Tag: JaQuan Hardy

Saints host several free agent running backs on Tuesday

The Saints hosted several free agent running backs on Tuesday after parting ways with practice squad runner Jake Funk, in light of an injury to Mark Ingram II:

We can’t say the the New Orleans Saints aren’t looking for help. The team hosted several free agent running backs for a group tryout on Tuesday after parting ways with practice squad runner Jake Funk, and in light of an injury to Mark Ingram II — Jordan Howard was called up from the practice squad to back up Alvin Kamara and Dwayne Washington in Monday night’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens, but they could use more depth at the position. At least they’re trying after choosing to stand pat at the trade deadline last week.

Predicting the Broncos’ 5 upcoming roster cuts

The Broncos have to make five roster cuts by Tuesday afternoon.

After completing the first week of preseason, the Denver Broncos now have to make five roster cuts before 2:00 p.m. MT on Tuesday to get down to an 85-man roster. Here’s our quick prediction on five players who might be on the bubble ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.

1. DB J.R. Reed: Denver is loaded with depth at safety and Reed might be the odd man out. Jamar Johnson is also unlikely to make the 53-man roster, but Johnson might be cut later in the process as a potential practice squad candidate.

2. LB Kana’i Mauga: The Broncos are thin at linebacker, but that doesn’t necessarily help Mauga’s case. Denver will probably sign a free agent to help replace the injured Jonas Griffith, and that will bump Mauga even farther down the depth chart.

3. RB Stevie Scott: The Broncos will likely play starters in Week 2 of preseason, so (health permitting), Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams will likely be available this week. Add in Mike Boone and Max Borghi and there might not been room left in the backfield for Scott. JaQuan Hardy is likely a cut candidate as well.

4. TE Dylan Parham: If Greg Dulcich is able to return from his hamstring injury this week, Parham might be the odd man out at tight end.

5. OL Sebastian Gutierrez: Denver has to start cutting some offensive linemen at some point, and Gutierrez is near the bottom of the depth chart.

The Broncos will make five more roster cuts next week before the final cut down to a 53-man roster following their third preseason game.

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Broncos add two running backs to roster

With Melvin Gordon (foot) sidelined and Tyreik McAllister (foot) waived/injured, the Broncos brought in RBs JaQuan Hardy and Stevie Scott III.

The Denver Broncos have added two running backs to the 90-man offseason roster, the team announced Wednesday.

Denver brought in JaQuan Hardy and Stevie Scott III to add more depth at the position with Melvin Gordon injured.

“We’re just taking care of his foot, and we’re making sure he’s good,” coach Nathaniel Hackett said of Gordon on Wednesday. “He’s another one of those older guys. We want to make sure he’s primed and ready for the season.”

Hardy (5-8, 211 pounds) entered the league as a college free agent out of Tiffin University with the Dallas Cowboys last year. He spent most of the 2021 season on the Cowboys’ practice squad, but he did appear in three games, rushing four times for 29 yards.

Scott (6-2, 231 pounds) is considered a first-year player, but he spent time with the New Orleans Saints and Broncos last summer. After joining the Saints as an undrafted free agent out of Indiana, Scott was later cut and signed with Denver during preseason but was cut just one week later. He now returns to the Broncos hoping for a longer tenure this time.

To make room for Hardy and Scott on the roster, Denver waived/injured running back Tyreik McAllister (foot) and placed outside linebacker Christopher Allen (foot) on injured reserve.

Gordon seems unlikely to play in the team’s first preseason game on Saturday, and if Javonte Williams plays, he would likely only have a brief appearance.

With Gordon sidelined, Williams unlikely to play (at least not much) and McAllister out for the year, the Broncos’ remaining running backs set to face the Cowboys are Mike Boone, Max Borghi, Hardy and Scott.

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Former Cowboys RB JaQuan Hardy signs with Broncos on eve of teams’ meeting

The Tiffin product (and Ezekiel Elliott’s cousin) played sparingly for Dallas in ’21; he joins the Broncos as his former club comes to town. | From @ToddBrock24f7

As the Cowboys prepare to hit the Mile High City for a joint practice and then their first preseason contest against the Broncos, it seems there will be another familiar face on the Denver sideline.

The Broncos signed former Cowboys running back JaQuan Hardy on Wednesday, according to Pro Football Network’s Aaron Wilson, who cited a league source.

The Cowboys signed Hardy as an undrafted free agent following the 2021 draft. The bespectacled Tiffin University product showed promise in training camp last year, was featured prominently on HBO’s Hard Knocks series, and even learned that he was related to the team’s primary rusher, Ezekiel Elliott.

Hardy spent much of the year on the practice squad and got into just a handful of games during the 2021 season. His most notable performance came in the season finale, when he scored his first touchdown and became the 22nd man on the Cowboys roster to find the end zone, setting a new league record.

Hardy signed a reserve/futures contract with Dallas in January yet was waived by the team in July, shortly before camp.

The 5-foot-10-inch rusher reportedly drew some degree of interest from Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Pittsburgh after his release, but he ultimately signed with Denver.

The Cowboys found themselves with a skeleton crew at running back last week, as Rico Dowdle and Aaron Shampklin tested positive for COVID and were forced to quarantine. With Ryan Nall also nursing a shoulder injury, the club turned to wideouts Dontario Drummond and KaVontae Turpin to tote the rock in several drills.

Elliott has said he will not play in preseason games; Tony Pollard is also expected to see a lot of work during the season and should therefore be limited in exhibition action.

Hardy is not the only ex-Cowboy now suiting up in the orange and blue. Defensive end Randy Gregory left Dallas in a high-profile move to sign with the Broncos this spring, but he will not play in Saturday’s contest as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery.

Hardy practiced with the Broncos on Wednesday morning, but it’s not known if he’ll be ready to see any action against his former Cowboys teammates this weekend.

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7 players tried out for Broncos on Wednesday

The Broncos brought in three running backs, three wide receivers and one quarterback for tryouts on Wednesday.

Story update: The Broncos signed wide receiver Darrius Shepherd on Thursday, the team announced. The 90-man offseason roster is now full. See our original post below.

Looking to fill two open roster spots following the injuries suffered by wide receiver Tim Patrick and running back Damarea Crockett, the Denver Broncos brought in seven players for tryouts on Wednesday.

The Broncos brought in three running backs: Max Borghi, Jaquan Hardy and Jaylen Samuels. Hardy is a second-year player who spent time with the Dallas Cowboys last year. Samuels is a fourth-year back who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2018-2021. Borghi is a college free agent out of Washington State.

Borghi won the RB tryout and signed with the team Wednesday. That leaves Denver with one open spot on the 90-man offseason roster.

The Broncos also brought in three wide receivers: Jonathan Adams, Kekoa Crawford and Darrius Shepherd. At the time of this writing, none of the receivers have signed. Shepherd has spent time with six NFL teams since entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2019.

Finally, Denver also tried out a quarterback: K.J. Costello, who went to training camp with the Los Angeles Chargers as a rookie last summer and spent time with the Philadelphia Stars in the USFL this spring.

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WATCH: Dallas breaks NFL season record with 22 TD scorers

The Cowboys have broke the NFL record for TD scorers with 22 and Jaquan Hardy capped it off with a fitting 22-yard scoring scamper. | From @CDBurnett7

50-burgers are already sweet but record-breaking ones are better. Running back Jaquan Hardy has joined the show with a 22-yard score to break the NFL record with 22 touchdown scorers for Dallas after Ito Smith tied the record on the previous drive.

The Cowboys have now broken a few big records on the night and the most recent was thanks to an interception from the takeaway-leading defense, this time it was linebacker Leighton Vander-Esch.

The interception is Vander-Esch first of the season and his last was during his 2018 rookie campaign. For a second-straight divisional game, Dallas has hung 50 on their opponent and it’s the perfect storm heading into the playoffs in a week.

Cowboys place S Malik Hooker, RB JaQuan Hardy on Reserve/COVID list

Hooker had a brilliant game on Sunday, picking off a pass; the first-year RB saw action in the past 2 games, mostly on special teams. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys continue to cycle players (and coaches) onto the Reserve/COVID list.

First, rookie running back JaQuan Hardy tested positive for the virus, as announced by the team Thursday morning. He entered health protocols, joining defensive line coach Aden Durde, special teams assistant Matt Daniels, and defensive tackle Trysten Hill.

Then team writer David Helman tweeted in the early afternoon that safety Malik Hooker has also been placed on the watchlist; he tested positive for the virus as well.

 

Hooker, a five-year veteran in his first season with the Cowboys, notched his first interception of 2021 on Sunday against the Giants. He has 25 solo tackles, having missed just the season opener in Tampa. The Ohio State product had been rehabbing a torn Achilles suffered in early 2020 while still a member of the Indianapolis Colts.

“I feel great right now: physically, mentally, emotionally. Ain’t nothing else I can really complain about,” Hooker said on Wednesday. “For me, it’s about just keep stacking the days and keep finding little ways, whether it’s 1% or 10% better each day.”

Hardy had seen action in the team’s past two games, mostly on special teams. He did record his first NFL carry, though, against Washington in Week 14, gaining three yards. He had been elevated from the practice squad upon news that Tony Pollard was dealing with a foot injury.

During a Thursday morning press conference, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy misidentified the team’s latest addition to the COVID list, erroneously stating that rookie wide receiver Simi Fehoko had entered the protocol.

Fehoko did not test positive for the virus.

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RB Rico Dowdle lands on IR, ending season, here’s who Cowboys may turn to

The Dallas Cowboys lost their second running back for the year when they placed Rico Dowdle on injured reserve. Who might step into the void? | From @StarConscience

The Dallas Cowboys have one of the best running back tandems in the NFL. Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard form an explosive and productive duo and  were responsible for almost all the touches from the position in 2020.

Only one other RB got carry last season, rookie runner Rico Dowdle who toted the rock seven times for 24 yards. There weren’t many opportunities for anyone else, but the University of South Carolina product worked his way from an undrafted free agent to making the roster and playing in 15 games, mostly on special teams.

Dowdle came into training camp third on the depth chart and had played well enough to keep his spot. However, an injured hip has forced the Cowboys to put Dowdle in IR, ending his season.

It’s tough break for the Cowboys, who were likely to start the season with Elliott, Pollard and Dowdle as their top three backs again this year. Dowdle had shown enough in the preseason to earn that role, leading Dallas with 99 yards rushing in their three exhibitions games thus far.

Although it’s not a crushing blow to a team that has arguably the best one-two punch in the league at RB, the Cowboys will now be looking elsewhere to fill the RB room and their depth chart has taken another hit.

Dowdle became the second Cowboys RB to lose his season to injury, joining Sewo Olonilua, who was placed on season-ending IR with a neck injury last week. A group that had already been whittled down to three strong runners, will now be looking for a replacement for Dowdle.

The main options for the Cowboys now are two undrafted rookie free agents, JaQuan Hardy out of Tiffin, and Brenden Knox from Marshall. Both RBs have seen ample opportunities in the preseason and will have another game to prove they belong on the 53-man roster. Hardy has gotten more carries through three games, but there’s a lot riding in the preseason finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The extra exhibition game for Dallas is now a blessing in disguise for these two runners.

Or the team could go in a different direction, choosing to keep Louisiana-Lafayette fullback Nick Ralston, another undrafted rookie free agent.

There is also the option of a trade or sifting through waivers after teams cut their rosters down to 53 players next Tuesday. The Cowboys are only likely to keep three on the roster and they are doubtful to receive much playing time.

Losing Dowdle is another blow to a position for the Cowboys where they once had depth. Running back is still a strength for Dallas but they’ll have to find another option behind their two-headed monster.

You can chat with or follow Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi.

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