Chiefs Add Two to the Practice Squad

Chris Thorman — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:03:33 -0000

We signed CB Travarous Bain and G Tavares Washington.

Bain (6-0, 182) originally entered the NFL with Arizona in 2007 as a rookie free agent. He attended training camp with the Cardinals each of the past two seasons, but was released prior to the start of the regular season on both occasions. Bain spent the final nine games of the 2007 season on Arizona’s practice squad.

Bain started 20 games over two seasons at Hampton after transferring from the University of Miami (FL). He led the Pirates with five interceptions as a senior and garnered first-team All-MEAC honors. He prepped at Northwestern High School in Miami, Florida.

Washington (6-4, 315) originally entered the NFL with San Francisco as a rookie free agent in 2006 and spent that entire campaign on the 49ers practice squad. He also spent a portion of the 2007 season on San Francisco’s developmental squad after being released prior to the start of the regular season. Washington attended training camp with the Redskins in 2008, but was released prior to the start of the regular season.

The Greenville, Mississippi native played in 18 games (12 starts) at Florida after transferring from Mississippi Delta Junior College. He finished his prep career at South Delta High School in Greenville, Mississippi.

Dowayne Davis and Scott Mayle were released from the practice squad after being signed a few weeks ago.

The Chiefs (Almost) Fill Up their Practice Squad

Chris Thorman — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:02:56 -0000

The nearly full list, courtesy of the mothership.

S Dowayne Davis
DE Jason Parker
WR Marques Hagans
G Edwin Harrison
DT Derek Lokey
WR Kevin McMahan
LB Aden Durde

Dowayne Davis, an undrafted free agent who signed with Dallas and was just cut, and wide receiver Marques Hagans are new to the team.

Since Durde doesn't count towards the eight player limit, the Kansas City Chiefs still need to add two more players. That may happen in the coming minutes as they update their web site roster.

NFL.com reported that the Chiefs also tried to claim center Andy Alleman but he was awarded to the Miami Dolphins.

A bit more about Dowayne Davis and Marques Hagans is after the jump.

**UPDATE** Adam Teicher at the Red Zone speculates that the last two spots on the practice squad could go to WR Scott Mayle and LB Weston Dacus.

Above are some clips of Dowayne Davis and here is a bit of info on WR Marques Hagans, who was a Rams 5th round pick in 2006.

Film review: Cowboys vs. Vikings - Bubble Watch edition

Dave Halprin — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:01:59 -0000

I’ve watched the film on the Dallas Cowboys game with the Minnesota Vikings and have compiled my film review – The Bubble Watch edition. Not quite a traditional film review, I concentrated on those areas where I think we have decisions to make. Mainly, this included the offensive line, WR, OLB and the secondary. Later tonight, I’ll post my 53-man roster prediction.

One note, the Cowboys sure wanted to get a look at the line, the receivers and Bartel because in the second half when the Vikings kept blitzing and getting pressure, the Cowboys kept on throwing the ball basically abandoning the running game.

Offensive line

Joe Berger – For the most part I liked the game he played and would rate it better than Pat McQuistan’s or Cory Procter’s. He showed good mobility when he had to pull and was also good about picking up the right defender on those plays. His pass protection was pretty solid for most of the evening. I saw him blow a pass protection on a stunt and then he just got beat another time. He was also slow getting out on a screen. But for most of the game he was delivering a very solid performance.

Pat McQuistan – McQ got almost all the snaps at Kyle Kosier’s vacant left guard position but had some problems along the way. He did have moments when he was powerful in the run game and showed some mobility on the pull blocks, but didn’t always find a guy to block. He had a few soft moments in pass protection including one pitiful play. He also had three plays where his run blocks were complete failures and one almost led to a turnover. He did get downfield nicely on a screen pass.

Cory Procter – Procter only played a couple of series at left guard towards the end of the game. My guess is they are not considering him seriously for Kosier’s spot. Procter still suffers from being a little soft in the middle, he’s very susceptible to getting pushed straight back and he’s not as agile when he has to pull. He showed nothing in this game that should really change his status one way or the other.

Doug Free – Good thing my man Free isn’t really fighting for a roster spot because he played a lousy game. He was repeatedly beaten in pass protection and had a hard time recognizing some of the blitzes and stunts. The speed rush was really giving him trouble.

James Marten – I actually came away with the feeling that Marten played alright for him, which isn’t an overwhelming endorsement. He still had plays where he whiffed on blocks or didn’t hold his ground, but they were fewer than I’ve come to expect from him.

Mike Jefferson – He had a few moments, especially towards the beginning where he caught some balls and made a few plays. He did have one easy drop and he didn’t show up on special teams at all. But he did get the nod as the starter next to Sam Hurd, so that could be an indication about how the Cowboys view him. He did get a couple of good blocks downfield in the run game.

Danny Amendola – He made a few plays catching the ball and blocking downfield, but really looks like if he’s going to stick it will be because he can add to the special teams. As both a backup punt and kick returner, he gets an advantage. But he didn’t exactly shine in this game, but didn’t make any big mistakes.

OLB

Justin Rogers – Don’t see him as “on the bubble” so didn’t chart him. They need his experience (the little he has) and his play on special teams.

Erik Walden – He didn’t really impress in the pass rush department but he did do a better job than I’ve seen him do before at standing his ground against the run. He did blow an easy tackle in the backfield on one play. But what caught my eye was that on four kick/punt coverage plays, Walden showed up around the ball and made a couple of tackles. If he can contribute on special teams, that’s a great sign for him sticking around.

Tearrius George – If George could have had a couple of more games like this or showed some of this in camp, the Cowboys would for sure create a place for him on the roster. The guy had at least six plays in the backfield. He had a great penetration blowing up a run, he got a couple of sacks and hit the QB a couple of other times disrupting passes. Now, he did a lot of this later in the game against the Vikings’ scrubs, but it still was an impressive performance. The question is - was it too late to change his future?

Darrell Robertson – Just didn’t do enough to change his fate.

CB/S

Evan Oglesby – Helped himself again this game with a nice breakup of a pass in the endzone, another pass break up later, a good tackle against the run and generally no big mistakes. The only bad thing I saw him do is use bad technique and turn his back to a receiver on a short pass. One problem for Oglesby is he doesn’t show up much on special teams and that could hurt his chances.

Alan Ball – Had one great special teams play on punt coverage and one good deep coverage but not much else. He just doesn’t make a lot of plays.

Dowayne Davis – A couple of nice tackles on defense but not much on special teams where he needs to shine to make the team. Didn’t really help himself much during the game.

SB Nation - Dowayne Davis

Chiefs Add Two to the Practice Squad

The Chiefs (Almost) Fill Up their Practice Squad

Film review: Cowboys vs. Vikings - Bubble Watch edition