Tag: Kemon Hall

Chargers CB Ryan Smith has torn ACL

The Chargers will be without one of their special teams aces for the remainder of the season.

The Chargers will be one less cornerback after Ryan Smith suffered a torn ACL, head coach Brandon Staley announced Monday.

Smith started in place of the injured Michael Davis on Sunday against the Eagles. He sustained the knee injury towards the end of the game, and Kemon Hall took over his spot.

Signed this past offseason, Smith spent nearly all summer on the sideline nursing a core muscle injury. He made his debut for Los Angeles in Week 5 against the Browns.

The loss of Smith is a tough blow, as he supplied the Bolts with a core special teamer and defensive depth in the backend.

In 2021, Smith appeared in four games and recorded five tackles and zero interceptions.

Chargers make roster moves ahead of Week 1

The Chargers made some changes in the secondary.

Chargers cornerback Ryan Smith being on the 53-man roster was short-lived.

After being activated from the COVID-19 reserve list this past Friday, Smith was placed on the injured reserve three days later.

In correspondence, defensive back Kemon Hall, who was waived in favor of Smith then, was re-signed Monday.

Smith spent nearly the entire training camp and preseason sidelined with a core muscle injury. Now, the special teams standout will miss at least the first three games of the season.

Hall, on the other hand, was originally a part of the initial 53-man roster after a strong summer. He was praised by the coaches for his versatility and special teams ability.

Chargers activate CB Ryan Smith, waive DB Kemon Hall

Ryan Smith should provide a special teams boost.

The Los Angeles Chargers have activated cornerback Ryan Smith from the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the team announced Friday. In correspondence, defensive back Kemon Hall was waived.

Signed earlier this offseason, Smith spent nearly all of the summer on the sideline nursing a core muscle injury. Despite the injury, the team always viewed him as a lock to make the 53-man roster because of his talent on special teams.

In 73 games with the Buccaneers, Smith posted 117 tackles, an interception, four forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. In 2019, he led Tampa Bay with a team-high seven stops on special teams.

Hall, who is coming off a strong training camp and preseason, is a candidate to fill out the practice squad if he clears waivers. He was praised by the coaches for his versatility and special teams ability.

Chargers’ 53-man roster shows a strong commitment to fixing shaky special teams

After finishing with the worst special teams in 2020, the Chargers are expecting a major turnaround.

A combination of poor coverage and return skills, bone-headed penalties and  kicking woes led to the Chargers having the worst special teams in the NFL last season.

The first step to fixing the department came with the hiring of Derius Swinton II, who is entering his 14th season as a special teams coach.

While the change in the coaching staff was one thing, the players that make up the 53-man roster shows how a great of an emphasis head coach Brandon Staley and company put on the unit.

“We want to elevate the standard of performance,” Staley said. We’re looking for guys to separate and create roles for themselves. We expect them to do things a certain way.”

The first act of service was finding a starter kicker, which they did by keeping Tristan Vizcaino over Michael Badgley. Staley highlighted Vizcaino as a player who they believe has “real talent,” lauding his leg strength.

The next came when the team established one of their return specialists. Instead of keeping the talented Tyron Johnson, it was K.J. Hill who they decided to roll with as the fifth and final receiver because of his ability to return punts.

Keeping guys that they felt would make an impact on the coverage units was also strongly taken in consideration, which is why bubble players like undrafted rookie Amen Ogbongbemiga, Kemon Hall, Tevaughn Campbell and Stephen Anderson made the cut.

Like the puzzling decision to move on from Johnson, the Chargers didn’t shy away from letting notable names go that they felt didn’t bring much special teams value. That includes Brandon Facyson, who was released on Wednesday in favor of Trey Marshall and eventually Ryan Smith.

The reasoning? Staley called Marshall an “outstanding special teams player.”

Los Angeles wants to be a playoff team in 2021, but they need to see improvement in their special teams unit to make that happen. With the staff and players the team boasts, there is hope this department will be much more competent.

9 players who will be the toughest for Chargers to cut

A look at a few of the toughest potential cuts the Los Angeles Chargers might soon have to make.

Now that training camp and preseason has officially come to an end, the Chargers are hard at work to compile the 53-man roster and practice squad ahead of the 2021 regular season.

There are a few players that helped their causes this summer, but there still won’t be enough room for them. With that being said, I predicted the nine toughest cuts as the deadline approaches.

10 biggest stars of Chargers’ preseason

Highlighting 10 Chargers players who stood out during the three-game preseason slate.

The Chargers concluded their 2021 preseason with a loss to the Seahawks on Saturday night. They are now hard at work to determine the 53 players that will go into Week 1 of the regular season.

Quite a few players made their case for a starting spot, depth role or just the rights to remain on the team. Here’s a look at the 10 biggest stars from the past month of preseason action.

Chargers’ defensive position battles heading into preseason finale

See where the Los Angeles Chargers have their biggest position battles on defense heading into their final preseason game.

The preseason finale is set for Saturday night, as the Chargers will take on the Seahawks at Lumen Stadium in Seattle, WA.

Here’s a closer look at the top positional battles on the defensive side of the ball ahead of Los Angeles’ matchup against Seattle.

Interior defensive line

The guys up front have all been impressive this past month, which has made the evaluation process rather difficult. Cortez Broughton has looked like the best that he has since entering the league, but Joe Gaziano and Willie Yarbary have also made some noise. Meanwhile, Breiden Fehoko and Forrest Merrill have been neck and neck for the backup spot to Linval Joseph. All eyes should be on the play in trenches tonight.

Linebacker

There are four players that will fill out the room, with those being Kenneth Murray, Drue Tranquill, Kyzir White and Nick Niemann. If the team decides to roll with five, it will likely be filled by either Amen Ogbongbemiga or Cole Christiansen. Ogbongbemiga is not going to play, as he is dealing with an AC joint sprain. Despite not playing, Ogbongbemiga still has the slight leg up due to his special teams upside. However, Christiansen has been a tackling machine, which could change the coach’s minds.

Cornerback

Like the linebacker group, there are four spots that are locked up by Michael Davis, Chris Harris Jr., Asante Samuel Jr. and Brandon Facyson. The team will likely carry nine defensive backs, leaving one for a corner. Ryan Smith was seen as a lock, but he’s been out with a core muscle injury. Los Angeles could place Smith on injured reserve, and he would be allowed to return sometime during the season. Kemon Hall, John Brannon and Tevaughn Campbell, who have all shined, will be fighting for the job.

Kicker

It appeared to be all Tristan Vizcaino throughout the summer, but Michael Badgley kicked his way into having a slight advantage this past week. Head coach Brandon Staley said that he wants both kickers to have a fair shot, which likely means more field goal opportunities will be given on a rotational basis. Leg strength on kickoffs will also be an important deciding factor.

Pair of Chargers cornerbacks making strong cases for final roster spots

Chargers cornerbacks John Brannon and Kemon Hall have impressed this summer.

Leading up into the preseason, I had five cornerbacks projected to make the 53-man roster: Michael Davis, Chris Harris Jr., Asante Samuel Jr., Brandon Facyson and Donte Vaughn.

Davis, Harris and Samuel are essentially locks to make the cut, but beyond them is where it’s tough to predict who will make the team, because of a pair of under-the-radar corners that have made their cases to stick around.

Those two are John Brannon and Kemon Hall.

Heading into the contest against the Rams as the leader in interceptions in training camp with three, Brannon put himself at the top in the category in preseason play after picking off Devlin Hodges on a fourth-down play from the Bolts’ five-yard line that would’ve tied the game.

“Really excited for him because he’s been working so hard,” head coach Brandon Staley said about Brannon. “He’s got so far to go, but his heart, his spirit is right, and we’re going to keep coaching him.”

Hall, on the other hand, helped himself by making plays in all phases. He and Alohi Gilman forced a fumble. Hall also generated a quarterback pressure to Bryce Perkins that forced him to throw the ball away. The play right after, he broke up a pass on third down.

“He gives you a little bit of inside/outside flex,” Staley said. “Then he’s got a really good body type for special teams because he’s strong and he’s fast. He can do a bunch of jobs on teams.”

Even after strong performances in practices and Los Angeles’ opener, Brannon and Hall still aren’t locks to make the final roster. But if they keep at this pace and special teams standout Ryan Smith is not ready to return from his lingering injury, it will be difficult to let them go.

4 Chargers on roster bubble who helped themselves in preseason opener

With the majority of the starters on the sideline, a few Chargers players on the bubble helped their cases.

The Chargers took care of business to open up the three-game preseason slate, defeating the Rams by the score of 13-6.

For the most part, the presumed starters that did play didn’t see the field all that much, which left more opportunities for players that are fighting for a roster spot to prove themselves to the coaching staff.

With that being said, let’s take a look at four bubble players who helped their cause on Sunday night.

CB John Brannon

The Chargers are set with Michael Davis, Chris Harris Jr., Asante Samuel Jr., but there are a couple spots on the back end that need to be filled, and Brannon made his case with his outing. Heading into the game as the leader in interceptions in training camp with three, Brannon put himself at the top in the category in preseason play after picking off Devlin Hodges on a fourth-down play from the Bolts’ five-yard line that would’ve tied the game.

CB Kemon Hall

Brannon wasn’t the only one who stood out in the secondary. Hall also helped himself by making plays in all phases. Hall and Alohi Gilman caused a fumble. Serving as an additional blizter, Hall also generated a quarterback pressure to Bryce Perkins that forced him to throw the ball away. The play right after, he broke up a pass on third down. It was a great day for both players who head coach Brandon Staley has lauded throughout the summer.

DL Joe Gaziano

Throughout camp, all the attention has been drawn to Breiden Fehoko and Cortez Broughton as the guys fighting for a spot. But Gaziano gave us a reminder that he is not to be forgotten. After playing on the outside in his first two seasons, the move inside highlighted his strengths. Winning with heavy hands, strength and high effort, Gaziano applied interior pressure on a few occasions and a couple run stops behind the line of scrimmage. Undrafted free agent Forrest Merrill also flashed with a tackle for loss.

WR Jason Moore

If the Chargers go into the regular season with six wide receivers, there’s one spot that will need to be filled, assuming the first five are Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Josh Palmer, Jalen Guyton and Tyron Johnson. Yesterday, it was Moore who helped his stock. With balls thrown to him in tight coverage and out of his reach, Moore still managed to catch all three of his targets for 31 yards.

Cowboys trimmed 4 players from the roster this week

The Cowboys made six total cuts this week, including four at one time. Find out who all the Cowboys are releasing.

The Cowboys have begun the grueling selection process that eventually ends with just 53 men left on the roster. To get to 53, Dallas must first get to just 90 names, and the club officially hit that mark after releasing six total players on Friday.

C Adam Redmond, DT Walter Palmore, DE Ladarius Hamilton, and CB Kemon Hall were all officially released by the Cowboys.

DT Antwuan Woods and CB Saivion Smith were the first players let go by Dallas, and that news was quickly followed by the announcement of the release of the four names above.

Three of Dallas’ six cuts this week have already been added by other teams, as Smith, Hall, and Hamilton were claimed off waivers by the Seahawks, Chargers and the Buccaneers, respectively. There is still a possibility that the unclaimed Redmond, Woods, or Palmore rejoin the Cowboys at some point this offseason.

Other than Woods, none of the releases have come as major surprises to Cowboys fans, as the club needed to make room for the 24 total players added last week through the draft and undrafted free agency.

Redmond was the most tenured Cowboys cut, as he had spent the majority of time since 2018 on Dallas’ practice squad.

For Hall, just like Smith, the writing was on the wall after Dallas’ new defensive regime added two cornerbacks on Day 2 of the NFL draft with Kelvin Joseph and Nahshon Wright.

Like the corners above, there was just not much room for Hamilton after the Cowboys added Chauncey Golston and Osa Odighizuwa in the third round of the draft.

Last year, the NFL roster size for training camp was set at 80, though it remains to be seen if this years training camp will be treated the same way. Dallas has a number of tough decisions in front of them as they slowly form their 53-man roster.

[vertical-gallery id=670530][vertical-gallery id=670209][lawrence-newsletter]