Tag: Thomas Fletcher

Two former Alabama players drafted by Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL

Thomas Fletcher and Chris Owens were both drafted by the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL.

Alabama fans were able to see former Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron join the St. Louis BattleHawks of the XFL. Now, two other Tide alumni will team up for the Seattle Sea Dragons. Long snapper Thomas Fletcher and offensive tackle Chris Owens were both drafted by the newly-established team. The two were once teammates at the University of Alabama.

Owens spent six seasons with the Tide. The Texas native played every position along the offensive line. Last season, he started 12 games at right tackle while making one start at center. His experience and leadership helped the Tide reach the College Football Playoff.

As for Fletcher, he spent four seasons in Tuscaloosa as the team’s starting long snapper. He was eventually drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He went on to spend one season with the organization before being waived in August of this year.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow both of their careers at the professional level.

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Panthers LS JJ Jansen in line to break franchise record

With no competition in sight, Panthers longtime long snapper JJ Jansen has a clear path to franchise history.

On Thursday, the Carolina Panthers waived 2021 sixth-round pick Thomas Fletcher—the only challenger to the team’s longtime long snapper JJ Jansen. But now that there is no competition, the 15th-year veteran is in line to snap a franchise record.

The 36-year-old Jansen, who arrived in Carolina through a trade with the Green Bay Packers way back in 2009, will enter the 2022 campaign having played 209 games for the organization. If he plays in just 13 more—bringing that total to a magic 222—then he’ll surpass the current Panthers record of 221 held by former kicker John Kasay.

As long as head coach Matt Rhule doesn’t decide to spice things up again with another challenger and Jansen remains healthy, that mark should be broken in Week 14. That Sunday will see the Panthers travel west to take on the Seattle Seahawks on Dec. 11.

In addition to that impressive feat, Jansen has also gone over a decade without a botched snap—with that lone mistake coming in the 2010 season opener against the New York Giants. He was also selected to his first and only Pro Bowl appearance for his efforts in 2013.

So, yeah, Jansen has seen quite a bit here in Charlotte. He’s played for Rhule, Ron Rivera and John Fox, and he’s played on a 2-14 team and a 15-1 team.

And now, he’ll soon see some more history. But this time, it’ll be his own.

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Panthers waive 2021 6th-round pick Thomas Fletcher

The Panthers announced they’ve waived LS Thomas Fletcher, one of the team’s three sixth-round picks in 2021.

One of the silliest decisions the Carolina Panthers have made over the past few years now looks even sillier.

As announced by the team on Thursday afternoon, long snapper Thomas Fletcher has been waived. Fletcher was drafted with one of Carolina’s three sixth-round draft picks from a year ago.

The selection was, of course, perplexing to say the least at time (or at any time, for that matter). Not only was an actual piece of draft capital used on a long snapper, but the Panthers already had one of the game’s most reliable players at the position in then 14-year veteran JJ Jansen.

Heck, even Fletcher couldn’t believe it.

Well, the University of Alabama product would end up losing out to the trustworthy and respected Jansen in the long snapper battle last summer. He wraps up this tenure in Carolina having appeared in zero games for the organization.

Fletcher’s departure will now give way—once again—to Jansen and presumably open up a roster spot for the signing of cornerback Tae Hayes, as first reported by Mike Kaye of Pro Football Network.

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Panthers release veteran CB Rashaan Melvin

In a bit of a surprise, the Panthers released CB Rashaan Melvin during their second wave of cuts on Tuesday.

The Carolina Panthers couldn’t follow up the shocker the New England Patriots delivered earlier in the day. Who can? But they did break out a little surprise of their own.

In their second wave of cuts on Tuesday, the team released cornerback Rashaan Melvin. Melvin, now on his seventh NFL season, was expected to provide the Carolina secondary with some veteran depth amongst an otherwise young and thin group.

That, barring the final cut coming at the expense of the position will leave the Panthers with their 2021 first-round pick Jaycee Horn, Donte Jackson, Keith Taylor, Stantley Thomas-Oliver III and Myles Hartsfield at corner. A.J. Bouye will also join the pack after he serves the remaining two games of his six-game suspension.

Alongside Melvin in these latest departures goes safety Kenny Robinson, running back Reggie Bonnafon and long snapper Thomas Fletcher. The move of Fletcher to the season-ending injured reserve effectively clinches the long-snapping job back to J.J. Jansen, who will be entering his 13th regular season with the organization.

Catch up and keep up with all the cuts here as the 4 p.m. ET deadline approaches.

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Panthers safety, long-time specialist identified as potential chopping block candidates

Which NFL team has undergone more personnel changes over the last few years than the Carolina Panthers?

Which NFL team has undergone more personnel changes over the last few years than the Carolina Panthers? It seems dozens of fan favorites and franchise legends have left the team since the start of 2018. Whether it was retirement, trade or free agency, the team has said good-bye to big names like Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis, Julius Peppers, Ryan Kalil, Greg Olsen and Mario Addison to name just a few.

This offseason we could see their longest-tenured player finally move on, officially closing the previous chapter in this team’s history. According to David Newton at ESPN, long-time long snapper J.J. Jansen is is the top candidate to get cut before the season begins.

“Jansen has been one of the best long-snappers in the NFL since he arrived at Carolina in 2009. But when a team drafts a long-snapper — especially if it’s in the sixth round, when the Panthers selected Alabama’s Thomas Fletcher — it’s doing so with the mindset that he’ll make the roster. It simply doesn’t make sense to keep two long-snappers, particularly when one counts $1 million toward the salary cap.”

Fair enough. It was a strange flex to use a draft pick on Fletcher, but in any case the pressure is on Jansen to prove the job should still be his. Fletcher should probably be considered the favorite, but we can’t write off Jansen just yet. While Fletcher has that expended draft capital and youth working in his favor, Jansen has 192 games and 12 years of experience on his side.

There will be a lot more than just one cut come the end of the preseason, though. Rosters will be trimmed from 90 to 53 from Aug. 17-31.

Another potential cut is defensive back Juston Burris, who’s been named as a chopping block candidate by CBS Sports.

“But as they’re trying to level up the secondary, it comes time to decide if Burris is a capable starter to protect the back end behind Horn going forward. The Panthers might do well to instead lean more heavily on Jeremy Chin and to see what Sam Franklin can truly do if fully unleashed than to eat Burris’ salary in 2021. The 28-year-old will punch the Panthers cap for $4.83 million this season, but $3.78 million can revert to savings if they divorce him.”

That’s a decent chunk of change for the cap considering Burris’ value. However, it’s not enough reason to cut him.

Last year around this time we pinpointed backup running back Mike Davis as a seemingly obvious roster cut due to the cap savings involved. Instead, Davis stuck around and wound up balling out as a starter in the wake of Christian McCaffrey’s injuries. Despite what the analytics say about paying running backs, keeping Davis turned out to be the right decision.

Heading into 2021, the Panthers are pretty thin at the safety position, especially after the questionable decision to release Tre Boston. Burris may be able to keep his spot for no other reason than Carolina not having any better options to take his place.

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Panthers rookie scouting report: Thomas Fletcher sets up long snapper competition

Any long-snapper is definitely not a flashy pick, but Thomas Fletcher is about as good as they come at the position.

Any long-snapper is definitely not a flashy pick, but Thomas Fletcher is about as good as they come at the position.

In his four years at Alabama he finished perfect on all snapping duties, received first team All-American honors his senior year, and won the Patrick Mannelly Award (nation’s top long snapper). Fletcher has quality size for the position and excellent accuracy. He has the potential to become one of the best long-snappers at the next level.

Current long snapper J.J. Jansen has been a tremendous player for the Panthers for over a decade, but let’s not forget he is now 35 years old and only has one year left on his contract, so he’ll most likely be gone after this upcoming season. If Fletcher makes the roster, he could provide special teams value right away and be a nice backup plan in case of an injury to Jansen this year.

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Measurables and percentiles for the Carolina Panthers’ 2021 draft class

So, with a little help from the prospect testing at their respective pro days, here are the measurables and percentiles for the Panthers’ 2021 draft class.

No NFL combine for the 2021 draft? No problem. The good folks over at MockDraftable.com were still able to piece together their yearly spider graphs of the incoming rookie crop.

So, with a little help from the prospect testing at their respective pro days, here are the measurables and percentiles for the Panthers’ 2021 draft class.

CB Jaycee Horn

In case you couldn’t tell, that’s a pretty freakish web. Horn will be able to cover plenty of rare air with his height, wingspan and jumps.

And if you still couldn’t tell how special of an athlete Horn is, check out his Relative Athletic Score (RAS) as well, where his 9.99 mark ranked second among all cornerbacks tested since 1987.

WR Terrace Marshall Jr.

Marshall’s got the hops too, which is even crazier considering he measures in at slightly over 6-foot-2. Like Horn, his above average athleticism is one of a few reasons general manager Scott Fitterer jumped on him in the second round.

OT Brady Christensen

While he doesn’t measure up favorably, Christensen is one hell of an athlete. (See a theme here yet?) Each of his athletic test results landed him in at least the 85th percentile.

TE Tommy Tremble

Tremble, noted primarily for his blocking at Notre Dame, will look to tap more into that high-end testing as a pass catcher at the next level.

RB Chuba Hubbard

Hubbard’s web isn’t as encompassing as the four teammates ahead of him, but it’s still quite solid. He’s a longer-bodied back with relatively good agility that’ll look to compete for the open reps behind Christian McCaffrey.

DT Daviyon Nixon

A defensive tackle with that type of length hitting a 4.9-second 40-yard dash with a 1.7-second 10-yard split? Woof.

CB Keith Taylor

Taylor fits right into that Seattle way of thinking Fitterer has brought over. They love them those tall defensive backs.

OG Deonte Brown

The 6-foot-3, 344-pound Brown was not brought on to be an athlete, and you don’t have to be when you’re a mountain of a man like this.

WR Shi Smith

Smith is pretty jumpy, with his broad and verticals hitting on the 66th and 57th percentiles, respectively. He’s fast as well, having clocked in his 40-yard dash at 4.46 seconds.

LS Thomas Fletcher

Long snappers are people too, but not worthy enough for spider graphs.

DT Phil Hoskins

Hoskins boasts some crazy quick splits for a defensive tackle at 6-foot-4 and 313 pounds. His tremendous 83-inch wingspan will also come in handy at the position when he attempts to bat down passes at the line scrimmage.

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Watch: Panthers 2021 draft class get their life-changing calls

Panthers: Watch 2021 NFL draft class get their life-changing calls

Between their franchise-record five trades and 11 total draft picks, the Carolina Panthers might’ve had the busiest phone lines in the NFL this past weekend. They also might’ve had the most entertaining ones as well.

After ringing up their first selection Jaycee Horn, someone who should be particularly familiar with cell-phone usage, on Thursday night, the team’s brass had 10 more calls to make. And although we haven’t gone through each of the 31 other clubs’ conversations with their newest players, we’re willing to bet they pale in comparison to the banter head coach Matt Rhule, general manager Scott Fitterer and owner David Tepper got throughout the process.

Like, did anyone else’s coach’s wife demand the team take a certain player? Well, Mrs. Rhule got her wish with Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard:

And did any other team take a long snapper who was willing to walk over to their new digs? Sixth-round selection Thomas Fletcher was ready to make the trek by foot from Alabama to Charlotte:

How about the raw emotion? Second-rounder Terrace Marshall Jr. was audibly overcome when the Panthers rang him up, making for a warm, feel-good moment:

Tepper couldn’t contain his emotion either. He let BYU offensive tackle Brady Christensen know he was more than elated his team was able to land him in the third round:

We can’t forget the family either. Sixth-round wide receiver Shi Smith had the cameras on while he shared the news with his loved ones:

While the phone bill at Bank of America Stadium may be a tad higher this month, it’s all worth it for the moments like these.

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Panthers’ sixth-round pick had a hilarious phone call with Matt Rhule when he got drafted

“ARE YOU SERIOUS!!?? Dude, chill out, brother!”

Over the weekend a number of football players saw all their years of hard work pay off and had their lives changed forever when they heard their names get called at the 2021 NFL Draft.

One of those players was Alabama long snapper Thomas Fletcher, who was picked by the Carolina Panthers in the sixth round. How he found at that news was pretty awesome.

Panthers coach Matt Rhule called Fletcher to tell him they had just selected him with the 222nd pick of the draft. Fletcher, though, thought the call was about becoming an undrafted free agent.

His reaction to finding out he was indeed selected by the Panthers was so good:

Amazing.

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Panthers double dip on Alabama players, draft LS Thomas Fletcher in sixth round

Former Alabama long snapper Thomas Fletcher was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the sixth round.

The Carolina Panthers already took Deonte Brown in the sixth round at No. 193 overall. Only 29 picks later, the team double dipped with former Alabama players by drafting Thomas Fletcher.

The long snapper was also taken in the sixth round, going No. 222 overall. After a successful stint as the starter over the last four years, Fletcher is now taking his talents to Carolina.

This is now the third Alabama on the Panthers roster. Back in 2019, former outside linebacker Christian Miller was taken in the fourth round (No. 115 overall) and has been with the team ever since.

It’s not often long snappers get drafted, but Fletcher’s exposure and overall effectiveness with the Crimson Tide helped him land the relative rare feat. Good for him, and good for Alabama.

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