Give us an undrafted gem on your 2014 roster

mikemac1

We've been doing this two years now. Used to be done during training camp before final cuts. The teams are now set but that's ok

Have you an undrafted player who made the team this year and you think they may be a hidden gem?

My Ravens 2012 gem was left guard Justin Boren from Ohio State who never made the team He is currently in Denver

My 2013 was wide receiver Marlon Brown from Georgia who finished with 524yds, 49 receptions and 7 TD's. I think that qualifies as a gem!

My 2014 gem for the Ravens is.......

James Hurst, offensive tackle, North Carolina,

6' 5", 296lbs

A four year starter at North Carolina he was a highly sought after undrafted free agent and got 18 offers. Chose Baltimore for the very good reason that the offensive line wasn't strong in 2013 and he had every chance to make the team.

Thought of as a potential second round pick by many he broke his leg last December in a bowl game. He participated in the March pro day but was very limited. Many thought he'd still get drafted but it was a deep 2014 draft and he went undrafted

Had a solid preason, not a whole lot to say. Won't be expected to see many snaps in 2014 and he will be backup left tackle on the depth chart.

If you don't know the name you may have heard of him during the buildup to the 2013 college football season. Clowney was shut down in Week 1 by Hurst and it became a talking point for a while

Ravens fans should be happy with this signing I think

Paully D

I flagged Hurst as one I really wanted us to draft, Mike, so was delighted we picked him up as a FA. Good choice and he'd be mine too.

HigginsJ

Would have loved us to get Hurst. Injury aside he was worth a high draft pick IMO (2nd/3rd rounder)

Corey Washington is a 6ft 4 WR from that hotbed of NFL talent Newberry College. He was originally signed as an UDFA by the Cardinals but only lasted 15 days with them.

Since he joined us he had lit up training camp with spectacular catches & by the end of camp he was making plays on Amukamara & drawing double teams from Rolle & Thurmond.

NFL.com awarded him their (slightly meaningless) preseason MVP as he scored 4 game winning TD's in 5 games (admittedly against 2nd string D's)

He made our 53 as our 5th WR ahead of Mario Manningham & Julian Talley. His size gives him the potential to be an excellent red zone target

JaMarcusHustle

For the Pats, I think every fan will tell you it's Brian "Randy Moss" Tyms.

adrian522

For the 49ers I'll go with James McCray DB from Division II Catawba College. What's interesting about this is that 49ers D-Line coach Jim Tomsula is an allum of there so you can understand how this came about.

He was initially a CB but converted to safety in college. The 49ers starting Safties are Eric Reid and Anthoine Bethea. There is not really much depth beneath them. Craig Dahl, Spillman etc. The 49ers drafted Jimmie Ward in the first round but he will, initially at least play nickel back so McCray has a chance.

This is what DC Vic Fangio had to say about him:

"He's done well for a small school guy. He's got good ability. He's got good speed and he's tough. Shows some instincts. He's got to learn a lot. And that can be a slow process at times for these guys. But, I do like what he's shown and he's got some potential"

He has done very well to make the roster as he was always more likely to end up on the practice squad, so here he is my 49ers gem:

James McCray DB

Son Of A Vidic

My top UDFA for the Patriots is Malcolm Butler. He literally came out of nowhere from the Division II West Alabama Tigers. He's 5' 11" & 190 Lbs and his natural instincts and ball hawking ability jump of the screen at you. After the first preseason game, I thought this guy could make the roster. By the second preseason game, I knew he was making the roster.



*He will be wearing the No. 21 for the season and not the No. 29 jersey pictured here.

This guys play making caught the eye throughout camp and he did something not many defensive backs have done, he generated more headlines than Revis. He then continued his excellent play right through the 4 preseason games. He is always on his man, always on the money. If he ends up as the starting CB opposite Revis, it wouldn't surprise me in the least. So watch out for number 21.

SameOleJay

Stand-out for Chicago is Christian Jones.

Stupidty left him undrafted but he's landed in the right spot with a set of linebackers either over the hill or nowhere near the hill.

He'll need an injury to start but he could make noise when he does, guy's a monster.

Lionbacker

Well, the Lions really got two gems last year in Fauria & Waddle who both saw a lot of snaps and had a big impact.
This year again they have another two on the roster. The stand-out is another OT (just like Waddle), Cornelius Lucas from Kansas state who is a 6-9 monster but likely won't see the field, unless and emergency comes up.



The other rookie is Jerome Couplin, a hard hitting safety from William and Mary.
Is expected to play a crucial role for special teams.

Billy86

Packers would have likely been Colt Lycra. But we're the Packers, so he's injured.

Otherwise I'll go with Mike Pennell. Even though he is a rookie nose tackle and uefa at that, I expect to see him get a decent number of snaps with Raji gone for the year. At 6'4, 332lbs he is a big big boy, especially for a rookie, and is a safe bet to be in on a number of running downs at least.

One we didn't hold onto was Jumal Rolle, currently on our PS so any teams with poor depth at corner might do well to give him a shot.

And finally he doesn't count as he was not a UDFA but if GBs receivers pick up some injuries, something they have a knack of being Packers players, keep an eye out for Jeff Janis who was drafted in the 7th round, at #236... there's some buzz of there being a touch of Jordy Nelson about him.

adrian522

Looks like my guy above may be getting the cut once some of these suspensions/injuries clear up but you never know...

At present none of the following are on the 53 man roster

Navarro Bowman - PUP
Marcus Lattimore - NFI
Aldon Smith - Suspension
Glenn Dorsey - IR - Designated to return
Alex Boone - Holdout

Boone is expected back on the roster this week so someone will have to go. The others will likely return later in the season with the possible exception of Lattimore.

But hey with the amount of suspensions we are racking up it may free up plenty of roster spots.

Leslie91

For the Chargers I'll go with Greg Ducre, CB out of Washington.

Funny enough this is the first year in ages that I can remember us being in a good position at that spot so for now Greg is on the PS. But I think this guy has a real shot in the NFL.

If I can mention one more I'm gona say Adrian Phillips the S out of Texas, he is on the PS also.

We've 3 UDFAs who have actually made the team but I don't believe 2 of em are any great shakes. Dontrelle Inman might surprise some at WR.

bruschi

I'd agree with Corvus, and go one further and say Malcolm Butler will be the biggest undrafted rookie in the league this year. High probability he will be starting opposite Darrelle Revis in the season opener. And he is miles ahead of Brandon Browner at the moment, and to be honest, if roles were reversed in the contract and money things, Browner would have been cut in the first lot. I think he is only there because of the guaranteed money spent and the fact that they can wait 4 weeks until after the suspension to deal with what to do with him.

I like Tyms too as Jemarcus points out, but I think he could struggle to hang in there once the season gets going, and again he has the 4 week wait to see what is to be done with him. I dont think he was on the field at all with Brady during pre season, which was a shame. Mainly got his reps with Garopollo and Mallet

UnitedIrishman

Billy sums it up well above with regards to the Packers. Lyerla getting injured and also Raijon Neal (RB) suffering the same means there's likely to be little impact from our UDFA.

Billy86

UnitedIrishman wrote: »

Billy sums it up well above with regards to the Packers. Lyerla getting injured and also Raijon Neal (RB) suffering the same means there's likely to be little impact from our UDFA.

It's grand sure, we're only a few weeks from the Ted Thompson Silver Fox Midseason Holy Crap Everyone's Injured UDFA Bonanza.

Despite keeping Capers around so long, gotta love that man and the UDFA players he always seems to find to come in and do a job.

Also not too worried about Neal, personally love the trio of Lacy/Starks/Harris. First two were one of the absolute best 1-2 punches in the league last season and though Harris isn't a starting back, he's quite explosive and very slippery/hard for defenders to get a hand on as a 6-12 carry type guy. Going to be interesting to see Rodgers with an actual, real life running game for a change (he was about 60 yards off being our leading rusher over 2010/11/12, if I recall, which still baffles and amazes me).