Tag: Isaiah McKenzie

Former Georgia WR signs with the Miami Dolphins

Former Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver, who most recently played for the New York Giants, finds a new NFL home

Former Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie signed with the Miami Dolphins’ practice squad. McKenzie began the 2024 NFL season with the New York Giants before the Giants waived him after reaching an injury settlement.

McKenzie, who is healthier now, is in his eighth season in the NFL. McKenzie was a fifth-round pick in the 2017 NFL draft and played with the Indianapolis Colts a year ago.

In 2023, the former Georgia standout recorded 11 catches for 82 receiving yards and three carries for 14 rushing yards with Indianapolis. McKenzie has also played for the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos in his NFL career.

The Dolphins are signing McKenzie to provide depth at wide receiver and as a return specialist. McKenzie finished the 2023 season with 23 punt returns for 204 yards and six kickoff returns for 152 return yards. McKenzie has one career NFL punt return touchdown.

Miami lost wide receiver Grant DuBose for the season last week. Dolphins wide receivers Jaylen Waddle and Dee Eskridge are both also dealing with injuries.

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Isaiah McKenzie had a career-best 42 catches for 423 yards and four touchdowns with Buffalo in 2022.

Dolphins bring back veteran QB on practice squad along with WR

The Dolphins added two players to the practice squad Tuesday, including a familiar face.

Skylar Thompson’s time with the Miami Dolphins isn’t over. The team signed the third-year quarterback to the practice squad Tuesday and added veteran wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie, as well.

The Dolphins began the year with Thompson as the their primary backup for Tua Tagovailoa and were forced to start the 2022 seventh-round pick after Tagovailoa suffered a concussion in Week 2. But Thompson’s time in the starting lineup was brief, as he suffered a rib injury during a rough Week 3 performance against the Seattle Seahawks.

In his absence, the team turned to Tyler Huntley who has since supplanted Thompson as Tagovailoa’s backup.

McKenzie, 29, began his career with the Denver Broncos, before later spending four and a half seasons with the Buffalo Bills. Most recently, he spent 2023 with the Indianapolis Colts and the 2024 offseason with the New York Giants.

In 93 career games, McKenzie has 152 receptions for 1,427 yards and 11 touchdowns along with four rushing touchdowns and one punt return touchdown.

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Bills sign ex-Broncos wide receiver to practice squad

The Bills signed ex-Broncos wide receiver Jalen Virgil to their practice squad.

The Buffalo Bills have signed wide receiver Jalen Virgil to their practice squad, the team announced on Tuesday afternoon.

Virgil (6-0, 210 pounds) entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Appalachian State with the Denver Broncos in 2022. He dressed for nine games as a rookie, hauling in two receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown. Virgil then missed the 2023 season with a knee injury.

Virgil competed in a crowded wide receiver room this summer and was ultimately cut when the Broncos set their 53-man roster in August. He then joined Buffalo’s practice squad. Virgil was promoted to the Bills’ active roster on Nov. 8 and he appeared in six games before being cut on Dec. 14. He now returns to Buffalo on the team’s practice squad.

Elsewhere on the ex-Bronco front, offensive lineman Zack Johnson worked out for the San Francisco 49ers this week and receiver/returner Isaiah McKenzie signed to the Miami Dolphins’ practice squad.

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Giants place WR Isaiah McKenzie, LB Matthew Adams on IR

The New York Giants have placed WR Isaiah McKenzie on season-ending IR and LB Matthew Adams on IR with a designation to return.

The New York Giants cut their roster down to 53 players on Tuesday waiving 14 players — 11 outright and three with injury designations. They also terminated the contracts of nine vested veterans.

They placed two players on injured reserve (IR) — wide receiver/returner Isaiah McKenzie (foot) and linebacker Matt Adams (quad).

The move ends McKenzie’s season but Adams was designated to return.

More moves are expected on Wednesday after the waiver deadline expires at noon EDT. The Giants have the No. 6 priority on all waiver claims.

“The roster’s fluid,” Daboll said. “There’s a lot of things that are still being discussed right now. But this is the original, if you will, 53 (man roster).”

Daboll said the Giants could be in the market for another returner with McKenzie gone and Gunner Olszewski still dealing with a groin injury but refused to get into specifics.

“There could be more changes,” Daboll added. “There could not be. That’s why these next few days are going to be important. But as of right now, this is the original guys we kept, but that’s not to say there won’t be changes. Additions, subtractions, injuries, all those types of things.”

General manager Joe Schoen is not one to sit on his hands, especially with such a high-priority spot on the waiver wire. They will also be seeking to compile their 16-man practice squad over the next few days.

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Report: Giants are searching for return men as injuries mount

The New York Giants are reportedly on the hunt for return men with Gunner Olszewski (groin) and Isaiah McKenzie (foot, knee) injured.

The New York Giants promise to be active on the waiver wire following final cuts at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, and they are likely to hone in on a specific position group.

Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News reports that general manager Joe Schoen & Co. will be searching for return men — specifically, a punt returner — with Gunner Olszewski (groin) and Isaiah McKenzie (foot, knee) injured.

Leonard lists wide receiver Samori Toure (Packers), cornerback Brandon Codrington (Jets), and Easop Winston Jr. (Seahawks) as potential targets should they get cut by their respective teams.

Wide receiver Kadarius Toney is likely to be cut by the Kansas City Chiefs, but we suspect the Giants won’t be interested in a reunion.

In addition to return men, the Giants may also be in the market for secondary help, and possibly another defensive lineman or edge rusher.

One thing is for certain, with the sixth overall waiver wire priority, Schoen and the Giants will be very active leading up to 4:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday when the practice squad can be established.

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Giants’ Gunner Olszewski ‘will be out for a little while’

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll says return man Gunner Olszewski suffered an injury in practice this week and will be out a while.

The New York Giants suffered a multitude of injuries earlier this week in practice and then a load more during Saturday’s 28-10 loss to the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium.

The overwhelming number of injuries forced the Giants to overhaul the backend of their roster in recent days and that trend shows no signs of slowing down.

Even before taking the field on Saturday, the Giants added a new injury to the growing list: wide receiver Gunner Olszewski.

Following Saturday’s defeat, head coach Brian Daboll revealed that Olszewski sat out due to a groin injury suffered in practice, admitting that the return man is likely to miss some time.

“Gunner had an injury (during) Friday practice,” Daboll told reporters. “Gunner will be out for a little while.”

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that Olszewski could miss up to a month.

Olszewski is fighting for a roster spot at a suddenly loaded position. His primary competition, wide receiver and return specialist Isaiah McKenzie, is healthy and close to Daboll both on and off the field.

During Saturday’s game, McKenzie returned three kickoffs for 83 yards (27.7 average) and one punt for 12 yards. He now appears to have the inside track over the injured Olszewski.

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Giants’ Josh Ezeudu carted off, 3 others injured during Friday’s practice

It was a rough Friday in East Rutherford as New York Giants OL Josh Ezeudu was carted off, three others were injured and two more got sick.

It was a scorcher on Friday in East Rutherford with the heat index soaring above 100, but that didn’t stop the New York Giants, who adorned full pads for the third time this summer.

That combination yielded unfortunate results as offensive lineman Joshua Ezeudu was carted off the field toward the end of practice.

Ezeudu was seen limping before the cart came out to pick him up but given the heat and dew point, it’s possible he was just cramping up.

The heat also got to center Austin Schlottmann, who briefly left the field while vomiting, as well as wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton. It was that kind of day.

Meanwhile, three other Giants also went down with injuries, including tight end Jack Stoll, who appeared to suffer a knee injury. He was joined on the sideline by defensive tackle D.J. Davidson, both of whom were attended to by trainers and Ronnie Barnes.

Finally, wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie also suffered an injury to his lower back or ribs after getting hit by Dyontae Johnson near the sideline.

McKenzie eventually got up and walked off the field but he was clearly in a significant amount of pain.

The Giants did not offer immediate updates on any of the players.

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Predicting the fate of every Colts’ pending free agent in 2024

Predicting which Colts’ free agents stay and go in 2024.

The Indianapolis Colts are just over a week away from the start of free agency, and there are some big decisions to make when it comes to the players set to hit the market.

Expected to have roughly 14 unrestricted free agents set to hit the market this offseason, the Colts won’t be able to bring all of them back. In fact, it’s likely that most of them find a new home in 2024.

The team’s current standing with the salary cap is among the strongest the NFL.

We took a look at the players the Colts should let walk into free agency and the players who should be re-signed this offseason.

Now, it’s time to predict the fate of every pending free agent for the Colts in 2024.

Grading the Colts’ 2023 free agent signings one year later

One year later, grading the Colts’ 2023 free agent signings.

With the benefit of hindsight, we now have a full season’s worth of information to judge the signings the Indianapolis Colts made during the 2023 offseason.

Some of them panned out better than expected. Others not so much.

Simply looking at the outside free agents brought onto the roster last offseason, we’re here to re-grade the signings the Colts made one year later. So we won’t be discussing the re-signings of players like Tyquan Lewis and E.J. Speed, both of which turned out exceptionally.

For reference, we’ll compare the initial grade we gave at the moment to how we currently feel about the signing.

Without further ado, here are our grades for the Colts’ free-agent class of 2023 one year later:

Ranking Colts’ pending free agents by importance

Ranking the Colts’ most important pending free agents.

The Indianapolis Colts have 14 players set to be unrestricted free agents this offseason with a number of players from that list who were major contributors for the team in 2023.

The Colts, despite having the fifth most cap space in the NFL (roughly $58.9 million) according to Over The Cap, will have to make some potentially tough decisions in regard to how they allocate those funds this offseason

Here, we are ranking these 14 players by their importance to retain for general manager Chris Ballard and Indianapolis in 2024.