Tag: Wes Hills

Browns workout Jordan Wilkins, 4 others as they continue to deal with injuries

We knew about Wilkins, but it turns out the Browns had a total of five in for a workout.

The Cleveland Browns are stuck in a hard place as they continue to work through injuries to young players like running back Jerome Ford. They had a handful in for workouts yesterday as a result. We knew about former Indianapolis Colts running back Jordan Wilkins coming in for a workout, but according to Aaron Wilson, the Browns had four others in the building as well.

Here is the full list of the five players who were in Berea trying to earn a spot on Cleveland’s 90-man roster.

Panthers host 2 running backs, 2 defensive backs for Tuesday tryouts

Today, they brought in two free agents at each spot who might be able to help.

The Carolina Panthers are a bit thin at running back and on the back end of their defense right now. Today, they brought in two free agents at each spot who might be able to help.

Here is a review of who came in for Tuesday tryouts.

RB Tavien Feaster – South Carolina

In college, Feaster (six-foot, 221 pounds) played 48 games for the Gamecocks, totaling 2,002 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns on 346 attempts, an average of 5.8 yards per carry. He was also used sparingly as a receiver, posting 40 receptions, 270 yards and one touchdown catch. At this level, he’s put in time with the Jaguars, Giants and Lions.

RB Wes Hills – Slippery Rock

Hills (6-foot-2, 218 pounds) was named First Team All-PSAC West in 2018. That year he lit up Cal for 248 yards and four touchdowns. He was a participant in the 2019 Senior Bowl, where he posted a 21-yard run. Hills then went undrafted and spent last season with the Lions, playing only 23 offensive snaps.

Rodney Smith fumbled in Sunday’s win over the Lions, so he might be out of favor. Either Feaster or Hills could wind up taking his spot at the bottom of the depth chart.

DB Picasso Nelson Jr. – Southern Mississippi

Nelson (5-foot-10, 195 pounds) is a second-generation football player who did a bit of everything in college. He racked up five interceptions, 13 passes defensed and 11.5 tackles for a loss in 47 career games for the Golden Eagles. He was on the practice squad for the Titans earlier this year.

CB Travis Reed – South Alabama

Reed (6-foot-1, 175 pounds) is a rookie who posted three interceptions, three tackles for a loss and 10 passes defensed in his Senior year at South Alabama. The Colts were the first team to sign him as a UDFA.

Reading between the lines, we can probably assume that both Christian McCaffrey (shoulder) and Donte Jackson (toe) will sit out this weekend’s game against the Vikings, hence bringing in more depth at both positions.

In related news, the team also re-signed safety Sean Chandler to their practice squad and released kicker Taylor Bertolet again.

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Lions re-sign Chris Lacy, Wes Hills, waive FB Luke Sellers, place DL Jashon Cornell on IR

At his morning press conference, Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia announced a series of roster moves including re-signing wide receiver Chris Lacy and running back Wes Hills, waiving fullback Luke Sellers and placing Jashon Cornell on injured reserve.

At his morning press conference, Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia announced a series of roster moves including re-signing wide receiver Chris Lacy and running back Wes Hills, waiving fullback Luke Sellers and placing Jashon Cornell on injured reserve.

Both Lacy and Hills split time between the Lions active roster and practice squad in 2019 and began training camp on the roster before being released over the last two weeks.

The resigning of Lacy was expected after last night’s report and he gives the Lions depth at outside receiver, while Hills gives the Lions more competition for the power running back role.

Sellers had a tough road to the roster with the Lions still rostering fullback Nick Bawden and the need to retain two players at the position more of a luxury than a necessity.

After Patricia twice referring to Cornell’s injury as “severe” and Birkett’s report of it being an Achillies injury, early indications are not optimistic that he will be able to return from injured reserve in 2020. If it is an Achillies tear, that will surely end his season, but Patricia elected not to comment on if Cornell will need surgery to not, so the longterm severity is not known at this time.

Establishing the 53: Rounding out the Lions’ backfield

Examining the Detroit Lions running backs room to determine how many players from this group could make the 53-man roster.

We are a long way from NFL training camps and even further from the regular season, but it’s never to early to examine and speculate about the Detroit Lions roster. Currently, the Lions have 90-players on their roster, and come September, there will likely be some difficult decisions to make when determining their final 53-players.

This article is the first in a new series of articles at Lions Wire called “establishing the 53”, where we will be examining a Lions’ position group, predicting the Lions’ strategy, and projecting the players who have an inside track for the regular-season roster.

In this piece, we will take a deeper look at the Lions’ running backs.

Easy decisions at the top of the RB group

The Lions have a clear 1-2 punch combo at the top of their running backs group after returning starter Kerryon Johnson and drafting D’Andre Swift in the second-round (pick 35 overall). The only debate involving these two will be over which one starts.

Erik’s prediction: Johnson and Swift make the 53, Johnson starts Week 1

1st down thumper

While K.Johnson and Swift are capable of playing on all three downs, the Lions want to rely on an early-down thumper, and the fact that they didn’t add one in the offseason, speaks volumes about how they feel about Bo Scarbrough. Unless his production falls off a cliff in the pre-season, the smart money is on him beginning the regular season as RB3.

Wes Hills will also challenge for this role but he is still rough around the edges and was outperformed by Scarbrough in 2019. He has NFL potential and his talent is worth continuing to develop but he may need more time.

Erik’s prediction: Scarbrough makes the 53, Hills to the practice squad

Will the Lions keep four or five RBs?

If the Lions only keep four running backs there will be a strong camp battle between last year’s sixth-round draft pick Ty Johnson and this year’s fifth-round draft pick Jason Huntley.

Let’s take a look at their athletic profiles:

Height Weight 40-yard-dash Burst score
Ty Johnson 5106 213 4.4 120.15
Jason Huntley 5084 182 4.4 132.65

Both can burn up the turf, catch passes, and are capable kick returners — something an RB4/5 needs to be able to do to make the back end of a roster.

The first big advantage for T. Johnson has over Huntley is his deceptive size. He has proven he can hold up in the NFL, his year experience (63 rushes and 24 receptions) cannot be undervalued, and his improvement as the season progressed is worth noting.

Meanwhile, Huntley is roughly the same size at J.D. McKissic but faster and more explosive. Huntley can step right into the role McKissic has last season as a jitterbug runner with dynamic pass-catching skills out of the backfield (he had 134 career catches at NMST), while also legitimately challenging Jamal Agnew for kick return duties (he had five kick off returns for touchdowns in college).

Erik’s prediction: Lions keep five backs, both T. Johnson and Huntley make the 53

Erik’s Reasoning

Five backs may seem like a lot but you don’t draft four running backs in three years — two in the second-round at that — unless you plan on using them. The Lions are also a team desperate to establish the run, have injury concerns with several of their top options, and Swift/Huntley’s elite pass-catching skills will allow the Lions to potentially go with fewer bodies at other offensive skill positions.