Tag: eric banks

Lions work out 4 defenders, sign J.R. Reed to the practice squad

The Lions held tryouts for a few defenders on Tuesday, including two former Detroit players

Tuesday was an off day for practice at the Detroit Lions team facility, but there was still activity in the building. The Lions held a tryout for four defensive players and wound up signing one to the team’s practice squad.

Detroit signed veteran defensive back J.R. Reed to the practice squad after the tryout. Reed, 26, is a safety who played collegiately at Georgia. He’s been in the NFL for the last two-plus seasons, most recently with the Las Vegas Raiders practice squad. Reed played 16 games in 2020-2021, splitting time between the Los Angeles Rams and New York Giants. He played for the Denver Broncos all offseason and preseason.

The other players Detroit auditioned on Tuesday include a couple of ex-Lions, S Brady Breeze and DL Eric Banks, as well as DB Adrian Colbert. Banks and Breeze both played for the Lions in the 2021 season.

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5 Lions players revert to the team’s IR list after going unclaimed on waivers

5 Lions players revert to the team’s IR list after going unclaimed on waivers, including WR Trinity Benson

When the Detroit Lions reduced the roster on Tuesday from 80 down to 53 players, they used a technicality with five players. They were all designated as waived/injured.

Those five players are now back on the Lions roster and payroll, at least temporarily. When they went unclaimed on Wednesday, the quintet reverted to the Lions’ injured reserve list.

DT Eric Banks

WR Trinity Benson

DL Jashon Cornell

OL Kevin Jarvis

S C.J. Moore

All are officially out for the season for Detroit. However, the players could accept an injury settlement with the Lions and play for another team later in the year.

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Lions waive DT Eric Banks from active roster

Banks never played a snap for the Lions after being claimed off waivers following Week 3

The Detroit Lions continue to clean out the bottom of the 53-man active roster. On Thursday, the Lions waived defensive lineman Eric Banks.

Banks never suited up for the Lions after being claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Chargers after Week 3. He had played limited snaps for the Chargers but couldn’t get into the deep DL rotation in Detroit.

The team has yet to make any corollary moves. There are now two open spots on the roster. The Lions placed reserve offensive lineman Logan Stenberg on IR on Monday and also released CB Daryl Worley. Detroit did sign rookie OL Tommy Kraemer to the active roster to replace Stenberg but still hasn’t replaced Worley, or now Banks.

No official tryouts or visits were listed for the Lions on the NFL’s transaction wire on Thursday, which would indicate the team is likely to promote from within. Veteran CB Nickell Robey-Coleman and safety Jalen Elliott are the most likely candidates to get signed to the active roster for the Week 8 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, where Robey-Coleman played in 2020.

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Eric Banks: What the Lions are getting in their new DT

Breaking down new Detroit Lions defensive lineman Eric Banks, claimed off waivers from the Chargers

The Detroit Lions made a move to bolster the defensive line on Friday. The Lions placed a successful waiver claim on defensive tackle Eric Banks, who was waived by the Los Angeles Chargers this week.

What are the Lions getting in Banks?

Banks is in his second NFL season. He started out with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent out of Texas-San Antonio. Banks, all 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds of him, spent most of his rookie campaign on the Rams’ practice squad.

He was with the Rams in the preseason in 2021 and even bagged a great sack in their matchup against the Raiders. Banks was cut in the final roster cutdowns and moved to the other side of SoFi Stadium with the Chargers.

He played in each of the first three games for the Chargers, logging 36 total defensive snaps as a rotational reserve. Banks registered one tackle. The Chargers had a player returning from I.R. and decided to let Banks go.

Banks wins with length and the ability to get himself narrow between the tackles. He’s got very long arms and uses a nice jab to keep his length as an asset. He’s athletic enough that he played as a QB in high school, and his feet and agility reflect it.

There isn’t a lot of lower-body power to Banks game. He doesn’t anchor well in the run game, getting too upright and appearing to try and see over the block to locate the ball. Banks does have some upper-body power and torques his shoulders well, which in combination with his long arms makes him difficult to control if he wins the initial combat.

During his time at UTSA, Banks led the nation in forced fumbles. He uses the length and a relentless effort to extricate the ball very well on sacks but also on run plays where the back tries to scoot past him.

He joins a crowded Lions defensive front that also returned DE Jashon Cornell from suspension this week. Banks projects to play as a DE in Aaron Glenn’s scheme, fluctuating between the 4 and 6 techniques. He is a familiar face for GM Brad Holmes, who led the Rams scouting department when that team signed Banks.

 

Chargers waive DL Eric Banks, open spot on 53-man roster

The Chargers made a roster move on Thursday.

The Chargers waived defensive lineman Eric Banks on Thursday.

Signed before the start of the 2021 season, Banks appeared in three games, in which he recorded one tackle.

The move opened up a spot on the 53-man roster ahead of the Week 4 matchup against the Raiders.

Los Angeles has a couple of options to replace his roster spot, which includes activating cornerback Ryan Smith, who spent the last three weeks on the injured reserve with a foot injury.

Smith returned to practice on Thursday, and the team now has 21 days to either activate him or leave him on the IR for the remainder of the season.

L.A. could also choose to promote one of Breiden Fehoko or Forrest Merrill from the practice squad to the active roster in hopes of aiding a porous run defense that currently ranks last in the NFL.

Chargers’ updated 53-man roster

An updated look at the Chargers’ 53-man roster after a pair of moves made.

The Chargers released their initial 53-man roster on Tuesday.

Not even 24 hours passed and Los Angeles began tinkering with the roster, claiming two players on the waiver, thus releasing a pair in correspondence.

With that being said, here’s an updated look at the Bolts’ 53-man roster:

Offense

Quarterbacks (3): Justin Herbert, Chase Daniel, Easton Stick

Running backs (4): Austin Ekeler, Justin Jackson, Joshua Kelley, Larry Rountree III

Fullbacks (1): Gabe Nabers

Wide receivers (5): Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Jalen Guyton, Josh Palmer, K.J. Hill

Tight ends (4): Jared Cook, Donald Parham, Tre’ McKitty, Stephen Anderson

Offensive linemen (9): Rashawn Slater, Matt Feiler, Corey Linsley, Oday Aboushi, Bryan Bulaga, Trey Pipkins, Brenden Jaimes, Storm Norton, Scott Quessenberry

Defense

Defensive linemen (5): Linval Joseph, Justin Jones, Jerry Tillery, Christian Covington, Eric Banks*

Edge defender (4): Joey Bosa, Uchenna Nwosu, Kyler Fackrell, Chris Rumph II

Linebackers (5): Kenneth Murray, Drue Tranquill, Kyzir White, Nick Niemann, Amen Ogbongbemiga

Defensive backs (10): Michael Davis, Asante Samuel, Jr., Chris Harris, Jr., Tevaughn Campbell, Kemon Hall, Derwin James, Nasir Adderley, Alohi Gilman, Mark Webb, Trey Marshall*

Specialists (3): Tristan Vizcaino, Ty Long, Matt Overton

*** New addition

Chargers sign 12 players to 2021 practice squad

The Los Angeles Chargers announced 12 players that will begin the 2021 season on the practice squad.

The Los Angeles Chargers began announcing members of their practice squad on Wednesday, signing the following players:

WR Michael Bandy

RB Darius Bradwell

LB Cole Christiansen

DB Ben DeLuca

EDGE Emeke Egbule

DL Breiden Fehoko

DL Joe Gaziano

G Ryan Hunter

TE Hunter Kampmoyer

WR Jason Moore Jr

WR Joe Reed

In addition, the team officially announced the signings of defensive tackle Eric Banks and defensive back Trey Marshall. To clear room for them, Los Angeles waived nose tackle Forrest Merrill and cornerback Brandon Facyson.

Head coach Brandon Staley said they hope to get Merrill on the practice squad if he clears waivers.

Teams can have up to 16 players on their practice squad, meaning the Bolts will add four more players in the coming days. Stay tuned for more information.

Chargers claim DL Eric Banks off waivers from Rams

Eric Banks was claimed off waivers by the Chargers, making him the only Rams player to land with another team.

The Los Angeles Rams waived 24 players on Monday and Tuesday, and they all nearly made it through the waiver wire without being claimed. But Brandon Staley wouldn’t let one of his former players get away on Wednesday.

The Chargers claimed Eric Banks off waivers from the Rams, which means he’ll be added to the Chargers’ 53-man roster. He was the only player cut by the Rams to be claimed by another team, which is good news for Los Angeles.

That means the other 23 players will all be eligible for the practice squad as the Rams work to assemble their 16-man group.

The Rams weren’t awarded any waiver claims, though it’s unclear if they submitted a claim for anyone. They can begin signing players to their practice squad on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET.

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Chargers claim pair of players off waivers

The Chargers added a safety and defensive tackle.

The Chargers announced their initial 53-man roster on Tuesday, but that didn’t mean it was set in stone ahead of the 2021 regular season.

Today, Los Angeles added two more players to the squad, claiming safety Trey Marshall and defensive tackle Eric Banks off the waivers.

Marshall, a former undrafted free agent out of Florida State, spent the last three seasons with the Broncos. In that time, he appeared in 30 games with Denver, only two of which he started, while the majority of his playing time came on special teams.

Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Rams last season, Banks didn’t appear in any games. Prior to that, he amassed 81 tackles (52 solo), 20.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, three pass breakups, one fumble recovery and five forced fumbles in 48 games at UTSA.