Tag: Snoop Conner

Follow the Money: Breakdown of Cowboys RBs salaries, cap hits

A breakdown of the cap spending at the running back position and how despite the cupboard being bare, there’s a sizable chunk being spent at the spot. | From @ArmyChiefW3

As quarterback takes up an enormous percentage of the Dallas Cowboys salary cap for 2024, something they should hope to reduce before the new league year begins, other positions have taken a back seat in how Stephen Jones’ proverbial pie has been divided. And while recent years have seen a sizable investment in the pasture where the bell cows have grazed, that will likely not be the case for the upcoming season.

The lack of a run game in Dallas is a huge concern, but the problem has a clear path to recovery. And while the solution may reside more along the offensive line and its performance, the club will still need to add additional investments to the running back room as it will more than likely look significantly different come training camp. With the top two backs hitting unrestricted free agency, here’s what the Cowboys currently have under contract to replace Tony Pollard and Rico Dowdle’s contributions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jaguars allow 5 players’ practice squad contracts to expire

Five players who were on the Jaguars’ roster in 2023 became free agents Monday.

Last week, the Jacksonville Jaguars secured the rights to 11 players from their practice squad by signing them to reserve/future contracts. On Monday, five players who finished the 2023 season with the team were allowed to become free agents.

The following players are no longer on the Jaguars roster, per the NFL’s transaction wire:

  • RB Snoop Conner
  • WR Jacob Harris
  • DT Henry Mondeaux
  • C James Murray
  • QB E.J. Perry

Conner is the only player on the list who was drafted by the Jaguars. The 2022 fifth-round pick appeared in eight games as a rookie, and had 12 carries for 42 yards and a touchdown. Conner spent the entire 2023 season on the practice squad.

Harris appeared in two games as a standard elevation from the practice squad, but was never targeted as a receiver. The majority of his snaps came on special teams, although that included a missed tackle on kickoff coverage that helped spring the Houston Texans’ Andrew Beck for a 90-yard touchdown.

Other players across the NFL who had their practice squad contracts expire Monday included former Jaguars players Keelan Cole, Sidney Jones, Matt Overton, and Matthew Wright.

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Jaguars sign 11 players to reserve/future contracts

The Jaguars made moves on Monday to keep more than half of their practice squad players.

The 2023 season is officially over for the Jacksonville Jaguars and they made their first moves to secure a few players for 2024.

Reserve/future deals, which are typically a minimum-salary contract, don’t count against the team’s salary cap or roster limit until the beginning of the next league year. In layman’s terms, they’re a way to keep practice squad players while roster limits haven’t yet been expanded back to a maximum of 90 players.

On Monday, the Jaguars kept more than half of the players who were on the practice squad at the end of the regular season. While there’s still time for the team to add more players via reserve/future deals, notable omissions for now include running back Snoop Conner, tight end Josh Pederson, and quarterback E.J. Perry.

Instead, these are the 11 players the Jaguars secured Monday, via the NFL’s transaction wire:

Jaguars practice squad tracker: 17 signings announced

The Jaguars finalized their initial 17-man practice squad Wednesday and Thursday.

The Jacksonville Jaguars set their 53-man roster Tuesday and finalized their 17-player practice squad Wednesday and Thursday.

While practice squad players aren’t eligible to play on Sundays unless they’re elevated to the active roster, keeping them gives the Jaguars a chance to develop a player or keep them in the building in the event that injuries open an opportunity.

Last season, the Jaguars got meaningful contributions out of defensive tackle Corey Peters, who spent time on the practice squad before moving up midseason. This year, Jacksonville has cornerback Gregory Junior on the active roster after giving the 2022 sixth-rounder a year to grow on the practice squad.

Here’s the Jaguars’ initial 2023 practice squad:

5 takeaways from Jaguars’ first unofficial depth chart

The Jaguars’ first depth chart of the year shows coaches are impressed with rookie Tank Bigsby.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are just a few days from their preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys and released an unofficial depth chart ahead of the matchup.

Some of it has been affected by injuries, though. For example, former starting left guard Ben Bartch off the depth chart entirely while on the PUP list. Tyler Shatley took over starting duties last season following Bartch’s season-ending injury, but Shatley is at the bottom of the chart while recovering from an irregular heartbeat.

Still, there are some decisions from the coaching staff that jump off the page in the first depth chart. Here are five takeaways:

Jaguars 2023 roster review: RB Snoop Conner

Snoop Conner didn’t see much action as a rookie with the Jaguars, and he’ll face an uphill climb to earn snaps in 2023.

The brunt of the offseason is in the books and training camp is still off on the horizon. Join us in the NFL’s dead zone with a player-by-player review of the Jaguars roster ahead of the 2023 season.

Snoop Conner faces an uphill climb in 2023.

After getting picked by the Jacksonville Jaguars late in the 2022 NFL draft, it seemed his chances of becoming a contributor skyrocketed when James Robinson was traded to the New York Jets. Instead, snaps were split between Travis Etienne Jr. and newcomer JaMycal Hasty.

While a year’s worth of growth set up Conner to pass Hasty on the depth chart, the additions of Tank Bigsby and D’Ernest Johnson may present issues for the second-year back. He’ll need to show plenty of development in training camp to prove he still has a future in Jacksonville.

Contract (2023): $870,000 base salary, $81,566 prorated signing bonus, $951,566 million cap hit.

Acquired: Jaguars drafted Conner with the No. 154 overall pick in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL draft.

PFF grades: 

  • 75.0 (2022)

Statistics:

  • 42 rushing yards, one touchdown (2022)

Highlight:

Quote: “My main game is probably as a one-cut running back and try to run north and south. I ain’t no guy that’s going to try to dance around you. I’m trying to score touchdowns, ain’t trying to dance.” – Conner

Calvin Ridley (No. 0) Travis Etienne Jr. (No. 1) Rayshawn Jenkins (No. 2) C.J. Beathard (No. 3) Tank Bigsby (No. 4) Andre Cisco (No. 5)
Chris Claybrooks (No. 6) Zay Jones (No. 7) Logan Cooke (No. 9) Parker Washington (No. 11) James McCourt (No. 12) Christian Kirk (No. 13)
Kendric Pryor (No. 14) Tim Jones (No. 15) Trevor Lawrence (No. 16) Evan Engram (No. 17) Nathan Rourke (No. 18) Sammis Reyes (No. 19)
Daniel Thomas (No. 20) Latavious Brini (No. 21) JaMycal Hasty (No. 22) Foyesade Oluokun (No. 23) Snoop Conner (No. 24) D’Ernest Johnson (No. 25)
Antonio Johnson (No. 26) Divaad Wilson (No. 27) Tevaughn Campbell (No. 29) Montaric Brown (No. 30) Darious Williams (No. 31) Tyson Campbell (No. 32)
Devin Lloyd (No. 33) Gregory Junior (No. 34) Ayo Oyelola (No. 35) Christian Braswell (No. 36) Tre Herndon (No. 37) Qadree Ollison (No. 38)
Jamal Agnew (No. 39) Erick Hallett (No. 40) Josh Allen (No. 41) Andrew Wingard (No. 42) Kaleb Hayes (No. 43) Derek Parish (No. 43)
Travon Walker (No. 44) K’Lavon Chaisson (No. 45) Ross Matiscik (No. 46) De’Shaan Dixon (No. 47) Chad Muma (No. 48) Leonard Taylor (No. 49)
Shaquille Quarterman (No. 50) Ventrell Miller (No. 51) DaVon Hamilton (No. 52) Willie Taylor III (No. 53) DJ Coleman (No. 54) Dequan Jackson (No. 55)
Yasir Abdullah (No. 56) Caleb Johnson (No. 57) Raymond Vohasek (No. 59) Darryl Williams (No. 60) Samuel Jackson (No. 62) Coy Cronk (No. 64)
Chandler Brewer (No. 67) Brandon Scherff (No. 68) Tyler Shatley (No. 69) Cole Van Lanen (No. 70) Walker Little (No. 72) Blake Hance (No. 73)
Cam Robinson (No. 74) Cooper Hodges (No. 75) Anton Harrison (No. 76) Josh Wells (No. 77) Ben Bartch (No. 78) Luke Fortner (No. 79)
Kevin Austin Jr. (No. 80) Seth Williams (No. 81) Elijah Cooks (No. 84) Brenton Strange (No. 85) Gerrit Prince (No. 86) Jaray Jenkins (No. 87)
Oliver Martin (No. 88) Luke Farrell (No. 89) Henry Mondeaux (No. 90) Jordan Smith (No. 92) Tyler Lacy (No. 93) Folorunso Fatukasi (No. 94)
Roy Robertson-Harris (No. 95) Adam Gotsis (No. 96) Nick Thurman (No. 97) Michael Dogbe (No. 98) Jeremiah Ledbetter (No. 99) Brandon McManus
Jacob Harris

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D’Ernest Johnson: ‘Something special’ is brewing in Jacksonville

New Jaguars running back D’Ernest Johnson is excited to join a team on the rise.

It took the Jacksonville Jaguars more than a week to do it, but the team finally made its first free agent addition official Thursday when running back D’Ernest Johnson signed a contract with the team.

Johnson, 27, is a Florida native who spent the last four seasons with the Cleveland Browns. While he said the chance to come back to his home state was part of the motivation for his deal with the Jaguars, he’s also excited to join a team on the rise.

“They’ve got something special going on here, and I want to be a part of it,” Johnson told Jaguars.com after signing his new deal Thursday. “They’ve got a great offense, great quarterback, great wide receivers and a great running back in Travis Etienne. It’s a great team.”

In four years with the Browns, Johnson only got 172 touches, but averaged 5.2 yards per carry and had 967 yards from scrimmage. In Jacksonville, he’ll compete with JaMycal Hasty and Snoop Conner for the second spot on the depth chart behind Etienne.

After missing his entire rookie year due to a foot injury, Etienne finished the 2022 season with 1,125 rushing yards and averaged 5.1 yards per carry. Hasty stepped into the change-of-pace back role following the trade of James Robinson and averaged 4.2 yards per carry on 46 attempts.

The Jaguars finished the year 10th in the NFL in yards per attempt (4.7).

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Doug Pederson says Jaguars will look to add running back

The Jaguars like the trio of backs that they have, but Doug Pederson said the team is interested in adding more talent to the backfield.

The Jacksonville Jaguars handed the reins to second-year running back Travis Etienne Jr. last season, trading away James Robinson in October.

While Etienne carried the ball 52 times in the two games immediately after the deal, he eventually saw his touches level out. Backup running back JaMycal Hasty — who just re-signed with the team — began seeing more touches down the stretch, and actually saw more offensive snaps than Etienne in a Divisional Round loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

On Tuesday, Jaguars coach Doug Pederson was asked at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine if the team is interested in adding another player to its backfield, and he answered in no uncertain terms.

“Yes.”

“I think in today’s game, you’ve got to have two to three guys,” Pederson later explained. “They’ve got to be able to carry the load. You’re talking about an 18-week, 17-game schedule, and the postseason. It’s wear and tear on guys.

“We haven’t seen enough of Snoop Conner yet either, but we like him. We know what JaMycal can do, we obviously know what Etienne can do. So yeah, you’re always looking to have two, three, four guys that can work the rotation.”

Conner, a fifth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, had just 12 carries for 42 yards as a rookie, including a touchdown on New Year’s Day. He was on the field for only one snap in the postseason.

While the Jaguars are hopeful that their trio of young backs continue to ascend, it’d also make sense for the team to add more talent to the room. However, don’t expect Jacksonville to spend much in free agency at the position or for it to use an early draft pick to add a running back.

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Jaguars waive RB Darrell Henderson, who never played a game with team

Darrell Henderson’s time with the Jaguars is already over.

The Jacksonville Jaguars waived running back Darrell Henderson Jr. on Friday, two weeks after claiming the former Los Angeles Rams starter.

Henderson, 25, never played a game with the Jaguars after he was claimed on Nov. 23. The running back was declared inactive both weeks he spent with Jacksonville and was listed as questionable in Week 13 due to an illness.

The Jaguars began the season with the tandem of James Robinson and Travis Etienne Jr. in the backfield, but opted to trade away Robinson in October. Etienne has seen the vast majority of the touches since the trade with JaMycal Hasty and Snoop Conner occasionally getting carries.

Henderson was a third-round pick for the Rams in the 2019 NFL Draft and recorded 1,742 rushing yards and 17 total touchdowns in 50 career games with the team.

In addition to Etienne, Hasty, and Conner, the Jaguars also have second-year back Mekhi Sargent on the practice squad.

Jaguars S Rayshawn Jenkins active vs. Chiefs

Rayshawn Jenkins was cleared in time to return against the Chiefs.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will have safety Rayshawn Jenkins back in the lineup Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Jenkins, 28, was questionable for the game after spending the week in the concussion protocol. He left in the fourth quarter of the Jaguars’ Week 9 win against the Raiders after suffering a head injury.

The sixth-year safety was the only player for the Jaguars who had an injury designation, leaving no surprises on the list of inactives Sunday morning:

Other notable active players for the Jaguars are rookie running back Snoop Conner and rookie cornerback Montaric “Buster” Brown. Conner got his first NFL action after James Robinson was traded, but has been on the field for only two snaps in two games. Brown was on and off the inactive list earlier in the year, but saw the field for 24 defensive snaps in Week 9.

The most significant absence for the Chiefs is wide receiver Mecole Hardman, who was ruled out Friday due to an abdominal injury.

Hardman has six touchdowns (four receiving, two rushing) through the Chiefs’ first eight games of the season. Kansas City signed former Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Ronald Jones in the offseason, but he hasn’t yet taken an offensive snap with his new team.