Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
One week later and 9 Raiders free agents still unemployed
A great many departing Raiders found new homes over the past week. Some were re-signed to the team as well. You can all the team’s additions, retentions, and subtractions right here in our free agency tracker.
But not all of those who were a member of the Raiders a week ago have found a landing spot yet. Specifically these nine.
Raiders waive DE Malik Reed, sign C Hroniss Grasu
Thursday the Raiders made a couple roster moves. They signed center Hroniss Grasu to the active roster and waived defensive end Malik Reed to clear a spot for him.
Both players had been on the Raiders’ practice squad this season. Reed was originally added to the practice squad in late September and was elevated once. He was then signed to the active roster in early November, appearing in four games. He had three combined tackles with no sacks or QB hits.
Grasu spent the offseason with the Raiders and was placed on the practice squad to begin the season. He had been elevated three times, seeing snaps for the first time last week against the Chargers due to the injury to Andre James.
James injured his ankle two weeks ago against the Vikings and has been replaced by Dylan Parham who shifted over from left guard. Grasu’s addition to the roster could signal that James is not close to returning.
LOOK: Sabrina Ionescu, Hroniss Grasu present Ducks with custom gift
The Oregon Ducks football team will be going into the 2023 season with a bit of style, thanks to a pair of notable former Ducks.
On Friday afternoon, it was announced on social media that both New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu and Las Vegas Raiders center Hroniss Grasu were gifting the football team with a set of customized Beats headphones, decked out in green and yellow with the classic Oregon wings on the sides.
Ionescu and Grasu presented the headphones to the team via a video where they encouraged players to “play for each other, and stay locked in” during the season.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CwYTpu_Mbk5/
With the headphones came a note from the engaged couple that reads “You have everything you need to get the job done. Give everything to your preparation and trust each other. Go earn it all.”
Ionescu and Grasu got engaged earlier this year, and are one of the newest Oregon power couples in the world.
The Ducks kick off their 2023 season a week from today with a home-opener against the Portland State Vikings at noon.
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Raiders add former Broncos LS Jacob Bobenmoyer, officially re-sign 5 others
It was a busy Saturday for the Raiders. Machine gun style, they rattled off several official re-signings by the team. They were as follows:
FB Jakob Johnson
T Jermaine Eluemunor
C Hroniss Grasu
DT Jerry Tillery
LB Curtis Bolton
In addition, the team announced the signing of long snapper Jacob Bobonmoyer, who appeared in 46 games the past three seasons in Denver.
Of particular interest among the returning players is tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. Though the journeyman veteran had been hinting at his return of late.
Kolton and I will be the best Tackle Duo not only in the AFC West but the NFL this upcoming season. I’ll show y’all consistency.
— Jermaine Eluemunor (@TheMainShow_) March 17, 2023
Prior to his proclamation that he and Kolton Miller would be “the best Tackle Duo’ in the league this season, he has simply been talking all along like he was going nowhere despite the team letting him reach free agency before making his return official.
The tackle position has been high on many team need lists for the Raiders this offseason, but Eluemunor has seemingly scoffed at the idea, pointing out that he settled in and played pretty well the latter half of last season.
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The two guards who played most of the game for the Raiders Sunday were on the practice squad a week ago.
After several weeks in which the Raiders were getting comfortable with the same lineup along the offensive line, things got shaken up Sunday.
The Raiders were forced to dig deep into the depth chart at both guard spots. The result was two guards who were on the practice squad this time last week playing most of the snaps.
Hroniss Grasu was signed off the practice squad last week. He got the start at right guard in place of the injured Alex Bars and Grasu ended up playing every snap in the game.
Before halftime, left guard Dylan Parham went down with injury and in came Jordan Meredith who was elevated from the practice squad in the days leading up to the game. Meredith ended up playing 41 snaps (60%).
Against a tough Patriots defense, it was clear the changes on the line affected protections, but the Raiders were still able to tie up the game late before the defensive touchdown to win it.
| Offense | Spec Tms | ||||
| Player | Pos | Num | Pct | Num | Pct |
| Kolton Miller | T | 68 | 100% | 4 | 12% |
| Jermaine Eluemunor | T | 68 | 100% | 4 | 12% |
| Hroniss Grasu | G | 68 | 100% | 4 | 12% |
| Andre James | C | 68 | 100% | 3 | 9% |
| Derek Carr | QB | 68 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Davante Adams | WR | 67 | 99% | 0 | 0% |
| Mack Hollins | WR | 60 | 88% | 3 | 9% |
| Josh Jacobs | RB | 51 | 75% | 0 | 0% |
| Jordan Meredith | G | 41 | 60% | 4 | 12% |
| Foster Moreau | TE | 38 | 56% | 8 | 25% |
| Darren Waller | TE | 33 | 49% | 0 | 0% |
| Hunter Renfrow | WR | 29 | 43% | 6 | 19% |
| Dylan Parham | G | 27 | 40% | 1 | 3% |
| Keelan Cole | WR | 16 | 24% | 0 | 0% |
| Ameer Abdullah | RB | 15 | 22% | 21 | 66% |
| Jakob Johnson | FB | 15 | 22% | 13 | 41% |
| Thayer Munford | T | 13 | 19% | 4 | 12% |
| Zamir White | RB | 3 | 4% | 6 | 19% |
| Defense | Spec Tms | ||||
| Player | Pos | Num | Pct | Num | Pct |
| Nate Hobbs | CB | 65 | 100% | 5 | 16% |
| Duron Harmon | SS | 65 | 100% | 4 | 12% |
| Denzel Perryman | LB | 65 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Trevon Moehrig | FS | 65 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Maxx Crosby | DE | 64 | 98% | 6 | 19% |
| Chandler Jones | DE | 60 | 92% | 0 | 0% |
| Bilal Nichols | DT | 54 | 83% | 6 | 19% |
| Amik Robertson | CB | 54 | 83% | 0 | 0% |
| Luke Masterson | LB | 44 | 68% | 17 | 53% |
| Tyler Hall | CB | 43 | 66% | 0 | 0% |
| Roderic Teamer | SS | 30 | 46% | 15 | 47% |
| Jerry Tillery | DT | 30 | 46% | 4 | 12% |
| Kyle Peko | DT | 22 | 34% | 8 | 25% |
| Clelin Ferrell | DE | 18 | 28% | 6 | 19% |
| Isaiah Pola-Mao | FS | 12 | 18% | 22 | 69% |
| Matthew Butler | DT | 11 | 17% | 0 | 0% |
| Sidney Jones | CB | 11 | 17% | 0 | 0% |
| Malcolm Koonce | DE | 1 | 2% | 21 | 66% |
| Special Teams | Spec Tms | ||||
| Player | Pos | Num | Pct | Num | Pct |
| Matthias Farley | FS | 0 | 0% | 28 | 88% |
| Brandon Bolden | RB | 0 | 0% | 24 | 75% |
| Curtis Bolton | LB | 0 | 0% | 22 | 69% |
| Jesper Horsted | TE | 0 | 0% | 18 | 56% |
| Darien Butler | LB | 0 | 0% | 17 | 53% |
| Brittain Brown | RB | 0 | 0% | 11 | 34% |
| AJ Cole III | P | 0 | 0% | 11 | 34% |
| Trent Sieg | LS | 0 | 0% | 11 | 34% |
| Daniel Carlson | K | 0 | 0% | 9 | 28% |
| Sam Webb | CB | 0 | 0% | 6 | 19% |
Raiders making moves at guard this week including signing Netane Muti off Broncos practice squad and cutting John Simpson
For the past couple months, the Raiders had been set on the offensive line. This after starting the season without the same starting five for the first month. But Sunday, the injury to Alex Bars has caused them to make several moves at the position.
The first move was cutting John Simpson.
It may seem odd that the first move upon losing your starter is to cut your backup, but when Simpson came in for Bars, he proved not up to the task. When presented with going with Simpson moving forward and whatever is behind door number two, they went with door number two.
The corresponding move with Simpson out was to sign Hroniss Grasu off the practice squad. But Grasu is a backup center/guard. Dylan Parham can also step in as the backup center, but it wouldn’t be ideal should Andre James go down to move Parham from the left guard spot he’s held down much of the season. That would mean two spots change, instead of just one.
So, today the team has signed Netane Muti off the Broncos practice squad.
Last night Netane Muti was with #Broncos teammates at Kareem Jackson’s event. Today he’s on a plane to Las Vegas to sign with Raiders.
— Cody Roark (@CodyRoarkNFL) December 13, 2022
Muti was a sixth round pick by the Broncos in the 2020 draft out of Fresno State. He has appeared in 20 games with the team in three seasons, starting four games. He was elevated last week for the Broncos and played 28 snaps.
So, there will be a couple new faces on the Raiders sideline Sunday in Grasu and Muti. And it’s even possible Muti could be stepping right into a starting role.
The Raiders currently have one guard on the practice squad. It’s Jordan Meredith who was with the team throughout the offseason and training camp. He is an option as well.
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The 49ers on Wednesday removed Arik Armstead and Hroniss Grasu from the COVID-19 list, leaving 7 players on the list for San Francisco.
The 49ers on Wednesday announced the removal of defensive lineman Arik Armstead and offensive lineman Hroniss Grasu from the Reserve/COVID-19 list.
They were among the first players to go on the list during the Bye week. San Francisco during their week off placed nine players on the COVID-19 list. Armstead went on the list Nov. 16, and Grasu went on with linebacker Joe Walker on Nov. 19. Walker remains on the list.
Armstead and Grasu will now be able to suit up for Sunday’s game vs. the Rams in Los Angeles. The players who don’t make it off the list in time won’t be eligible to play.
The 49ers still have seven players on the list, including Walker, defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, defensive tackle DJ Jones, left tackle Trent Williams, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, defensive end Jordan Willis and tight end Daniel Helm.
The 49ers announced their four protected practice squad players thanks to new COVID-19 practice squad rules.
The 49ers on Tuesday announced their first four “protected” practice squad players of the year. Offensive lineman Hroniss Grasu, wide receiver Kevin White, defensive end Dion Jordan and cornerback Dontae Johnson.
Under the new practice squad rules designed to mitigate some of the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, teams are allowed to “protect” up to four players from their 16-man practice squad roster each week.
Those “protected” players aren’t able to be poached off a team’s practice squad. If a “protected” player is not elevated to the active roster, he can sign an NFL contract with any club either after his team’s game or at 12:01am Eastern Time the next day – whichever comes later. If that player does get elevated to the active roster, he reverts back to the practice squad and can sign an NFL contract with any team beginning at 4:01pm Eastern Time on the first business day after his team’s game. Other clubs aren’t allowed to contact protected players until after his team’s game. “Protected” designations go into effect Tuesday at 4:00pm Eastern Time, except for the teams that played on Monday Night Football. Their designations go into effect at 4:00pm Eastern Time Wednesday.
For San Francisco the selections all make sense given their injury issues at some positions. Grasu can fill in at center if Ben Garland is unavailable after dealing with an ankle injury since training camp. White, Jordan and Johnson are all depth options at three positions where the 49ers are banged up.
At receiver they could be without both Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk the first week. At defensive end they only have three true edge rushers with Dee Ford, Nick Bosa and Kerry Hyder. Having Jordan gives them a little wiggle room in the event a player becomes unavailable between Tuesday and Sunday. Johnson knows San Francisco’s defense well and holds a similar role to Jordan where he gives some insurance in case something goes awry during the week of practice.
The 49ers are set to add more interior OL depth with Hroniss Grasu.
The 49ers have had a difficult time with their interior offensive line this offseason. Injuries, opt outs and a retirement have forced San Francisco to add yet another interior lineman. They’re going to sign former Raven Hroniss Grasu according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.
Grasu was a third-round pick of the Chicago Bears in 2015 out of the University of Oregon. He started all eight games he played during his rookie campaign, but tore his ACL in training camp going into his second year and missed the entire season. He came back in his third year and started four of his six contests.
The Ravens signed Grasu in 2018, and he spent parts of the next two seasons in Baltimore where he started one game in his first season there. He was released and bounced to the Dolphins and Titans before landing back with Baltimore for one game.
San Francisco could use some additional depth inside. Starting center Weston Richburg is out with a knee injury, and his replacement Ben Garland is working through an ankle ailment. Jake Brendel was a reserve on the interior but opted out of the 2020 season. Spencer Long was signed after that, but he retired just four days after officially joining the 49ers.
Grasu is a long shot to make the roster, but there’s enough turnover inside that he’ll get a real opportunity to earn a spot with some additional reps in camp.
Let’s take a look at Bears GM Ryan Pace’s five worst draft picks, which includes three failed first-round selections.
With the 2020 NFL Draft upon us, Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace will be bringing in a new crop of talent that he hopes will have a positive impact on this roster moving forward.
When you examine Pace’s draft history, it’s filled with some studs and some duds. Unfortunately, here, we’re going to be looking at the busts that Pace has drafted in his five years as Bears GM.
Let’s take a look at Pace’s five worst draft picks, which includes three failed first-round selections.
When the Bears drafted Hroniss Grasu, they were hoping that he’d become an anchor of their offense line for the future. That wasn’t the case for Grasu, who struggled
Due to injury on Chicago’s offensive line, Grasu started eight games in his rookie season, where he struggled against some of the competition. He was primed to compete for the starting center position before suffering a season-ending knee injury in training camp. While Grasu had lost his starting role to rookie center Cody Whitehair and left guard Josh Sitton, he got another chance once again due to injuries on the offensive line. In 2017, Grasu appeared in six games — including four starts — before being let go ahead of the 2018 season.
As is the case for two other players on this list, injuries were a factor in Grasu’s downfall. That, and the fact that his uninspiring play didn’t exactly warrant a second contract.
