry was flagged twice after throwing the flag at an official.

Askew-Henry was called for holding on the pass pattern. The official threw the penalty flag and it wound up being caught by Askew-Henry, who was none to happy about the call. The West Virginia product took the flag and winged it back at the official who threw it his way first. The official didn’t have a flag to throw so he gestured to a fellow official to throw his, which the other official did.

The result was a five-yard holding penalty and a 15-yard unsportsmanklike conduct call.

That was an XFL first as was having a game between teams that each have female presidents.