Tag: Zayne Anderson

Packers S Zayne Anderson grabs first career INT in first career start

Packers safety Zayne Anderson intercepted a pass in his first career start on Monday night against the Saints.

In his first career start in the National Football League, Green Bay Packers safety Zayne Anderson grabbed his first career interception.

With the New Orleans Saints driving in the third quarter, Anderson — who started at safety next to Xavier McKinney — made a leaping interception of Spencer Rattler’s throw down the field to preserve the Packers’ 24-0 lead on Monday night at Lambeau Field.

Here’s the first career interception for Anderson:

Anderson, now in his fourth NFL season, is playing in his 32nd career game and 25th career game with the Packers. Primarily a special teamer, Anderson was thrust into starting duty against the Saints with Javon Bullard and Evan Williams both inactive while dealing with injuries.

Anderson went undrafted out of BYU in 2021. He intercepted three passes over 50 games and six collegiate seasons.

Anderson isn’t the only former BYU player to enjoy a career first at Lambeau Field on Monday night. Running back Chris Brooks, who played for BYU in 2022, scored his first career touchdown in the first half.

Bills have NFL high three players claimed on waiver wire

#Bills have NFL high three players claimed on waiver wire:

The Buffalo Bills ended up having multiple players picked up by other teams on the waiver wire after they were left off the 53-man roster.

In total, the Bills had three players that were grabbed. That tied with the San Francisco 49ers for the most among any NFL team.

The full rundown of those three can be found below:

New Packers safety Zayne Anderson takes pride in special teams abilities

New Packers safety Zayne Anderson, who was claimed off waivers on Wednesday, is likely to be a go-to player for Rich Bisaccia on special teams.

Since veteran coordinator Rich Bisaccia arrived in Green Bay before the 2022 season, special teams has become a much bigger priority for the Packers, with the team’s recent waiver claim of Zayne Anderson representing the latest example of this fact.

Anderson spent the summer with Buffalo but was released during Tuesday’s league-wide cutdown day. The Packers put in a claim and were awarded Anderson off waivers, who has since been added to the 53-man roster.

“We had talked with my agent about potentially practice squad,” said Anderson on Thursday about the Packers. “They kind of had an eye on us for a year or two. Just happy to be here, man. It’s a blessing, and excited for the opportunity.”

Anderson has good size at 6-2 and 206 pounds. He went undrafted in 2021 after spending six seasons at BYU, while battling injuries during his time there. In college, he spent most of his time lined up in the traditional deep safety role and came to the NFL with over 500 career special teams snaps, along with posting a 4.44-second 40-time at his Pro Day and an elite 3-cone time of 6.78-seconds.

Anderson spent his first two seasons with Kansas City, winning a Super Bowl last season as a member of the practice squad, and played just one career regular-season snap on defense, but was on the field for 109 snaps as a special teamer.

With Buffalo this summer, Anderson played just 14 total defensive snaps over the final two preseason games but was a regular member of the special teams unit. His three total tackles, according to PFF, were the most on the team. With special teams play being Anderson’s bread and butter in the NFL, he’s excited about the opportunity to play under Bisaccia.

“He’s one of the best special teams coaches in the business,” said Anderson. “And you can tell just the way he coaches his players and the way he handles everyone. He coaches with a lot of enthusiasm and I think that’s important, especially with the special teams unit to have that. So I’m excited to be able to work with him.”

Breaking down the Packers’ 6 roster moves made since final cuts

Admittedly, where Anderson fits on this Packers roster is still a bit fuzzy. His primary role is going to come on special teams, but unlike years past, it’s not as if the Packers didn’t have options there prior to his arrival.

The team released Tariq Carpenter, a core special teams player from 2022, in order to add Anderson, while the safety position already has Dallin Leavitt, who is on this team solely to be a special teams contributor. The Packers now also have six safeties on the 53-man roster, which could be the case to help make up for the special teams contributions lost at cornerback with only four on the current roster.

Perhaps on the special teams depth chart, Anderson is going to leap-frog either Jonathan Owens or Anthony Johnson. Although Johnson played 22 total special teams snaps over the three preseason games, only two came with the starters. Matt LaFleur also mentioned that as an area where he will have to continue to get more consistent.

“It always comes down to fundamentals,” said Anderson about playing special teams. “Knowing where you’re supposed to be and obviously, at the end of the day, it’s a man versus a man. It’s all about effort. So I take pride in that. I take pride in special teams. I’m excited.”

Even with all of the moves made this offseason at the safety position – and there were quite a few – this room still has plenty of unknowns from a defensive standpoint, although early expectations aren’t that Anderson is going to provide an impact in that area. It took a good portion of training camp for someone to emerge as the second starting safety next to Darnell Savage, but it does look like that role, for the time being any ways, will belong to Rudy Ford. It’s also going to be vital that Savage has a bounce-back season, after missed tackles and coverage breakdowns happened all too often in 2022.

The first step for Anderson is to familiarize himself with the defensive and special teams playbooks. With the Packers first regular season game now just over a week away, Anderson is going to have to learn it all on the fly if he is going to contribute on special teams right away, but he’s joining a position group with a lot of experience in that regard.

“He’s been in the league for a long time,” said Anderson of Leavitt, “and a really good special teams player. Being able to learn from guys like that, that have been in this league and done it at a high level. Obviously this room is filled with some talent, so being able to learn from the guys. I’m excited.”

Packers claim TE Ben Sims, S Zayne Anderson off waivers following final cuts

The Packers claimed rookie TE Ben Sims from the Vikings and S Zayne Anderson from the Bills on Wednesday.

There’s a reason why the first 53-man roster is called the “initial” 53-man roster. One day after submitting an initial roster, the Green Bay Packers claimed two players off of waivers: tight end Ben Sims from the Minnesota Vikings and safety Zayne Anderson from the Buffalo Bills.

Claiming Sims and Anderson will require the Packers to make two roster moves to fit them on the 53-man roster.

The Packers must already create a roster spot for re-signing long snapper Matt Orzech. The assumed roster move is placing offensive tackle Luke Tenuta (ankle) on injured reserve. It’s possible another player or two will join Tenuta on injured reserve this week. If not, the Packers will have to release a player who made the 53-man roster on Tuesday.

Sims, who visited Green Bay before the draft, went undrafted out of Baylor in 2023. He played 86 snaps on offense for the Vikings this preseason, including 37 as a run blocker. Sims caught three passes on five targets for 53 yards on 43 routes run. Of his 86 snaps, 70 came as an inline tight end, a position where the Packers need help after losing Tyler Davis to a season-ending knee injury. Sims would be only the third traditional tight end on the rsoter, joining Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft, with Josiah Deguara labeled as a fullback.

Anderson went undrafted out of BYU in 2021. He spent two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, playing 110 special teams snaps over seven games. The Bills signed Anderson in February. He made three special teams tackles for the Bills over three preseason games but was cut on Tuesday. The Packers kept five safeties on the 53-man roster but may want more depth considering Dallin Leavitt is a special teams only player and Anthony Johnson Jr. is a rookie.

Sims and Anderson will need to come to Green Bay and pass physicals before they officially join the 53-man roster.

Chiefs elevate two players from practice squad for Week 13 vs. Bengals

The #Chiefs have officially elevated two players from the practice squad for Week 13’s game vs. the #Bengals.

The Kansas City Chiefs have made a pair of practice squad elevations ahead of their Week 13 away game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

According to the NFL’s personnel notice for Saturday, the Chiefs have used a standard elevation on both practice squad WR Cornell Powell and DB Zayne Anderson. This is the third consecutive standard elevation for Powell and the second consecutive for Anderson. Both players have now hit the three-standard elevation limit for the regular season.

Powell has provided Kansas City with depth while Kadarius Toney and Mecole Hardman have been injured, but the majority of his snaps have come on special teams. Anderson was elevated a week ago to serve as depth with Juan Thornhill inactive with a calf injury. This elevation could indicate the team’s plans for Deon Bush, who is listed as questionable to play in Week 13 due to an elbow injury.

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Chiefs elevate two players from practice squad for Week 12 vs. Rams

The #Chiefs have officially elevated two players from the practice squad for Week 12’s game vs. the #Rams.

The Kansas City Chiefs have made a pair of practice squad promotions ahead of their Week 12 game against the Los Angeles Rams.

According to the NFL’s personnel notice, the Chiefs have used a standard elevation on both practice squad WR Cornell Powell and DB Zayne Anderson. This is the second consecutive week where Powell has been elevated from the practice squad, filling in for injured CB Chris Lammons on special teams. He also had one snap on offense last week and could prove to be a key depth piece on offense with Kadarius Toney declared out.

Why would they go with Powell over Marcus Kemp? Kemp is officially out of practice squad elevations after his third elevation a week ago. If the Chiefs do use a standard elevation on him, he’ll be required to clear waivers before returning to the practice squad.

As for Anderson, this is the second time that he has been elevated from the practice squad this season, but the first time since Week 6’s game against the Buffalo Bills. His elevation serves as an indication that the Chiefs will be without S Juan Thornhill, who is listed as questionable for the game with a calf injury. Anderson is unlikely to play snaps on defense without another injury. However, with Bryan Cook likely to get his first career start on defense in Thornhill’s place, Anderson should get a lot of work on special teams against the Rams in Week 12.

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Chiefs make several roster moves ahead of Week 6 vs. Bills

The #Chiefs have placed DT Tershawn Wharton on injured reserve and signed CB Dicaprio Bootle to the 53-man roster. They’re also elevating two players from the practice squad for Week 6.

The Kansas City Chiefs have made a few roster moves ahead of their Week 6 game against the Buffalo Bills.

In an expected move, the Chiefs placed DT Tershawn Wharton on injured reserve. Wharton suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Week 5 against the Las Vegas Raiders. They made a transaction earlier this week to sign Taylor Stallworth to the 53-man roster from the practice squad, who will likely replace Wharton in the defensive line rotation.

Taking the spot on the 53-man roster vacated by Wharton is CB Dicaprio Bootle. The undrafted free agent corner out of Nebraska was running out of practice squad elevations, so it makes sense to sign him to the 53-man roster. He was elevated to the 53-man roster in Week 2 and Week 3, primarily playing special teams snaps. He has recorded just one assisted tackle on special teams this season.

For the first time in several weeks, the Chiefs are not elevating a kicker from the practice squad. Harrison Butker has returned to the lineup, which means Matthew Wright will remain inactive and on the practice squad. If Butker suffers a setback during the game, it’ll be S Justin Reid who is called upon to replace him.

The two players the team elevated from the practice squad this week are S Zayne Anderson and LB Cole Christiansen.

Anderson is being elevated to the 53-man roster for the first time this season. The former undrafted free agent was last signed to the 53-man roster in December of 2021, appearing in four regular season games and playing 62 snaps on special teams. Unless there are injuries during the game at cornerback and safety, it’s a safe bet that both Bootle and Anderson will primarily be used on special teams in Week 6.

This is Christiansen’s first time playing with the team since signing to the practice squad back in September. With Elijah Lee running into a similar problem to Bootle with practice squad elevations, Christiansen gets the call-up this week. He’ll likely be called upon to play special teams in place of Lee this week.

As we reported earlier, CB Trent McDuffie was not activated to the 53-man roster from injured reserve. He will not play during Week 6.

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Chiefs 2021 rookie season review: DB Zayne Anderson

We kick off our annual #Chiefs rookie season reviews by looking at much-maligned special teamer Zayne Anderson.

The Kansas City Chiefs added six draft picks in the 2021 NFL draft and a number of undrafted free agents too. Several of those rookies made contributions on offense, defense and special teams during the course of the 2021 regular season and postseason. One particular rookie was a December promotion from the practice squad, and despite a pair of egregious errors on special teams the team stuck with him.

Let’s take a look at Zayne Anderson’s rookie season and see what we can project for the future.

Chiefs ST coordinator Dave Toub won’t give up on rookie DB Zayne Anderson

#Chiefs rookie DB Zayne Anderson has made some mistakes on special teams in each of the past two weeks, but Dave Toub is unwilling to give up on him.

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Kansas City Chiefs rookie DB Zayne Anderson has been the subject of much outside scrutiny over the past few weeks.

Anderson was signed to the Chiefs’ 53-man roster from the practice squad ahead of the Week 15 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. It wasn’t his first action of the season, as he was a COVID-19 replacement for Tyrann Mathieu in Week 1. Anderson made a special team’s tackle against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16, but in the weeks following, he made crucial and costly errors.

The first, an illegal block on an 86-yard kick returned for a touchdown by Byron Pringle. The penalty cost the Chiefs a chance at six points in a game they lost to the Cincinnati Bengals. Dave Toub shrugged off that penalty as something that could have gone either way.

“We talked about this,” Toub said. “The thing about Zayne (Anderson) is he is playing as hard as he can possibly play. He’s got to play a little smarter in some spots obviously, but I still love the guy. The holding call that happened two weeks ago, could’ve happened to anybody on the field. That could’ve been called, it could’ve not have been called.”

Unfortunately, the miscues for Anderson continued and bled into the Week 18 game against the Denver Broncos. After forcing a quick three-and-out, Anderson went for the blocked punt, but he ended up with a running-into-the-kicker penalty instead. That penalty allowed the Broncos to march down the field and score their first points of the game.

“Running into the kicker, he was two inches away from being the hero of the game,” Toub explained. “That’s the way I look at it. He comes clean, he does everything right, he probably just false stepped a little bit, didn’t get there early enough, but he was two inches away from blocking that punt, scooping and scoring and now it’s 14-0 with a blocked punt and they have no life at all. Now it didn’t happen that way. We rough them and that gives them a little bit of life. There’s a fine line. You want to stay aggressive as a special teams coach and as a team, you want to try and make a play, but also you got to realize when you get there early enough to be able to just take it off the foot and then when you get there late enough, and you have to pull off. There’s a fine line there, but I don’t want to slow him down by any means by turning him into a passive guy because he’s worried about making a mistake. I want him to stay aggressive and I want him to get the block next time. No false step, get there early enough, get the block so we can get a scoop and score and help our football team.”

Anderson is on the wrong side of Toub’s fine line right now, but Toub’s coaching point with Anderson is for him to not worry about the mistake and execute better the next time around.

“My teaching point is simple,” Toub explained. “Don’t let one bad play mess up the next play. You got to forget it. I mean one bad play happens, you got to come in the next play and execute the next play at 100 percent and be where you’re supposed to be, be on the field, do your job. Those are the things that we try to coach. Mistakes are going to happen especially with a young kid like that. But we still love him. We still love the kid, he’s a good player, he’s going to help us down in the road in the future and he’s going to help us in the playoffs. We’re not down on Zayne by any means.”

What Toub’s seen from Anderson in the meeting rooms and in practice encourages him that he has what it takes to play in this league and do so at a high level.

 “We see him in practice every day,” Toub said. “We see his speed. I mean we saw it on the field. He’s made plays for us while he’s been in there. Good plays, running down kick returners from behind, his speed, his size, he’s got a great combination of those two things and he’s got the right temperament. He is not afraid. We just got to get it under control a little bit more, just be a little bit smarter in some spots, but he’s going to be a good football player for us.”

As for the one player who could push Anderson off the 53-man roster and back to the practice squad, it doesn’t appear he’s ready to return. Chris Lammons was designated to return from injured reserve, but his activation to the 53-man roster might not happen until the divisional round, should the Chiefs advance.

“Lammons is a really good player for us,” Toub said. “He’s a four-phase starter, he’s obviously our starting gunner, him and (Marcus) Kemp. I know he’s still working to get back. We’re not sure if he’s going to get back this week or not, but he’s working hard at it and he’s a guy we’re missing right now. But we have other guys that are going to step up and a lot of guys not only on our team, but on our practice squad that we can elevate going forward during the playoffs, so we feel pretty good about that.”

For now, the Chiefs will ride with Anderson into the playoffs, for better or for worse. With mistakes increasingly magnified in postseason play, for both Toub and Anderson’s sake, let’s hope the penalties are a thing of the past.

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Chiefs to sign practice squad DB Zayne Anderson to 53-man roster

The #Chiefs are set to sign practice squad DB Zayne Anderson to the 53-man roster ahead of their Week 15 tilt with the #Chargers.

The Kansas City Chiefs have some open spots on the 53-man roster and they’re filling at least one of those spots ahead of their Week 15 game against Los Angeles Chargers on “Thursday Night Football.”

According to his agent, GSE Worldwide’s David Canter, the Chiefs are set to sign DB Zayne Anderson to their active roster from the practice squad. A rookie undrafted free agent out of BYU, Anderson spent the offseason with Kansas City, but he didn’t make the final 53-man roster cuts. Anderson has since spent the entire 2021 NFL season on the practice squad for the Chiefs.

A hybrid linebacker and safety with the Cougars in college, he’s taken on a more traditional defensive back role with Kansas City. He recorded 11 total tackles in the preseason playing on both defense and special teams.

The rookie defensive back has become a bit of an understudy of Chiefs DB Daniel Sorensen, who shares the same alma mater with Anderson.

“I know Zayne (Anderson) obviously from BYU and training there in the summers and whatnot,” Sorensen told reporters in late July. “So he’ll come to me and ask me questions. I love giving advice and experience, passing it along to the next guy, everything that I’ve learned, and the experiences I’ve had, which is a lot. And just trying to coach him up when he runs into something that he’s struggling with or needs some guidance. I’ve been trying to help him in that.”

There should be some cause for concern surrounding Anderson’s signing. He was a standard elevation on the 53-man roster back in Week 1 when Tyrann Mathieu was absent due to COVID-19. Anderson only played special teams snaps during that game, with seven snaps on the day. The reason for concern would be Mathieu showing up on the Chiefs’ Monday injury report as a non-participant in practice for non-injury-related reasons. It could be nothing as the injury report was only in estimation, but it’s certainly worth monitoring.

Beyond that potential concern, this could prove to be a chance for Kansas City to get a closer look at Anderson. They can see how he performs while on the 53-man roster, which could help determine his future with the team and how they address the safety position in the 2022 NFL draft.

Expect an official transaction for Anderson to come on Tuesday’s personnel notice from the league office.

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