Tag: spencer waege

Packers release rookie UDFA Rodney Mathews, claim former 49ers DL Spencer Waege

The Packers released a UDFA to make room for former 49ers defensive lineman Spencer Waege.

The Green Bay Packers released rookie undrafted free agent Rodney Mathews to clear a roster spot for former San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Spencer Waege, who was claimed off of waivers on Thursday, per Field Yates of ESPN.

Mathews, who went undrafted out of Ohio, signed following the draft and participated during the team’s rookie minicamp last week.

The churning of the roster wheel leaves no fringe player out of danger. An opportunity to add an intriguing player from the 2023 draft class meant a new addition’s time in Green Bay was short lived.

Waege, an undrafted free agent out of North Dakota State in 2023, spent most of training camp on the 90-man roster and the final three months of the regular season on the practice squad last year. He was released on Monday. The 49ers listed Waege at 6-5 and 295 pounds.

Waege was a two-time FCS All-American at North Dakota State.

In 2022, Waege produced 17.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks. He finished his five-year collegiate career with 42 tackles for loss, 20.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, four pass breakups and one fumble recovery, plus two blocked kicks. He suffered an ACL injury in 2021 and missed all but three games.

Waege played defensive end (or edge rusher) at North Dakota State. He recorded 42 pressures in 2022 and earned consistently good grades against the run, per Pro Football Focus.

His athletic profile is impressive:

During the 2023 preseason, Waege played 54 snaps for the 49ers, producing one batted pass and one assisted tackle. Most of his snaps came inside at defensive tackle.

49ers add familiar face to practice squad

The #49ers made a small change on their practice squad.

The 49ers on Wednesday announced a small tweak to their practice squad.

They signed undrafted rookie defensive lineman Spencer Waege to their practice squad roster and released defensive end Austin Bryant.

Waege was signed by San Francisco after going undrafted this year and spent the offseason with the team before getting waived in late August. He’ll get an opportunity to develop as a versatile defensive lineman.

Bryant played two games for the 49ers on their active roster this season. He played in Weeks 1 and 5 and notched one tackle in 36 defensive snaps.

With additional depth at defensive end following the addition of Chase Young, San Francisco’s need for a veteran like Bryant on the practice squad evaporated. Instead they’ll roll with a younger player Waege who had a couple nice moments in camp and the preseason.

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49ers lead NFL in players named Spencer

Don’t overlook the #49ers league lead in Spencers.

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This has nothing to do with anything, and it certainly isn’t very important, but it’s something we noticed while poring over the 49ers’ roster that interested us. San Francisco has multiple players with the first name Spencer. Surely that leads the league, right?

It turns out, it does!

The 49ers’ duo of second-year offensive lineman Spencer Burford and undrafted rookie defensive lineman Spencer Waege are the only pair of Spencers on an NFL roster. Linebacker Oren Burks’ middle name is also Spencer, but that won’t count for our purposes here.

There are three other Spencers in the league. Two of them share a last name. The Bills have third-year offensive tackle Spencer Brown, a third-round pick in the 2021 draft. The Panthers have a third-year undrafted running back with the same name. Pittsburgh got into the Spencer fracas this year when they selected offensive lineman Spencer Anderson in the seventh round of the draft.

One other team has two players with the last name Spencer. That’s the New York Jets, which roster second-year DL Marquiss Spencer and fifth-year wide receiver Diontae Spencer.

This concludes our complete analysis of the Spencers on NFL rosters as teams get set to begin training camp. Thank you.

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State of the Roster: Can 49ers defensive end depth step up?

Our State of the Roster continues with a look at a 49ers defensive end group that’s full of question marks.

With 49ers OTAs in full swing, we’re taking a position-by-position look at the team’s roster to figure out the strengths, weaknesses, potential dark horses to make the team and other nuggets about the players who will be competing for jobs on the 53-man roster.

It’s impossible to say whether the 49ers have enough in their defensive end room entering training camp. Their group of DEs all come with significant question marks as defensive line coach Kris Kocurek aims to work his magic again on underutilized pass rushers still trying to find their way in the NFL.

While San Francisco doesn’t have any sure things at DE behind Nick Bosa, there’s plenty of reason for optimism. Players like Samson Ebukam, Charles Omenihu, Kerry Hyder and Arden Key have all experienced breakout success while playing on the 49ers’ defensive line. There’s a chance the club sees similar results with this year’s DE group (non-Bosa division). That’s what they’re banking on, anyway.

There could be changes coming depending on how the team feels about its DEs once training camp starts, but lets look at what the 90-man roster looks like at that spot heading into camp: