Tag: undrafted rookies

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.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqby7y715wxzbczy player_id=none image=https://raiderswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Lewis Kidd is the only undrafted rookie to make the Saints’ initial 53-man roster

Lewis Kidd is the only undrafted rookie to make the Saints’ initial 53-man roster, but time will tell if he hangs on:

Former Montana State offensive lineman Lewis Kidd was the only undrafted rookie to make the New Orleans Saints’ initial 53-man roster on Tuesday, but time will tell if he hangs on. The Saints will continue to churn its roster over the next week and assemble their practice squad, with some players moving on and off the team in procedural moves. A couple of players will also go on injured reserve, where they can return to the active roster after being sidelined for at least four weeks (up to eight players can do this in 2022).

But Kidd is in a good spot. He impressed as a run blocker in preseason but needs to work on his pass protection reps, and he has time to improve behind Ryan Ramczyk and Landon Young at right tackle. With injuries thinning out the position group — backup left tackle Trevor Penning is one of those players who will miss time with an injury, while the starter, James Hurst, as well as Young have also been on the mend — retaining Kidd was an easy decision.

Hopefully he can continue to do his part to stick around. Kidd has held his own at right tackle after converting from left tackle in college (he has some experience lining up at right guard, which may have helped with the transition), and it speaks more to the strengths of the team than the quality of this year’s undrafted rookie class that he’s the last man standing. It’s possible the team ends up waiving him to try and sneak him on the practice squad after other squads are established around the league, but he’s passed the first test. It’s on Kidd to keep it up in the days and weeks ahead.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbyahgz6p2j3xp7 player_id=none image=https://saintswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[listicle id=115116]

Colts sign 22 undrafted rookie free agents

Here are the 22 UDFAs the Colts signed following the draft.

The Indianapolis Colts signed 22 undrafted rookie free agents to the active roster, the team announced Friday.

With rookie minicamp set to begin this weekend, the Colts got a lot of names under contract. This is a pretty big contrast from the handful they brought in during the 2021 offseason.

We’ll see how many wind up making the roster, but there are plenty of intriguing names to keep an eye on throughout the spring and summer workouts.

Here’s a look at all 22 undrafted rookies for the Colts: