Tag: Justin Hollins

Packers sign RB Patrick Taylor from practice squad, release OLB Justin Hollins

The Packers signed RB Patrick Taylor from the practice squad. To clear a roster spot, the team released OLB Justin Hollins.

In a move made necessary by the on-going injury situation at running back, the Green Bay Packers signed running back Patrick Taylor from the practice squad and released outside linebacker Justin Hollins in the hours before Monday night’s showdown with the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium.

The move is an obvious reaction to the unlikelihood of having running back Aaron Jones available on Monday night. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported Jones is unlikely to play, and Taylor’s promotion suggests Jones — who injured his hamstring in Week 1 — won’t be available for the third time in four weeks.

Taylor was elevated from the practice squad during each of the first three weeks. Players are allowed three elevations per season, so the Packers needed to sign Taylor to the 53-man roster to have him on the field against the Raiders.

During the first three weeks, Taylor carried nine times for 29 yards and caught three passes for 23 yards. He was on the field for 49 snaps on offense and 29 snaps on special teams. The Packers like his versatility, particularly as a receiver, blocker and contributor on special teams.

Without Jones, the Packers would be down to Taylor, A.J. Dillon and Emanuel Wilson at running back. Dillon is averaging 2.7 yards per carry and Wilson is a rookie with only five career carries in the NFL.

To clear a roster spot, the Packers released Hollins, a veteran edge rusher who was on the field for 20 or more defensive snaps during each of the first three weeks. The Packers were carrying six outside linebackers on the 53-man roster prior to Hollins’ release. His departure suggests Rashan Gary is closer to being a full-time player and rookie Lukas Van Ness is ready for a bigger role. Rookie Brenton Cox Jr. now becomes the No. 5 edge rusher.

Hollins, 27, will go on waivers. The Packers originally added Hollins off waivers from the Rams last year. He played 84 snaps on defense for the Packers through the first four games of the 2023 season, tallying five tackles, two stops and two pressures. Last week, Hollins was on the field for a season-low 13 snaps vs. the Lions.

Packers re-sign edge rusher Justin Hollins with one-year deal

The Packers are re-signing edge rusher Justin Hollins with a one-year deal.

The Green Bay Packers are bringing back edge rusher Justin Hollins on a one-year deal. Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team was the first to report the re-signing.

A posting on Twitter from Hollins appeared to confirm the report.

Hollins (6-5, 248) was claimed off waivers by the Packers from the Los Angeles Rams in November of last year. The 27-year-old went on to play in six games for the Packers, producing nine pressures, 2.5 sacks, four quarterback hits and three tackles for loss over 128 snaps on defense and eight more on special teams.

Among his highlight plays were a sack of Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia and a sack of Baker Mayfield during a Monday night win at Lambeau Field. He played at least 14 snaps in all six games for the Packers in 2022.

Hollins is experienced in Joe Barry’s style of defense and will provide experienced depth behind expected starters Preston Smith and Rashan Gary in 2023. He could even play important snaps early in the year if the Packers are cautious with Gary, who tore his ACL in Week 9 last season and isn’t guaranteed to be ready for a full-time role by Week 1 in 2023.

An unrestricted free agent, Hollins visited the New York Giants on Wednesday before agreeing to return to Green Bay.

Signing Hollins to a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal should not prevent the Packers from investing a high draft pick at edge rusher, a premium position.

Hollins was originally a fifth-round pick of the Rams in 2019. He’s played in 55 career games and has 9.5 career sacks.

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Giants met with free agent LB Justin Hollins

The New York Giants held a series of visits on Wednesday which included free agent linebacker Justin Hollins.

The New York Giants were quite busy on Wednesday, sending nine representatives — including Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll — to the Ohio State Pro Day while free agent visits were held back in East Rutherford.

In addition to cornerback Kris Boyd and center J.C. Hassenauer, the Giants also hosted linebacker Justin Hollins.

The 27-year-old Hollins was originally a fifth-round pick of the Denver Broncos in the 2019 NFL draft. He was waived after his first season with the team and went on to spend the next two-plus years with the Los Angeles Rams.

The Rams waived Hollins in November of last year and he was quickly claimed by the Green Bay Packers, where he played out the rest of the season.

In 55 career games (seven starts), Hollins has recorded 106 tackles (63 solo, nine for a loss), 15 QB hits, 9.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and three passes defensed.

With Oshane Ximines still unsigned, the Giants may view Hollins as a potential replacement or depth option.

Despite the three visits, the Giants did not make any new signings on Wednesday.

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1 pending free agent Chargers could target from each NFL team

Here’s a look at one pending free agent from each NFL team that could interest the Chargers.

The Chargers won’t be as aggressive as they have been in recent years regarding signing free agents.

Even after making moves to get cap compliant before the new league year begins on Wednesday, Los Angeles’ priorities will be to re-sign some of their players and extend Justin Herbert.

After that, they should have some spendings available to sign some low-cost players.

That said, here is one pending free agent from each team in the NFL that could be a realistic target for L.A.

Newcomer Justin Hollins sacks Jalen Hurts in first game with Packers

Justin Hollins was claimed by the Packers on Wednesday and practiced Thursday. He sacked Jalen Hurts on Sunday night.

Justin Hollins didn’t waste much time making an impact for the Green Bay Packers.

Claimed by the Packers off waivers from the Los Angeles Rams on Wednesday, Hollins made two disruptive plays in the first half on Sunday night in Philadelphia, including a sack of mobile Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts in the second quarter.

Hollins is playing snaps as a backup outside linebacker for the Packers in his debut with the team.

On the sack, Hollins used his elite speed to chase down Hurts as he was scrambling to his right and make the tackle five yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Earlier in the contest, he combined with Rasul Douglas on a tackle for loss of Miles Sanders.

Hollins, a fifth-round pick of the Denver Broncos in 2019, had 7.0 career sacks coming into the contest. He had just one in 10 games with the Rams to start the 2022 season.

Defensive coordinator Joe Barry was confident Hollins would be able to step into the defense and play snaps as an edge rusher right away.

This is the 50th career game for Hollins. He’ll likely be a big part of the Packers rotation at edge rusher over the final six games of this season.

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Seahawks put in a claim for Packers LB Justin Hollins

We’re a week away from December and the Seahawks are still trying to find ways to boost their pass rush.

We’re a week away from December and the Seahawks are still trying to find ways to boost their pass rush.

According to a report by Field Yates at ESPN, Seattle put in a claim for former Rams linebacker Justin Hollins. However, the Packers had priority in the waiver order so he went to them.

Hollins (6-foot-5, 248 pounds) played his college football at Oregon, then was taken in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft by the Broncos. He lasted just one season in Denver before getting waived and picked up by the Rams.

All together, Hollins has appeared in 49 games, totaling seven sacks, 11 quarterback hits and 97 combined tackles.

The Seahawks currently rank No. 15 in the league with 27 sacks. They’re No. 25 in pass rush win rate and PFF has them ranked No. 27 in pass rush grade. The problem is only Uchenna Nwosu has been able to produce consistent pressure this season. Expect Pete Carroll and John Schneider to continue trying to find a solution.

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Packers claim LB Justin Hollins off waivers from Rams

The Packers claimed LB Justin Hollins off waivers from the Rams.

The Green Bay Packers claimed linebacker Justin Hollins off of waivers from the Los Angeles Rams on Wednesday, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Hollins was a fifth-round pick of the Denver Broncos in 2019.

He’s played in 49 games, including 34 with the Rams over the last three seasons.

Hollins has 97 career tackles and 7.0 sacks. He can play inside linebacker and on the edge.

Hollins will need to pass a physical before he’s added to the 53-man roster.

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Justin Hollins claimed by Packers following release from Rams

The Packers claimed Justin Hollins off waivers after he was waived by the Rams on Tuesday.

Justin Hollins was waived by the Los Angeles Rams on Tuesday and he’ll be headed to another team in the NFC immediately after his release. The Green Bay Packers claimed Hollins off waivers on Wednesday, just one day after he was waived.

Hollins was joined by Darrell Henderson Jr. as players the Rams waived on Tuesday in what were surprising moves for the reigning Super Bowl champions. The former fifth-round pick joined the Rams in 2020 and spent most of his tenure operating as a backup edge defender.

Following the departure of Von Miller in free agency in the offseason, though, the Rams elected to go with a combination of Hollins and Terrell Lewis to replace Miller this season. In five starts and 10 appearances this season, Hollins recorded 26 combined tackles, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and one sack.

The Packers claiming Hollins shouldn’t come as a surprise as Joe Barry, the defensive coordinator in Green Bay, was the former assistant head coach and linebackers coach for the Rams when Hollins arrived in Los Angeles in 2020. With Rashan Gary on injured reserve, the Packers are potentially hoping that Hollins can give them a spark off of the edge.

Salary cap impact of Rams waiving Darrell Henderson Jr. and Justin Hollins

What is the salary cap impact of the Rams cutting Darrell Henderson Jr. and Justin Hollins?

Out of nowhere, the Los Angeles Rams waived two players who have been starters for them this season. They cut their leading rusher, Darrell Henderson Jr., and outside linebacker Justin Hollins, who has played half the defensive snaps.

Henderson’s release was particularly surprising, especially after he mysteriously played just four snaps on Sunday – which Sean McVay says was due to him feeling “a little something in his knee” pre-game.

As with every move, there are salary cap ramifications of these two releases. Being this late in the season, it won’t make a huge difference financially for the Rams.

According to Spotrac, the Rams will save $412,460 by waiving Henderson, which is the remaining money left on his contract, none of which is guaranteed. With Hollins, he had a salary cap hit of $965,000 this year and will now only take up $589,772 in cap space as dead money the rest of the year. That means the Rams save $375,228 by waiving Hollins.

Both players were set to be free agents this offseason, so there’s no impact on the 2023 cap.

  • Darrell Henderson Jr.: $412,460K savings
  • Justin Hollins: $375,228K savings
  • Total savings: $787,688

The Rams now have two roster spots open, and if Matthew Stafford and John Wolford are both sidelined in Week 12, they’ll need to sign a quarterback. They could also use some running back depth with just two on the 53-man roster.

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Rams need a lot more out of their edge rushers – or they need to find help

The Rams’ edge rushers have been ineffective this season and it might be time for the front office to find help

The Los Angeles Rams thought they could survive the loss of Von Miller this season. They never denied the impact he had as a pass rusher and run defender, but they were also confident in the players they have at outside linebacker – players such as Leonard Floyd, Terrell Lewis and Justin Hollins.

Through six games, those players have not don’t nearly enough to lessen the pain of losing Miller. That’s a major problem as the Rams enter their Week 7 bye and prep for the second half of their season.

According to Pro Football Focus, Aaron Donald leads the team with 24 total pressures. The next-closest Ram is Floyd with nine. After that, there’s a drop-off to four players – Greg Gaines, Justin Hollins, Jalen Ramsey and Bobby Wagner – with four pressures each.

Of the 56 total pressures the Rams have recorded this season, Donald has 24 of them and the edge rushers have 15. Floyd has a pass-rush grade of 60.2, which ranks 90th in the NFL among all edge rushers. Lewis ranks 144th and Hollins is 174th, per PFF’s pass-rush grade.

It doesn’t take an expert to know that simply isn’t good enough. And without generating pressure, the edge rushers aren’t creating negative plays with sacks, either. Hollins, Lewis and Floyd have combined for two sacks this season; Hollins and Lewis have one each, and Floyd has none.

For comparison, Jalen Ramsey has two sacks himself on just 12 pass-rush snaps. He also has four pressures on those 12 rushes, which is the same number as Hollins has on 86 pass-rush snaps. Granted, Ramsey’s rushes are as a blitzer and not a traditional pass rusher, but Hollins still should have more than four pressures.

And in terms of sacks, Ramsey, Bobby Wagner and Cobie Durant have combined for five sacks, more than all of the Rams’ players not named Aaron Donald combined.

There’s really no way around it: The Rams need more from their edge rushers. Otherwise, they’ll need to make a change because the current group isn’t cutting it. They won’t have the assets to acquire someone like Brian Burns, but perhaps they can put together a package for a veteran such as Robert Quinn.

They just can’t go the rest of the season relying completely on Donald to apply pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Floyd, Hollins and Lewis have to improve, and soon.

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