Tag: NFL football

Former Georgia coach Mark Richt talks former UGA RB Sony Michel’s 2019 slump with Patriots

Patriots Wire recently spoke with former UGA coach Mark Richt about Sony Michel and is struggles as the Patriots running back in 2019. 

The USA Today’s Patriots Wire recently spoke with former Georgia football coach Mark Richt about former Bulldog Sony Michel and his struggles as the New England Patriots starting running back in 2019.

After a productive 2018 season with New England, Michel’s yards per carry dropped almost a yard to only 3.7 with 247 rushes in 2019, totaling 912 yards with seven touchdowns for the season.

Per Patriots Wire:

“Well, here’s the deal: where is Sony right now? He’s still with the Patriots,” former Georgia Bulldogs coach Mark Richt told the Patriots Wire on Tuesday. “So that answers the question on whether you think he still could be the guy or not. So, they may need to block a little. They may need to let him hit the perimeter. He may have his issues too — I don’t know what he was dealing with health-wise. But if there’s space, he’ll get it and make the first guy miss and he’ll make yards after contact. He’s legit.”

The Patriots selected Michel 31st overall in the 2018 draft after four productive years at Georgia where he rushed his way to No. 3 on the Bulldogs’ all-time rushing yards list.

That makes it Hershel Walker, Nick Chubb and then Sony Michel. You won’t find better company than that.

The duo of Michel and Chubb – both recruited and signed by Richt – proved to be one of the most dynamic ever as they set the record for the most rushing yards by a pair of running back teammates in FBS history.

Richt said of Michel during that time:

“He wasn’t a huge ego guy that wanted to be the only guy. He understood the advantages of staying fresh and staying healthy throughout a game, throughout a season, throughout a career. We convinced him that, when you are on the field, what you put on tape is what’s going to decide where you get drafted and what kind of a pro career you’re going to have.”

Michel was set to compete for the starting spot this year with former Alabama running back, Patriots 2019 third-round pick Damien Harris and offseason pickup Lamar Miller.

After injuries have held Harris on IR for the next three weeks and kept Miller from making a roster spot, so it looks like it will be all Michel for at least the start of the 2020 season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notre Dame in NFL: Lions workout former Irish QB

DeShone Kizer hasn’t lived up to the expectations in the NFL but was given a tryout to make the Lions roster on Thursday.

Notre Dame does not currently have a quarterback on an NFL roster but perhaps that may be changing soon.

The Detroit Lions today worked out former Notre Dame quarterback and 2017 second round draft of the Cleveland Browns, DeShone Kizer was given a workout.

Despite putting up some big-time numbers at Notre Dame between 2015 and 2016, Kizer has struggled mightily in the NFL.

Kizer was at the helm as starting quarterback for the Browns in 2017 as they went winless in all 15 of his starts.

Kizer has thrown for over 3000 yards in his NFL career that also includes a 2018 stop in Green Bay, but has completed just 53.1% of his professional pass attempts and threw 24 interceptions to 11 touchdowns.

The Lions currently have three quarterbacks on their roster: veteran and star Matthew Stanford, veteran backup Chase Daniel and second year Purdue product, David Blough.

Baltimore Ravens “moving on” from Earl Thomas, Dallas Cowboys favorite to land him

According to ESPN, the Baltimore Ravens are “moving on” from safety Earl Thomas. The Dallas Cowboys are seen as a favorite to sign him.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Baltimore Ravens are “moving on” from former Texas safety Earl Thomas. Baltimore has not decided if they will release or trade the seven-time pro bowler yet.

Schefter is also reporting that if the Ravens decide to release Thomas, the Dallas Cowboys will be the favorite to sign him.

Dallas is square in play on Earl Thomas, with one source going as far as to say the Cowboys “would be leading contender.”

This all stems from an incident in practice on Saturday, as Thomas was involved in a physical altercation with teammate Chuch Clark. Thomas posted an Instagram video explaining the incident but was soon deleted.

This is not the first incident Thomas has had during his time with Baltimore. The safety has dealt with off the field issues and his participation in positional meetings have been problematic.

Combine all of the factors and the Ravens are finally ready to say goodbye to their star safety.

Safety is a position of need for the Cowboys after losing Jeff Heath in the offseason to the Las Vegas Raiders. HaHa Clinton Dix signed as a free agent but Dallas is still in search of a second starting safety. Thomas would solidify that role the moment he stepped foot into practice.

Dallas has been linked with Thomas for a long time now. A Texas native, Thomas is from Orange, Texas, an hour and a half east of Houston. Attending Texas for college, Thomas only played for two seasons in Austin.

If the Cowboys can land Thomas, he will link up with another former Longhorn Connor Williams. The offensive lineman was drafted by Dallas back in the 2018 NFL Draft.

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Report: Cincinnati Bengals WR, former Georgia football great A.J. Green dealing with hamstring injury

Cincinnati Bengals receiver A. J. Green has reportedly suffered a hamstring injury. Details here

Cincinnati Bengals receiver A.J. Green reportedly suffered a hamstring injury during Monday’s practice.

Jay Morrison of The Athletic reported the details –

“A.J. Green not in for this set of 11s. Was getting left hamstring looked at and stretched after last set of 7 on 7. He’s still on field. No ice. But appears done for the day.”

Obviously a big scare for both Bengals fans and DawgNation, because of Green’s season-ending ankle injury in July of last season.

One of the best receivers to ever dawn the red and black, Green has been one of the only bright spots for the Bengals since he was drafted No. 4 overall in 2011.

The good news, however, is the injury is now thought to be minor after a report by Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic involving comments from Bengals head coach Zac Taylor on Green’s injury.

 

Dawgs in the NFL: Nick Chubb ranks No. 36 on the NFL 100

Former Georgia star running back Nick Chubb is making his mark on the NFL. He is ranked No. 36 on the annual NFL 100. Details here!

Former Georgia star running back Nick Chubb is the second most prolific rusher in Georgia football history with 4, 769 yards and is now making his name heard with the Cleveland Browns of the NFL.

Chubb was recently rated No. 36 in the annual NFL 100 which ranks the 100 best players in the league. Chubb was drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the No. 35 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft where he rushed for 996 yards with eight touchdowns in his rookie season.

2019 was a break-out year for the Cedar Town, Georgia native. Chubb rushed for 1494 yards (2nd in NFL) with eight touchdowns, which earned him a 2019 Prow Bowl invitation and the Brown’s offensive MVP.

Additionally , Pro Football Focus (PFF) rated Chubb as the best running back in the NFL over the past two seasons.

“Chubb has been the best rusher in the NFL since being drafted in the second round by the Browns in 2018. He is the only running back with a PFF rushing grade north of 90.0 over that two-year stretch, and he joins Derrick Henry as one of just two running backs to average over 4 yards after contact per attempt on 100 or more carries. You won’t find any negatives on Chubb’s resume in the broken tackle department, either. No matter which way you cut it, bringing this man to the ground is not an easy task.”

 

 

 

 

LeBron James hopes NBA gestures made Colin Kaepernick proud

Every team took a knee during the national anthem in the NBA’s first set of games in the league’s restart.

All four teams, as well as both sets of referees, in yesterday’s two opening games of the NBA Restart took a knee during the national anthem and linked arms together around the Black Lives Matter decal that is emblazoned on the courts. After the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Los Angeles Clippers last night 103-101, LeBron James told reporters that he hopes the gestures that the NBA made during the national anthem made Colin Kaepernick, who brought the kneeling gesture to the NFL back in 2016 and was eventually exiled from the league as a result, proud.

Below is a video of LeBron’s statement on Kaepernick from Ben Golliver of the Washington Post.

LeBron has been vocal, as many NBA players have, in demanding justice for Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed in her home in Louisville, Kentucky. Also, several players wore jerseys that said “Black Lives Matter,” on the back of their jerseys, along with other social justice statements that were approved by the NBA.

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Former Notre Dame Star Given Highest Madden Rating Among Safeties

Defensive backs were the latest to have their ratings released and a former Notre Dame star was given the games highest grade of any safety in the game.

You don’t have to be the biggest video game player or sports fan in the world to know anything about John Madden and EA Sports football franchise.  Since it splashed onto the scene in the early-90’s the popularity for the NFL video game still only continues to grow.

The latest edition, Madden ’21 is set to be released on August 25 and with the current state of affairs it’s hard to imagine there not being record number of pre-orders.

For now though it’s not about the game play as it is the player ratings that are being released slowly this week.

Defensive backs were the latest to have their ratings released and a former Notre Dame star was given the games highest grade of any safety in the game.

Current Minnesota Vikings star safety Harrison Smith was given a 95 overall rating, the best of any safety in the game.

Smith’s 95 graded out just ahead Kansas City Chiefs star safety Tyrann Mathieu (93) and current New England Patriot Devin McCourty (92).

Smith was elected to his fifth Pro Bowl last year after intercepting three passes and forcing three fumbles for the Vikings.

Smith spent the 2008-2011 seasons at Notre Dame where he intercepted seven passes and recorded over 300 career tackles for the Fighting Irish.

CBS Sports names former Georgia Bulldog as a top-10 NFL linebacker

CBS Sports recently released their list of the top-10 NFL linebackers with one former Georgia Bulldog named.

CBS Sports’ Sean Wagner-McGough recently listed his top-10 NFL linebackers with former Georgia star and now Chicago Bear Roquan Smith landing at No. 8 on the list.

“Smith is a tremendous blitzer, a good tackler, and has enough speed to track pass catchers downfield and sideline to sideline. If he puts it all together, he’ll be one of the best linebackers in football. I think he’ll do exactly that in 2020 after two good, but not great seasons to begin his career.”

Smith, the 2018 No. 8 pick of the NFL Draft, was an absolute beast during his time at Georgia. He led the team in tackles in 2016 and broke-out in 2017 – totaling 137 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss and 20 quarterback pressures. An amazing season that won him Georgia defensive MVP, 2017 SEC Championship MVP, 2018 Rose Bowl MVP, and the 2017 Butkus Award, given to the nation’s best linebacker.

Dec 2, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs linebacker Roquan Smith (3) is awarded MVP after defeating the Auburn Tigers in the SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Here is the full-list of Smith’s awards from his legendary 2017 junior season.

* 2017 Associated Press All-America First Team
* 2017 Walter Camp All-America First Team
* 2017 American Football Coaches Association All-America First Team
* 2017 Football Writers Association of America All-America First Team
* 2017 The Sporting News All-America First Team
* 2017 Phil Steele All-America First Team
* 2017 Butkus Award Winner
* 2017 AP SEC Defensive Player of the Year
* 2017 Coaches’ SEC Defensive Player of the Year
* 2017 Coaches’ & AP All-SEC 1st Team

 

 

 

Watch: D’andre Swift’s highest-graded plays as a Bulldog

Watch Pro Football Focus’ compilation of former Georgia running back D’Andre Swift’s highest graded plays as a Georgia Bulldog.

Pro Football Focus recently released a compilation of Detroit Lion, former Georgia star running back D’Andre Swift’s five highest-graded plays as a Georgia Bulldog.

Watch them here:

In his time in Athens, the Philadelphia native ran 440 times for 2,885 yards and 20 touchdowns, while adding 73 receptions for 666 yards with five touchdowns – good enough to place Swift at No. 7 on Georgia’s leading rusher list.

2020 CFB season countdown: 81 days until Georgia football

Join us for our countdown until Georgia kicks-off in Atlanta vs. Virginia Sept. 7.

There are 81 days left until Georgia kicks-off versus Virginia in Atlanta Sept. 7.

Former Georgia wide receiver Reggie Davis (2013-2016) is most remembered for his school-record 98-yard touchdown catch from Aaron Murray versus North Texas in 2013.

Davis finished his Georgia career with 38 catches for 618 yards and two touchdowns while adding 998 total kick-return yards. Now, Davis is currently with the Chicago Bears’ practice squad.