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Rosters are more or less set, practice squads are compiled, and lots of guys are left without jobs. This time of year is always a mixed bag of emotions around the football world. Cougar Nation was well represented in the many hopeful NFL prospects around the League this year.
19 former BYU football players entered training camp for 2018 NFL season. 8 guys made NFL rosters and 3 made practice squads so far. We could still see a few changes over the next few days, but this is pretty much it.
Who’s in
8 guys made an NFL roster this year. Here is how it all played out.
Kyle Van Noy- Patriots
Jamaal Williams- Packers
Daniel Sorensen- Chiefs
Taysom Hill- Saints
Ezekiel Ansah- Lions
John Denny- Dolphins
Fred Warner- 49ers
Michael Davis- Chargers
Most of these guys are already established in the league, but there were a couple that didn’t have a position locked in going into training camp.
Taysom Hill played last year for the Saints, but his position on the 53-man roster was not a sure thing by any means. The Saints brought in another big name receiver and at one point had 5 QBs in training camp. Taysom proved his worth and beat out JT Barret and Tom Savage to lock in his spot.
Michael Davis continues to show his tenacity and his work ethic and keeps his spot with the Chargers. Michael had a great preseason and is slated as a 2nd string CB for the Chargers.
Fred Warner might be the biggest story coming out of BYU this year. Fred has been an absolute standout this year. With a little help from injury, Fred Warner is going to be starting week 1 against the Vikings. Reminder to to everyone, HE IS A ROOKIE!! San Fransisco loves Fred and he has quickly become a fan favorite. I think Fred Warner is going to be one of the biggest things out of BYU in a long time.
Dear recruits:
— Geoff Johnston (@geoffjBYU) September 4, 2018
Don't let anyone tell you BYU can't produce NFL players. Fred Warner is an NFL starter as a rookie in spite of coming off a rough BYU season. If you have the talent and work ethic to succeed, BYU is as good of a vehicle to get you there as any other school. https://t.co/y0BoJq86HO
Jamaal Williams making a roster isn’t necessarily a big story line, but his position on the depth chart sure is. Jamaal is the starting running back going into week 1. Jamaal had a huge rookie season and I am confident that this year will be even better. Jamaal has also been a big favorite in fantasy football. If he is still available in your leagues, I would go grab him quick!
Practice? We talking about practice?
Allen Iverson might not have appreciated practice, but a few former Cougs sure do.
3 former BYU football players made practice squads last weekend.
Bronson Kaufusi- Jets
De’Ondre Wesley- Bills
Robertson Daniel- Ravens
Possible: Harvey Langi
Cougar Nation was heartbroken when we heard about Bronson getting cut from the Ravens. He had a wonderful preseason and we all feel a little ripped off. Luckily Bronson’s journey doesn’t end there. Bronson singed with the Jets practice squad. Sometimes we hear practice squad and we don’t realize how great this opportunity is. Each teams gets about 10 guys for their practice squad. Bronson is one of them for the Jets. He will get several chances this year to make the team. Football is violent. Injuries are bound to happen. Mark my words, if Bronson stays healthy, he will see the field this year.
Wesley had a real chance at a starting position this year for the Bills. Because of a late camp injury, he didn’t quite make the roster just yet. Watch for him to change that in the upcoming weeks. The Bills really liked him this year.
Daniel was a late edition to the Ravens this year. He showed up to play, but didn’t quite get the chance to make a roster. But the Ravens liked what they saw and kept him for themselves on the practice squad.
Harvey Langi is a few weeks away from coming back from an internal laceration injury. There have been reports that he will make the practice squad, but there has not been an official announcement yet.
Be on the look out for more roster movement from the Patriots this week. I’m told Harvey Langi is still expected to end up on the practice squad. That could happen by this weekend.
— Mark Daniels (@MarkDanielsPJ) September 4, 2018
No Man’s Land
Unfortunately, not all former Cougs landed on a roster or practice squad. There are a few guys still searching for a spot in the league.
Kai Nacua
Micah Hanneman
Algernon Brown
Jordan Leslie
Kai and Jordan are the two biggest surprises from this list. Kai had a wonderful camp. Jordan was the leading receiver for the Broncos. I am still blown away they are not on a roster. I don’t even have an explanation. Hopefully a team makes room for them soon. They are way too good to not be playing football.
Back to back years of leading a team in receptions/reception yards and still being cut... Crazy business
— Jordan Leslie (@Jles9) August 31, 2018
Injuries
Lots of guys are still battling injuries.
Daniel Sorensen
Daniel suffered a knee injury early in training camp. He missed all of preseason and will miss a portion of the regular season. Luckily for Dan, he has a spot on the Chiefs when he is healthy.
Jonah Trinnaman
Jonah suffered a major fracture in his spine this training camp. He will miss the entire year. He was waived with an injury settlement. I spoke with him today and he is shooting for November to start working out for teams again.
Tejan Koroma
Tejan suffered a knee injury and will miss the rest of the year. He was waived/injured settlement by the Chiefs.
Colby Pearson
Colby has been dealing with a nagging hamstring injury. He was waived/Injured settlement by the Falcons.
The Odds
It wasn’t a good weekend for many former Cougs.
The pure accomplishment of making an NFL roster or practice squad is something hard to fully comprehend. All of us sitting at home cannot understand what these guys go through to make it. Ill try to put it in perspective for you guys here.
The NFL is a tough, tough league. There are only 1,969 athletes on NFL rosters and only about 320 guys get added to practice squads. There are around 12,650 Division I college football players at any given time. Around 1,700 them are seniors. There were about 100 underclassman last year that left school early and entered the NFL Draft. Put those together, and we have around 1,800 players. Now let’s take that number and double it to include everyone in Division II football. That gives us roughly 3,600 players trying to enter the NFL a year. These numbers aren’t perfect but you get the picture. There were 256 players drafted this year in the 2018 NFL Draft. Now I’m not a math geek or anything, but if I did my math right, only about 7% of these players get drafted a year. Now take all those players and the ambitious undrafted rookies and then have them fight it out for spots on a 53-man roster against 2,000 guys who were already on that roster last year. I think you get my point. The NFL is BRUTAL. It is an accomplishment just getting the chance.
Stay tuned to @BYUpros on twitter and to vanquishthefoe.com for more news and updates.