Tag: John Lovett

Cowboys still shopping UFL; bring in 3 DEs, 1 RB for workouts

From @ToddBrock24f7: RB John Lovett and DE Wyatt Ray played for Wade Phillips and the San Antonio Brahmas this spring; 2 more DEs also visited The Star Tuesday.

After adding a pair of UFL players last week, the Cowboys are still sifting through the spring league’s rosters for talent that might help them ahead of training camp.

Four more players were at The Star in Frisco on Tuesday, according to Nick Harris of dallascowboys.com.

The first is defensive end Jonathan Garvin, whose pending visit was first reported last Wednesday. Garvin was a seventh-round draft pick of the Packers in 2020 and played 38 games in Green Bay. He was one of the UFL’s top edge rushers this season as a member of the champion Birmingham Stallions.

Defensive end Wyatt Ray was also brought in for a look. Undrafted out of Boston College in 2019, Ray has spent time with eight different NFL clubs and gotten on the field with three of them- the Titans, Bengals, and Broncos. He played this spring for former Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips and the UFL’s San Antonio Brahmas, tallying 24 tackles and 5.5 sacks.

A third defensive end also worked out with the Cowboys on Tuesday. Derick Roberson went undrafted out of Sam Houston State in 2019 and spent three seasons with the Titans. He appeared in 16 games for Tennessee and then spent 2023 with the XFL’s Houston Roughnecks. He notched 26 tackles and 4.5 sacks for the DC Defenders most recently.

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Dallas is also kicking the tires on a running back to possibly add to their backfield committee. John Lovett had a strong 423 rushing yards- finishing fourth in the league- and five touchdowns on the ground- good for second place- this season for the Brahmas. The former Baylor and Penn State product has done two stints on the Panthers practice squad and was in camp with Pittsburgh briefly last August.

(Ed. note: The John Lovett mentioned above is not to be confused with the tight end/fullback of the same name who went to Princeton, won a Super Bowl ring as a member of the Chiefs in 2019, and appeared in eight games with Green Bay in 2020.)

According to Harris, the Cowboys currently have 88 players on the roster. They can have a maximum of 90 for training camp, but they do have one roster exemption for International Pathway Program player Denzel Daxon, so they can make three additional signings in all.

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Former Penn State RB John Lovett currently leading UFL in rushing

Could a former Penn State running back be the MVP of the UFL this season? John Lovett is making his case!

His time in Happy Valley may have been brief, but [autotag]John Lovett[/autotag] has certainly been performing admirably in his professional football career. Lovett is currently leading the UFL, the merged league between the XFL and USFL, in rushing yards entering Week 7 of the league’s debut season. And that has him squarely in the running to be considered the UFL’s most valuable player.

Lovett has rushed for 348 yards this season for the San Antonio Brahmas through the first six games of the season. He is one of two running backs in the league to have rushed for at least 300 yards this season, with former Nebraska and Kansas State quarterback Adrian Martinez being the other (Martinez is the quarterback for the Birmingham Stallions). On a league-high 74 rushing attempts, Lovett has also not fumbled the football once this season.

Despite the Brahmas coming up short in their last game against the DC Defenders, Lovett rushed for 153 yards on 23 attempts and caught a touchdown pass. Heading into the weekend, Lovett currently sits just four points shy of the UFL’s scoring lead with 34 points scored. Lovett will be a big reason why the Brahmas clinch a spot in the UFL playoffs as they look to compete for the XFL conference title for a chance to win the inaugural UFL championship.

RJ Young of Fox Sports currently has Lovett ranked fourth in his UFL MVP power rankings. He is probably a bit of an outside shot to win the league’s MVP award behind the previously mentioned Martinez and former Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron (St. Louis Battlehawks), but Lovett is in the mix for sure.

Lovett came to Penn State out of the transfer portal from Baylor following the 2020 season. After spending four seasons with the Baylor program, amassing 1,803 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns, Lovett took on a scaled-back role at Penn State and was hampered at times by some injury concerns. He appeared in 9 games for the Nittany Lions during the 2021 season and rushed for 177 yards.

Lovett played on the practice squad for the Carolina Panthers in 2022 and spent a training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2023 before being released prior to the start of the NFL season. His showing in the UFL will likely help him stay on the radar for some NFL teams in search of running back depth in 2024.

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Breaking down the terms of Dolphins FB John Lovett’s new contract

The payment is pretty straightforward.

Last offseason, the Miami Dolphins made a change to their offensive scheme with the hiring of head coach Mike McDaniel. Along with that change came the addition of the fullback position to the team.

Miami signed fullback Alec Ingold, but they also had John Lovett, who spent all of 2022 on injured reserve before hitting free agency this offseason. In a somewhat surprising move, the Dolphins opted to bring Lovett back after the start of the new league year.

According to Over the Cap, Lovett and the Dolphins agreed to a one-year deal worth $870,000. All of that money comes from a base salary with none of it guaranteed.

That means that Miami can move on from Lovett before the start of the season, save all of that money and not have any dead cap from the transaction.

With depth proving to be a big issue for the Dolphins last season, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see them try to keep Lovett on the practice squad just in case Ingold is unable to go at any point. However, there’s no guarantee that happens.

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Dolphins re-sign FB John Lovett

That was quick.

The Miami Dolphins are doing their best to keep a lot of their 2022 roster around for 2023.

According to JL Sports, the Dolphins are re-signing fullback John Lovett. This move comes just 24 hours after the team decided not to tender him, allowing the fullback to become an unrestricted free agent.

Despite Miami having Alec Ingold locked in as the starter, they’ve decided to give Lovett an opportunity to earn a spot, likely on the practice squad if Ingold remains healthy.

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Dolphins decline to tender FB John Lovett

He spent 2022 on injured reserve.

The Miami Dolphins have done a lot of work early in the offseason to re-sign players from their 2022 roster.

Players who are already returning include Nik Needham, Duke Riley, Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson, Myles Gaskin, Salvon Ahmed, Kendall Lamm and Geron Christian.

One player who Miami hasn’t made an effort to keep is fullback John Lovett. The Dolphins opted not to tender Lovett, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Lovett, 26, signed with Miami last offseason but was placed on injured reserve before the regular season. Because of the timing of his placement, he was forced to sit out the year.

With Alec Ingold holding the top spot as the fullback on the roster and Tanner Conner showing some versatility as a hybrid fullback/tight end, Miami may not need Lovett around for minicamp or training camp.

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Every Penn State player in the XFL in 2023

Looking for every Penn State player on an XFL roster in 2023? Here they are.

As the curtain closes on the NFL’s 2022 season with the crowning of a Super Bowl champion, the football calendar moves next to the start of the XFL regular season. The XFL is back under new leadership headlined by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and the latest attempt to inject new life into the XFL brand kicks things off on Saturday, February 18.

When the new XFL season begins, there will be some familiar names for Penn State fans to keep track of. When the league kicks off, there will be five former Nittany Lions scattered across the league’s eight teams.

Former wide receiver [autotag]Saeed Blacknall[/autotag] will not be on one of those rosters despite previously being profiled by the league in an effort to showcase some players leading up to the start of the season. Blacknall was on the roster for the Vegas Vipers, but he did not appear on the team’s official roster shared by the league in an Instagram post a week and a half prior to the first games being played. But the Vipers do have a former Nittany Lion on the roster looking to make an impact this spring.

Here is a summary of where each former Penn State player is in the XFL and where they have been since their final days in a Penn State uniform.

Every Penn State player on an NFL opening day roster in 2022

Here is every former Penn State plater on an NFL roster to start the new NFL season in 2022.

The start of a new season in the National Football League is here and there will be a good amount of Penn State flavor throughout the league this season. Penn State will have the eighth most players on an NFL opening day roster this season with 34 players appearing on an NFL team’s 53-man roster to start the season (plus two additional players on injured reserve and another on the physically unable to perform list). In all, Penn State claims 44 players are on NFL rosters to start the year with the inclusion of practice squad players.

That includes nine players who were on the Penn State roster in 2021, including wide receiver [autotag]Jahan Dotson[/autotag], defensive end [autotag]Arnold Ebiketie[/autotag], and safety [autotag]Jaquan Brisker[/autotag]. Dotson is one of four Penn State players on the Washington Commanders, the most of any NFL franchise to start the season.

Former kicker [autotag]Robbie Gould[/autotag] continues to be the elder statesman of the Nittany Lions football family in the NFL. Gould, of the San Francisco 49ers, is entering his 19th season in the NFL.

Here is a look at every Penn State player on either an NFL team’s 53-man roster or practice squad at the start of the 2022 season.

Dolphins place two players on injured reserve, waive three

Miami has trimmed down to 80 players.

In an effort to cut down to the NFL’s 80-man roster limit, the Miami Dolphins announced a number of moves on Tuesday morning.

The Dolphins announced that they waived safety Sheldrick Redwine, which was previously reported by the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson. They also announced that they’ve waived punter Sterling Hofrichter and linebacker Deandre Johnson.

On top of those moves, the Dolphins also placed cornerback Mackensie Alexander and fullback John Lovett on injured reserve, ending their seasons.

Alexander is the most surprising transaction here, as he was just brought in after the first preseason game to replace Trill Williams, who was also placed on injured reserve. Now, Miami’s looking even thinner at cornerback.

Lovett had been not participating in practice or games during the last two weeks, so this move wasn’t all that shocking, especially considering Alec Ingold had a guaranteed roster spot.

Hofrichter, like Lovett, was in a battle with a veteran that basically won the spot already. He was really just in there to limit Thomas Morstead’s punt attempts while he was dealing with an injury.

Johnson was signed as an undrafted free agent this offseason to compete in a rather deep battle for outside linebacker/defensive end reps. While he flashed at times, he had an outside shot to make it.

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Panthers who could be cut during 80-man roster trim

Here are our most likely cut candidates as the Panthers inch closer to their final roster.

With two preseason games in the books, it’s just about time for the Carolina Panthers to trim their roster down to 80 players.

Before 4 p.m. ET on Aug. 23, every NFL team must cut five guys to meet the 80-player requirement—and the Panthers reportedly have gotten started by waiving linebacker Khalan Tolson early this morning.

So, here are our most likely cut candidates as the Panthers inch closer to their final roster.

Penn State football NFL draft undrafted free agent tracker

Keeping track of Penn State players signed as undrafted free agents in the NFL

The NFL draft is always the craziest time of the year for any team. The only thing that comes close to it experienced over seven rounds is the epitome organized chaos. Teams are making calls, making offers, and hoping to grab anyone who well out of the draft who they had a draftable grade on.

The best part of this is simple, so many players get one more shot at completing a lifelong dream. For several Penn State players in this draft class it is their one shot at the glory the NFL can provide. We saw several players with rather significant draft slides that still got drafted but that doomed several other players hoping to hear their names.

Thankfully, a handful of them have found homes for now and others have camp invites to show what they can bring to a team this summer. It can be hard to track all these players down so allow for us to assist.