Tag: Kendall Futrell

Texans add 2 defensive players to practice squad

The Houston Texans have made some moves to their practice squad, adding ILB Curtis Bolton and DE Kendall Futrell, while releasing WR Devin Smith.

The Houston Texans have stashed two defensive players on their practice squad.

On Tuesday, the Texans announced they signed defensive end Kendall Futrell and inside linebacker Curtis Bolton to the practice squad.

Futrell is an undrafted rookie from East Carolina who is 6-2, 226 pounds. With that type of size, the Texans will no doubt kick him outside to play as a two-point edge rusher on defense.

Bolton went undrafted out of Oklahoma in 2019 and spent that season with the Green Bay Packers on injured reserve as he tore his ACL during preseason. Bolton was released at the end of July 2020 after being placed on the physically unable to perform list.

To make room for Futrell and Bolton, the Texans released former New York Jets 2015 second-round pick Devin Smith. The receiver had been on Houston’s practice squad since Sept. 21.

Bengals place Kendall Futrell on the COVID-19 reserve list

The Cincinnati Bengals placed one player on the COVID-19 reserve list.

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The Cincinnati Bengals were one of the first five teams to place a player on the NFL’s new COVID-19 reserve list.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Bengals placed Kendall Futrell on the list. In another report, Pelissero clarified that players will get placed on the list “either after testing positive or being quarantined close contact with an infected person.”

Futrell, an undrafted free agent out of East Carolina, is an intriguing edge defender who looks like one of the more interesting, high-upside names the Bengals signed after the draft.

This likely won’t be the last instance of the Bengals utilizing this list in the near future. Veterans report to camp early next week after rookies did so last week. They’ll undergo the same schedule of coronavirus testing as the first-year players.

The new list is one of many wrinkles to the summer process alongside items like a new approach to the practice squad.

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Who are the 6 NFL players placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list?

Six players, four from the AFC North, are on the COVID-19 injured list.

The NFL put out its first list of players sidelined by the COVID-19 virus Sunday.

The Cleveland Browns had a third of the six on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Seriously. And two-thirds of them came from AFC North teams

The players:

Baltimore: Nigel Warrior, a DB from Tennessee.

Cleveland: Dontrell Hillard, who was originally signed as an undrafted free agent RB in 2018 out of Tulane.

Jovante Moffat, a DB from East Tennessee, who also was undrafted.

Cincinnati: Kendall Futrell, a defensive end from East Carolina.

Dallas: Jon’Vea Johnson, a WR from Toledo.

Kansas City: Aliva Hifo, a WR from BYU.

 

Kendall Futrell might be Bengals’ top UDFA to watch

Kendall Futrell is one intriguing Cincinnati Bengals undrafted free agent.

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The Cincinnati Bengals have plenty of intrigue when it comes to the assembled 2020 undrafted class.

Marcel Spears Jr. could make a play for the final roster at linebacker. Wideout Scotty Washington has big upside. Tyler Clark out of Georgia made plenty of noise in the SEC along the defensive line.

But don’t count out East Carolina’s Kendall Futrell.

Futrell was the most productive member of the East Carolina defense last year and his potential scheme versatility is what has Bengals coaches so excited, per Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com:

“That’s one of the ideas behind the 3-4. The Bengals picked up two rookie defensive ends that they believe can both rush the passer and drop into coverage in Notre Dame’s Khalid Kareem, a fifth-round draft pick, and Kendall Futrell, an undrafted free agent out of East Carolina. The dimensions of the 6-4, 268-pound Kareem and the 6-2, 222-pound Futrell are vastly different but they showed those traits in college and they would have had a pretty good idea by now if they could continue that development.”

Futrell was actually one of the five undrafted free agents we said could threaten to make the final roster back in April because of these very traits.

Traits and college film aside, Futrell won’t have an easy path thanks to Kareem and what is otherwise already a pretty interesting edge defender depth chart. But one standout summer and a quick display of smooth pro adaptation could skew final-roster projections in a hurry.

And given Futrell is just one of several undrafteds the coaching staff and those around them keep talking up, it’s a great sign about the work the front office put in right after the draft itself ended.

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