Tag: Tashawn Bower

Giants fall to Lions: Winners, losers and those in between

The New York Giants fell to the Lions, 21-16, on Friday and here’s a look at our winners and losers (and those in between) from the game.

Editor’s note: Upon reviewing the game, we changed the entry for Deonte Banks, adding detail on what was a bang-bang play and difficult to read in real-time. Giants Wire writers disagreed (and still disagree) on what transpired.

The New York Giants opened the 2023 preseason on Friday night against the Detroit Lions and neither team played their key starters. There were a few spot starters on both sides but predominantly, the game featured depth players.

Accordingly, it was a rather ugly performance for each team. There was more bad than good, and neither coach is going to be particularly happy on Saturday morning.

Here are some winners, losers, and in-betweens from Fright night’s Giants’ victory/defeat.

Report: Giants sign edge rusher Tashawn Bower, waive two

The Giants have reportedly signed veteran edge rusher Tashawn Bower.

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The New York Giants have reportedly added a veteran edge rusher on the same day the rest of the team’s players report to training camp.

According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, the Giants have signed edge rusher Tashawn Bower. The length and financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

To make room on the roster for Bower, the Giants waived/injured disappointing outside linebacker Elerson Smith and waived defensive back Trenton Thompson.

A former undrafted free agent of the Minnesota Vikings out of LSU in 2017, Bower has been in the league for six seasons and has 26 games (three starts) under his belt. In that span, he’s tallied two sacks and has experience playing on both defense and special teams.

Bower spent the 2022 campaign with the Las Vegas Raiders, playing in six contests (zero starts) and totaling one tackle but no sacks. Half of his 70 total snaps came on special teams.

The 6-foot-5, 250-pound pass-rusher will now look to earn a roster spot with the Giants but figures to face an uphill climb in trying to do so.

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Raiders, Saints Week 8 Wednesday injury report: Davante Adams, 3 others missing with illness

Davante Adams was one of four Raiders players to miss practice today with an illness.

It appears an illness has spread around the Raiders team this week. Four players missed practice Wednesday with illness, including WR Davante Adams.

The other three who were missing were S Johnathan Abram, DE Clelin Ferrell, and DE Tashawn Bower.

Illness usually doesn’t end up being something that keeps a player out of the game, especially this early in the week, but it’s something worth monitoring.

Only S Divine Deablo (back/ankle) was missing from practice due to injury.

Darren Waller was back at practice today just as Josh McDaniels said he would be. He was limited as he rehabs from his hamstring injury that had him OUT last Sunday against the Texans.

Others who were limited were QB Derek Carr (back), RB Josh Jacobs (foot), WR Hunter Renfrow (hip), WR DJ Turner (hamstring), and LB Jayon Brown (hamstring).

Missing for the Saints was WR Michael Thomas (foot), WR Jarvis Landry (ankle), TE Adam Trautman (ankle), and CB Marshon Lattimore (abdomen).

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Couple preseason standouts make Raiders debut vs Cardinals

Tashawn Bower — who led NFL in preseason sacks (4) — among those making Raiders debut today

No one wants injuries to happen, but they’re inevitable in the NFL. The Raiders suffered injuries to several starters in the season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers. Center Andre James, linebacker Denzel Perryman, and safety Tre’von Moehrig were all ruled out on Friday and are among the team’s inactives today against the Cardinals.

As a result, a couple of the team’s preseason standouts will make their Raiders debut in the team’s preseason opener today.

Tashawn Bower led the NFL with four sacks this preseason. He was inactive for the season opener last week and gets the nod today, becoming the fifth edge rusher on the game day roster.

Darien Butler finished seventh in the league with 21 combined preseason tackles (13 solo). The Perryman injury has him and fellow undrafted linebacker Luke Masterson both active.

Along with Butler and Masterson, two other undrafted rookies are active — CB Sam Webb and S Isaiah Pola-Mao. This will also be Pola-Mao’s NFL debut. And it means that all four of the undrafted rookies on the Raiders roster are active today.

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Secret Superstars for Week 3 of the 2022 NFL preseason: The defense

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar lets you in on the most prominent under-the-radar defensive performances in the final week of the 2022 NFL preseason.

With final cuts just around the corner (all teams must reduce their rosters to 53 by Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. EST), and the 2022 regular season starting Thursday, September 8, anybody who doesn’t have a lock on a starting job tends to see the final week of the preseason as a sort of Hunger Games. At this point, you’re not just trying to impress your coaches and your teammates — you’re just trying to hang onto the roster spot you have, or give enough of an effort to make other teams aware. Perhaps one of those teams will pick you up if you do get cut.

Our Secret Superstars list for that final week of the preseason has a lot of guys who may have either evaded the Turk (the guy who comes to your room, knocks on your door, and quietly asks you to bring your playbook to the head coach’s office to let you know you’re off the team), or have done enough to eliminate any doubt as to their veracity as starters in the league.

The clock is ticking, oxygen is getting thin, and it’s all about to be for real. Here are the under-the-radar players who did the most to advance their cases for themselves in Week 3 of the 2022 preseason. Since there were so many of them this week, we’re splitting the list into two parts. The Secret Superstars All-Offense team is right here.

Secret Superstars for Week 3 of the 2022 NFL preseason: The offense

Ballers & Busters for Raiders preseason matchup with Patriots

Those Raiders who made a strong impression in the preseason finale, and those who did not.

The 2022 preseason for the Raiders wrapped up Friday night in Las Vegas. It was the last chance a lot of Raiders players had of making a strong impression, both on the Raiders as well as other teams that may be watching.

The goal here for many of these roster hopefuls is to make the Raiders’ decision very difficult. For others, it was to make the Raiders feel confident in keeping them.

Some achieved those goals, others did not.

Ballers

CB Sam Webb

No one stepped up bigger than Webb did. If only because he stepped out of obscurity to making his presence felt big time. The undrafted rookie out of Missouri Western was all over the place.

A possession in the first quarter began with Webb forcing an incompletion in coverage and ended two plays later with him making the tackle short of the sticks.

The next drive, he kept a short catch in front of him to make the tackle, have coverage on an incompletion on third down to force the Pats to go for it on fourth down, and had coverage on Davante Parker in the end zone, forcing him to push off for an offensive pass interference penalty. Webb also on occasion forces run-on sentences.

The next possession ended with Webb again keeping the play in front of him to make the tackle short of the sticks. He ended two more drive in the third quarter with a tackle short of the first down and a pass breakup on a deep ball attempt. He finished tied for the team lead with five solo tackles.

DE Tashawn Bower

Bower took an already impressive preseason and put an exclamation point on it. With the team in much need of pass rush depth behind Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones, Bower made a big statement that he can be that next man up.

He did it all in this game on defense. He made stops in the run game, he made a tackle outside on a receiver, and most importantly, he got pressure on the QB. To the tune of two sacks and a QB hit.

His second sack was a strip sack. And though the Raiders didn’t recover it, Bower made up for it later, when he recovered a fumble that ended the game for the Patriots. He led all defensive linemen with five combined tackles, all solo.

LB Luke Masterson

No player in this game did himself more favors than Masterson. He was simply masterful in proving his worth.

Why do I say that? Well, in part because fringe roster guys like him need to show up big time on special teams. And Masterson had two special teams tackles in this game.

It was more than his special teams play, though. He showed up as a linebacker on defense when he teamed up for a tackle for loss on the second play of the game.  Then he showed up in coverage on the next drive, picking off a pass over the middle and returning it 30 yards. The Raiders would score a touchdown off that turnover.

LB Darien Butler

The man who led the team with seven combined tackles. He teamed up with Masterson to make that tackle for loss on the second play of the game. Then he just played relatively mistake-free football the rest of the way, being where he needed to be and making the stop when it had to be made.

P AJ Cole, K Daniel Carlson

If there were any other kickers on this team right now, these two would have been parked on the sideline with the starters. But there aren’t, so they just went out and showed they are arguably the best kicker/punter duo in the league.

Cole’s first two punts traveled 64 yards and 63 yards. Then he opened the third quarter with a 62-yard punt with no return. His final punt went 35 yards and was fair caught at the 13-yard-line.

Carlson made all three of his field goals, including a 50-yarder.

Honorable Mention

WR Isaiah Zuber — He earned the nickname “two-way Zay” in this one. Because he had a nice catch on offense, and then picked off a deep pass when put in the game at safety as well.

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Tashawn Bower, Malcolm Koonce give Raiders reason to feel good about edge rusher depth

Raiders have to come out of Friday night feeling pretty confident in their depth behind Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones

If Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones aren’t the best pass rushing duo in the NFL, they’re very close to it. But for the Raiders, the question was what about behind them? What about when they need a breather or in the event one of them is lost to injury. Who steps in or steps up?

Throughout the preseason, the answer has developed slowly, and as of Friday night’s final preseason game against the Patriots, the answer is clear — it’s Malcolm Koonce and Tashawn Bower. And both of the gave the Raiders every reason to feel pretty good about that.

Bower in particular, had two sacks on the night, which, added to his previous total, gives him four sacks this preseason. I asked him how he felt about the position he put himself in as far as being the next man up after Crosby and Jones.

“I feel like I’ve done a good job, but I’m going to let the coaches decide that,” said Bower. “We have a lot of other good players too who can do great things, so whatever I can do to fit in in my role and have a piece on this defense or on this team, I’m ready to accept it.”

Bower has bounced around some in his career, first signing with the Vikings undrafted free agent out of LSU and then spending a couple seasons with the Patriots as well. In both instances, bouncing back and forth between the practice squad and the active roster.

Koonce is entering his second season after being selected in the third round of the 2021 draft. He has been getting good pressure all preseason and added his second sack Friday night. He also had another play that he got pressure to force his man to draw a holding penalty to keep him from blowing up the play.

It’s important to note, these weren’t the Patriots’ second and third team players they were going against. Bower and Koonce did much of their damage against the Patriots’ first team offense.

“That just shows our depth,” said Koonce. “Everybody plays hard, so it’s great to go against a starting offense and produce.”

What this means for Clelin Ferrel is less certain. The former top pick was injured most of camp and returned last week. In the practices since, and even before that, he was bounced around as the team tries to find a place where he can thrive, At this point it doesn’t look like that position exists.

The team might have held onto him regardless had they not been able to find production from anyone else. And it’s certainly possible they will hold onto Ferrell, if for no other reason than cutting him would come with a sizable amount of dead money left behind.

Most importantly, though, the play of Koonce and Bower could remove the part of the Ferrell dilemma that involves whether they have proper depth at defensive end.

Raiders sign former Patriots EDGE Tashawn Bower

Raiders add another former Patriots player

Today was the first day of Raiders 2022 offseason workouts. And with that another former Patriots player joins the squad. The team added edge rusher Tashawn Bower to the team.

The 6-5, 250-pounder spent parts of the past two seasons with the Patriots. In total Bower appeared nine games with three starts with the club. He also spent four games with the Vikings.

The former undrafted free agent out of LSU broke into the league with the Vikings in 2017 and spent his first two seasons in Minnesota. In total he appeared in 11 games with no starts for the Vikings.

Bower’s career totals in four NFL seasons is 2.0 sacks, two QB hits, and 22 combined tackles in 20 game appearances.

In a corresponding move, the team waived OL Kamaal Seymour with a non-football injury list designation.

Vikings poach edge Tashawn Bower off Patriots practice squad

The Vikings made a move Wednesday.

The Vikings are thin at defensive line, and the team solved some of those depth problems by poaching a player off the Patriots practice squad.

The Vikings are reuniting with edge Tashawn Bower, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. He originally signed with Minnesota as an undrafted free agent in 2017.

Bower played with the Vikings for two seasons. He played in seven games during that span. He started three games for the Patriots in 2020. He did not make a start this year, though he did play in two games for New England. He has one sack in 2021.

So Bower won’t be a stellar replacement for any of the defensive linemen unavailable for Sunday. However, he has familiarity with the team and can still contribute to the defensive line rotation. Expect D.J. Wonnum, Patrick Jones II and Eddie Yarbrough to get more reps as well, given the Vikings’ depth at defensive line currently. Minnesota can also call up Kenny Willekes from the practice squad.

Best LSU football recruit from every state since the year 2000

LSU is in a football recruiting hotbed, but who are the top recruits from states out of Louisiana signed by LSU?

LSU is fortunate to be in a hotbed of football recruiting in the state of Louisiana. LSU has traditionally been able to keep much of the state’s top talent close to home, but sometimes the Tigers have to go on the prowl beyond the state’s borders if they want to build the best recruiting class possible.

With another recruiting cycle in the books, now is a good time to take a look at the LSU recruiting efforts since the turn of the century and see who the best LSU recruit in each state has been.

To put together this list, the 247 Sports composite rankings are referenced. In all, 20 states are included in LSU’s recruiting efforts since 2000. The most fertile grounds for LSU recruiting are close to home in Louisiana and Texas. Those two states have produced players like Derek Stingley, Grant Delpit,  Jarvis Landry, and Joseph Addai, just to name a few. LSU has also claimed some recruiting victories in Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi and brought a recruit home from California, Michigan, and Ohio.

For the purposes of this list, JUCO players are included, and they are specifically noted. Keep in mind JUCO recruiting rankings are not necessarily the same as the traditional recruiting class rankings.