Tag: visits

A big recruiting weekend on the horizon for the Auburn Tigers

Bradyn Joiner, Christopher Vizzina, and Jeremiah Cobb headline the group of recruits comingto the Plains this weekend.

As the Auburn Tigers continue to work on their 2022 team with spring practice, there is a big recruiting weekend coming to the Plains.

Bryan Harsin and the staff haven’t had the best start to the recruiting cycle as they have just one commitment. Likely it has been slow going due to the reports that the administration was debating on the job security of the head coach.

With all of the hoopla in the rearview mirror, this staff can focus on bringing talent to Auburn and building towards the future. One big visitor has already confirmed that he will return to campus with the 2023 commitment Bradyn Joiner.

He tweeted out, “Let’s get some commits”. Joiner will return to the Plains on Mar. 19.

According to 247Sports, here is the group that will be in attendance. The list is headlined by the top quarterback in the state of Alabama.

4-star offensive line prospect set to visit LSU

Vysen Lang will hope to receive an offer from LSU when he’s on campus on Monday.

Bulking up the offensive line will certainly be a priority for Tigers coach Brian Kelly in recruiting over the next couple of cycles, and he could be set to offer another blue-chip lineman from the 2023 class.

Vysen Lang,  a 6-foot-4 335 pound four-star offensive tackle from Pike Road, Alabama, is set to visit Baton Rouge on March 21.

Offensive line coach Brad Davis has been the primary recruiter for Lang but the Tigers have yet to officially offer him. Lang plays for the Pike Road Patriots, one of the fastest-growing schools in the state of Alabama.

Pike Road played its first football season as a 3A school in 2018. They finished with a 6-5 record that year. Since then, the Patriots have been an absolute menace to everyone that they have played against.

Due to their massive growth, Pike Road moved up to Class 5A after the 2019 season. Last season was their best year yet as they finished 14-0 and won the 5A state championship game against Pleasant Grove 51-14. Lang was a pivotal part of that team as he terrorized opposing defenders and made more pancakes than IHOP.

Lang will hope to receive an offer while he’s in town, and if he does, LSU could be in a good position for him. However, there will certainly be strong competition for the rising prospect.

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Top-ranked recruit in the class of 2024 to visit LSU this weekend

LSU will have a massive recruiting target on campus this weekend in cornerback Desmond Ricks, the No. 1 prospect in the 2024 class.

LSU will have a massive recruiting target on campus this weekend.

Cornerback Desmond Ricks, currently the top-ranked recruit in the 247Sports Composite for the class of 2024, announced on Twitter that he would be taking a visit to Baton Rouge this upcoming weekend.

Ricks, who attends IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, is originally from Virginia. It’s still early in Ricks’ recruitment as he won’t be signing for almost two more years, but getting a recruit in the door is the first step.

On3 has Ricks’ NIL Valuation at $32,000. On3 describes that metric as a way to estimate a player’s worth in NIL deals, it is not a tracker of current deals.

247 Sports scouting report paints Ricks as a player who excels at the technical parts of the game while also having track star speed. If Ricks does end up at LSU, he’d join a long list of five-star cornerbacks who the Tigers have landed over the years. Cornerback is a position of need for LSU after losing some to the transfer portal.

According to On3, cornerback Caleb Presley and wide receiver Robby Washington will also be taking a visit to LSU this weekend. Presley and Washington, both four-stars, are a part of the 2023 class. Washington holds a 247 crystal ball to Miami at the moment.

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Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

Chiefs sign WR Justin Watson, host several players for workouts on Friday

The #Chiefs hosted several players for workouts and visits on Friday, also signing former #Buccaneers fifth-round pick Justin Watson.

Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach is hard at work looking to unearth some gems to add to the 90-man offseason roster.

According to the NFL’s official transaction notice on Friday, the Chiefs had four players in for workouts and one player in for a visit. Several players who worked out are former NFL draft picks or undrafted free agents with their most recent professional play coming in the Canadian Football League. Some of these players will see their CFL contracts expire on Feb. 8 and could sign with Kansas City after that point in time.

The Chiefs did sign one player from the group of visits and workouts, the lone one who didn’t most recently play in the CFL. Here’s a quick look at each of the players brought in down below:

LSU to make one final push as they host TreVonte’ Citizen this weekend

LSU set to host running back target.

It is coming down to the wire for a pair of 2022 recruiting targets for the LSU Tigers. This weekend Brian Kelly and the staff have their top remaining target coming to town for a visit. Lake Charles running back TreVonte’ Citizen has been busy with visits.

He recently came off another visit to Auburn, which remains one of the biggest threats to LSU for Citizen’s pledge. Citizen and his family will be in Baton Rouge. Associate head coach and running backs coach Frank Wilson is trying to reel him in. On3 believes that LSU is still firmly in the running but the loss of Kevin Faulk on staff has put them a bit behind.

Frank Wilson is key for LSU. Citizen is big on relationships and when Kevin Faulk was not retained by Kelly, that hurt LSU. It is far from over though. LSU is the in-state school, his family will spend this weekend in Baton Rouge, and the Tigers will work hard to swing the momentum. Citizen is set to take an unofficial visit to Florida and an official visit to Miami next week.

The other target is Ponchatoula safety Jacoby Mathews, who will visit Florida. Both Citizen and Mathews are being heavily recruited by new Gators head coach Billy Napier. Napier hired former LSU defensive backs coach Corey Raymond, who has a strong relationship with Mathews. Both players could be playing elsewhere in 2022 due to their relationships with previous LSU assistants.

It could be a tough sell for the new staff but I wouldn’t count them out just yet with a couple of weeks left in the 2022 cycle.

Seahawks host defensive linemen for tryouts and visits on Tuesday

The Seattle Seahawks hosted a number of defensive linemen for tryouts and visits on Tuesday in the wake of Rasheem Green’s shoulder injury.

The Seattle Seahawks will always continue the search to beef up and strengthen their defensive line. Seattle hosted two players for visits to the facility on Tuesday – former Seahawk defensive tackle Demarcus Christmas and defensive end Breeland Speaks. The Seahawks also had defensive end John Daka in for a tryout.

The visits come on the heels of an injury to one of Seattle’s defensive ends during the Week-1 win over the Falcons. Rasheem Green briefly left the game in the first quarter with a shoulder injury and was still bothered by it on Monday.

Christmas was with the Seahawks over the summer but was waived during the initial 53-man roster cuts.

Speaks was originally selected by the Chiefs in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft and appeared in all 16 games as a rookie. He spent last season on the injured reserve after undergoing knee surgery. While on the IR, he was suspended four games for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy.

The Seahawks also hosted defensive back Michael Jacquet and guard Andrew Jones for tryouts.

No other transactions were listed for the Seahawks on Tuesday so if any signings were executed, we’ll have to wait until Pete Carroll addresses the media on Wednesday to find out.

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Former Saints WRs Emmanuel Butler, Cameron Meredith among Lions tryouts

The Detroit Lions tried out several free agents including former New Orleans Saints wide receivers Emmanuel Butler and Cameron Meredith.

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The New Orleans Saints did not report any free agent visits or tryouts on the daily NFL transactions wire, but two of their former wide receivers auditioned for the Detroit Lions: second-year pro Emmanuel Butler and veteran free agent Cameron Meredith.

Butler spent his 2019 rookie season with the Saints practice squad and looked solid in training camp over the summer, but didn’t make the team. Right now, the Saints have five receivers on the 53-man roster (Michael Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Tre’Quan Smith, Deonte Harris, and rookie Marquez Callaway) plus three more options on their practice squad (Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Austin Carr, and rookie Juwan Johnson).

Meredith was a notable restricted free agent pickup for the Saints a few years, but lingering health issues from a 2017 knee injury limited his availability. After the Saints released him, Cameron spent time with the receiver-needy New England Patriots last year but wasn’t able to get activated from the physically unable to perform list. He’s still trying to make a go of it in the NFL, so it’s possible his body has recovered.

Neither receiver was initially signed by the Lions following their tryout, however (with former Michigan State quarterback Bryan Lewerke throwing to them). More team visits could be ahead for them, but at this stage both former Saints are looking for work. Hopefully they’ll find it soon.

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Chiefs hosted three free agents for visits on Monday

An offensive lineman, a wide receiver and a punter were in Kansas City for visits on Monday.

The Kansas City Chiefs hosted three free agents for visits on Monday, including a familiar face. According to the NFL’s transaction report, the Chiefs reported visits with OL Danny Isidora, WR Juwann Winfree and P Tyler Newsome.

Isidora, 26, was a former fifth-round draft pick by the Minnesota Vikings in 2017. He mostly operated as a backup along the interior offensive line in Minnesota. In 2019, he was traded to the Miami Dolphins. He’s appeared in 24 career games between the two teams starting in a total of six games. The Chiefs are short on offensive linemen on their practice squad, so signing Isidora could make some sense.

Winfree, 24, was a former sixth-round pick by the Chiefs’ AFC West division rival, the Denver Broncos. He was waived by the Broncos during 53-man roster cuts. According to our friends at Broncos Wire, Winfree only played in three games last season with most of his action coming on special teams. He also missed most of training camp with a groin injury.

Finally, the Chiefs brought back Newsome, who was with the team for the majority of the virtual offseason program. He was released during the cutdown from 90 players to 80 players earlier in the summer. It’s interesting that Kansas City would bring him back for a workout. It’s worth noting that Tommy Townsend, who won the punting job in Kansas City, isn’t dealing with an injury or anything like that.

Does this signal that the Chiefs have some doubts about Townsend’s potential to step in and be the starting punter for the team? Everything they’ve said up to this point wouldn’t suggest that. Perhaps the Chiefs anticipated that Dustin Colquitt would be available if they ran into injury trouble at the position. That, of course, won’t be the case now with Colquitt signing a free-agent deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Nevertheless, it’s good to see the team bringing in some new players. We’ll see if anything happens in the coming days as a result of these visits.

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Seattle hosts former Seahawks Justin Britt, Paul Richardson on visits

The Seattle Seahawks are hosting two former teammates for visits on Wednesday, center Justin Britt and wide receiver Paul Richardson.

The Seattle Seahawks are continuing to scour the league’s remaining, available players to help bolster the roster ahead of the 2020 regular season.

On Wednesday the team hosted a couple of familiar faces – former Seahawks center Justin Britt and former Seattle wide receiver, Paul Richardson.

Both visits were listed on the NFL’s official transaction wire.

The potential return of Britt seems intriguing due to the fact the Seahawks have been struggling to find a legit, starting center following his release earlier in the year.

Britt finished last season on the Seahawks injured reserve after tearing his ACL Week 8.

Richardson is reportedly undergoing COVID-19 testing at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center and could sign with Seattle as soon as this week.

The Seahawks have a rest day after their mock game and return to duty on Friday.

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2020 Draft: 50+ prospects linked to Cowboys by virtual, in-person visits

With the draft now a week away, the last few names of interest for the Cowboys are starting to be fleshed out. The 2020 NFL draft is much different than previous iterations. With no in-person visits, the all-telling 30 national visits and Dallas Day …

With the draft now a week away, the last few names of interest for the Cowboys are starting to be fleshed out. The 2020 NFL draft is much different than previous iterations. With no in-person visits, the all-telling 30 national visits and Dallas Day invites which are normally used to determine who the club has heavy interest in are tells the public can no longer use to handicap the possibilities.

Dallas has seven picks in this year’s draft, starting with No. 17 in Round 1 and continuing with No. 51 and No. 82 on Day 2 of the three-day event. Dallas also has a fourth, two fifths and a seventh, barring any trade activity. Here, we break down the list of known prospect interest.

This list would not be possible without the annual detective work spearheaded by several, prominently Bobby Belt (cohost of the Boys and Girls Podcast), Mark Lane (WFAA Sports), Tom Downey (Cowboys Report) and services such as Walter Football who aggregates reports of players visits for all 32 NFL clubs.

One major note, this is clearly not a complete list of prospects Dallas is interested in. It’s quite possible the club has met with players at venues or interviewed them virtually without it leaking to the press. An omission, more than ever this year, should not be taken as a tell-tale sign of a lack of interest.

We’ll divvy up the list using The Athletic’s Dane Brugler’s draft guide, which projects the rounds each prospect will likely be targeted.

Before we get going, a few notes and observations.

  • The Cowboys have spoken to three running backs who are projected to be taken on Day 1 or Day 2. With the way Tony Pollard played when given limited opportunities and the contract star runner Ezekiel Elliott has, this is pretty interesting. Could the club be looking to use Pollard as a slot receiver more in 2020? Could they be preparing for an escape from Elliott’s deal in the next couple seasons?
  • The Cowboys have two mid-round QBs in their crosshairs and they couldn’t be more different. One is an outstanding runner with a strong arm, the other a pocket QB.
  • The team is clearly enamored with the idea of having three dominant WR, as they showed interest in several early-round prospects despite resigning Amari Cooper and having two more years of cheap control of Michael Gallup.
  • Dallas has contacted an edge rusher prospect for every single phase of the draft; a first rounder, borderline 1/2, borderline 2/3, third, fourth, fifth, borderline 6/7 and PFA. They’re taking one.

By Round

By Position

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