Former fantasy relevant players who spent time on NFL practice squads. (1 Viewer)

[matttyl]

Who you got? I know of Arian Foster right off the top of my head. Who else?

 

[cloppbeast]

Knowshon Moreno

 

[steveski]

Knowshon Moreno

Really? The only reason I question that is because he was an early 1st round pick.

 

[Khy]

Wouldn't this kind of go down the same route as the "Best Undrafted Guys" ever?

Warner, Moon, Foster, the list goes on... they all were likely on a practice squad at one point or another

 

[matttyl]

Wouldn't this kind of go down the same route as the "Best Undrafted Guys" ever?

Warner, Moon, Foster, the list goes on... they all were likely on a practice squad at one point or another

Most of them would fall into that category, but I'm sure there are some who were drafted and place on their team's practice squad to at least start the season or till an injury.

 

[cloppbeast]

Knowshon Moreno

Really? The only reason I question that is because he was an early 1st round pick.

I remember it distinctly. I had McGahee handcuffed by Ronnie Hillman while Moreno sat on the practice squad the whole season.

I will never forgive Lammey for that one.

 

[The Man With No Name]

Miles Austin

 

[matttyl]

Knowshon Moreno

Really? The only reason I question that is because he was an early 1st round pick.

I remember it distinctly. I had McGahee handcuffed by Ronnie Hillman while Moreno sat on the practice squad the whole season.

I will never forgive Lammey for that one.

That was not during his rookie season, though. He had an ok rookie season, but was on his team's 53 man roster.

 

[Adam Harstad]

Knowshon Moreno

Really? The only reason I question that is because he was an early 1st round pick.

I remember it distinctly. I had McGahee handcuffed by Ronnie Hillman while Moreno sat on the practice squad the whole season.

I will never forgive Lammey for that one.

He wasn't on the practice squad. He was on the 53-man roster, he was just a game-day inactive every week. Speaking of Denver Broncos, though, Rod Smith began his career on the practice squad.

Edit: not fantasy relevant, but Tom Nalen was on the practice squad at the same time. That might just be the best practice squad in NFL history.

 

[Anarchy99]

Players have practice squad eligibility provided . . .

They have not played in 9 regular season games.

They have not been on the active roster of an NFL team for an entire year.

They have not spent more than two seasons on a team’s practice squad.

Based on that, there is no way Knowshon Moreno was ever on the Broncos practice squad. He was drafted in 2009 and played in every game in the 2009 season.

Later in his career he could have been named to the game day inactive players list for weeks at a time, but he was never on the practice squad.

 

[Anarchy99]

Jake Delhomme

Matt Hasselbeck

 

[Anarchy99]

Knowshon Moreno

Really? The only reason I question that is because he was an early 1st round pick.

I remember it distinctly. I had McGahee handcuffed by Ronnie Hillman while Moreno sat on the practice squad the whole season.

I will never forgive Lammey for that one.

He wasn't on the practice squad. He was on the 53-man roster, he was just a game-day inactive every week. Speaking of Denver Broncos, though, Rod Smith began his career on the practice squad.

Edit: not fantasy relevant, but Tom Nalen was on the practice squad at the same time. That might just be the best practice squad in NFL history.

IIRC, Rod Smith started on the Patriots practice squad.

 

[cloppbeast]

I must have misremembered.

 

[pghrob]

IDP: James Harrison.

 

[Adam Harstad]

IIRC, Rod Smith started on the Patriots practice squad.

You do RC.

 

[Anarchy99]

IIRC, Rod Smith started on the Patriots practice squad.

You do RC.

Speaking of the Pats, I can't remember if Wes Welker ever made it to the Chargers practice squad or not before he signed with the Dolphins.

 

[Donnybrook]

Out of curiosity I had to check if Kurt Warner and Johnny Unitis spent any time on the practice squad. It seems that neither did. Both were cut outright and only after signing with new teams did they rise to greatness.

 

[eNdblu]

I think Romo started as a practice squad player?

 

[thriftyrocker]

Julius Thomas

 

[loose circuits]

Antonio Gates?

 

[Steed]

Vic Cruz? Or was he IRed directly after his blow up preseason?

 

[Anarchy99]

Out of curiosity I had to check if Kurt Warner and Johnny Unitis spent any time on the practice squad. It seems that neither did. Both were cut outright and only after signing with new teams did they rise to greatness.

I saw an article that said Kurt Warner was once on the practice squad.

Malcolm Floyd of the Chargers and Danny Woodhead (then of the Jets) were other practice squad guys.

 

[Buffaloes]

Knowshon Moreno

Really? The only reason I question that is because he was an early 1st round pick.

I remember it distinctly. I had McGahee handcuffed by Ronnie Hillman while Moreno sat on the practice squad the whole season.

I will never forgive Lammey for that one.

no, Moreno was never on the practice squad. A healthy scratch <> practice squad

edit: SSOG beat me to it...also beat me to Rod Smith

 

[Buffaloes]

Julius Thomas

wasn't on the practice squad

 

[cstu]

Warner, James Harrison, Woodhead, Amendola, Delhomme, Fred Jackson.

Here's some more - practice squad to the Pro Bowl

 

[Adam Harstad]

Julius Thomas

wasn't on the practice squad

I didn't think so, either, but it turns out they stashed him there in the latter half of 2012 rather than putting him on IR.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Jake Delhomme

Matt Hasselbeck

Delhomme was originally a Saint. Not only that he was a top 3 LA HS QB, alongside Peyton Manning (TEN) and Josh Booty (LSU). Delhomme a bonafide Cajun ended up at ULL/USL, yet somehow the Saints couldn't see they had a legit homegrown hero on their taxi squad. The Saints couldn't see pas their hat in those days.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Out of curiosity I had to check if Kurt Warner and Johnny Unitis spent any time on the practice squad. It seems that neither did. Both were cut outright and only after signing with new teams did they rise to greatness.

True Unitas and Warner had similar career paths.

 

[nirad3]

Jake Delhomme

Matt Hasselbeck

Delhomme was originally a Saint. Not only that he was a top 3 LA HS QB, alongside Peyton Manning (TEN) and Josh Booty (LSU). Delhomme a bonafide Cajun ended up at ULL/USL, yet somehow the Saints couldn't see they had a legit homegrown hero on their taxi squad. The Saints couldn't see pas their hat in those days.

My wife thinks she had some classes with Delhomme when she was at USL.

 

[Kevrunner]

Ryan Grant was on the Giants practice squad I think.

 

[josefrees]

Did they even have a practice squad when Unitas played?

 

[pghrob]

Wasn't Joe Horn on the Chiefs practice squad?

 

[loose circuits]

Wasn't Joe Horn on the Chiefs practice squad?

sounds like he was even on a CFL practice squad:

He didn't play a down of football for two years after leaving college. After playing two years at Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Mississippi, Horn worked at a Bojangles restaurant in Fayetteville, Mississippi. Down to the final $6.00 in his possession, He spent $3.99 on a Jerry Rice workout from a local Blockbuster and studied the drills and moves Rice performed in the film. Horn then made a highlight video of himself working out and sent the tape to multiple professional teams across America and Canada. One response Horn received was from the Memphis Mad Dogs of the CFL who offered him a contract after viewing the tape and in his first year Horn accumulated 1,415 yards on 71 catches.

CFL[edit]

Horn tried out for the CFL Baltimore Stallions and was signed to the practice squad, but never played in a game for the team.[1] Horn was signed as a free agent by the CFL Shreveport Pirates in May 1995.[citation needed] Horn was traded to the Memphis Mad Dogs in June 1995.[citation needed] With Memphis, Horn played well, with 77 catches for more than 1,000 yards, and caught the attention of NFL scouts.[1]

Kansas City Chiefs[edit]

Horn was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fifth round of the 1996 NFL Draft. He was mainly relegated to special teams and reserve duty at WR during his four seasons with the Chiefs. In his years there, he garnered 879 yards on 53 receptions with seven touchdowns, starting only two games. The New Orleans Saints acquired Horn as a free agent in 2000.

his wikipedia page

 

[loose circuits]

was Jimmy Smith on Philly's practice squad after being cut by Dallas and before Jax?

 

[plastik]

Not great, but BJGE was on the practice squad in NE, I believe.

 

[pghrob]

Fred Jackson was Bill ps player, right?

 

[Buffaloes]

Julius Thomas

wasn't on the practice squad

I didn't think so, either, but it turns out they stashed him there in the latter half of 2012 rather than putting him on IR.

whoa. my bad, you and thrifty are right. I totally missed that move.

 

[Carver]

Vic Cruz? Or was he IRed directly after his blow up preseason?

Cruz was the first guy I thought of.

 

[Anarchy99]

Vic Cruz? Or was he IRed directly after his blow up preseason?

Cruz was the first guy I thought of.

I don't think Cruz was ever on the practice squad. I thought the Giants put him on IR rather than risk someone else picking him up.

 

[Adam Harstad]

Vic Cruz? Or was he IRed directly after his blow up preseason?

Cruz was the first guy I thought of.

I don't think Cruz was ever on the practice squad. I thought the Giants put him on IR rather than risk someone else picking him up.

I believe putting a guy on IR in his first couple of seasons exposes him to waivers. There's talk about how that's why Denver didn't want to put C.J. Anderson on IR when he sprained his MCL, because they didn't want to risk some other team snatching him up. I'm not really sure of the mechanics, but that's definitely the reasoning that was given at the time. But then again, maybe this is simply a new rule in the last few years.

 

[squistion]

Vic Cruz? Or was he IRed directly after his blow up preseason?

Cruz was the first guy I thought of.

I don't think Cruz was ever on the practice squad. I thought the Giants put him on IR rather than risk someone else picking him up.

I believe putting a guy on IR in his first couple of seasons exposes him to waivers. There's talk about how that's why Denver didn't want to put C.J. Anderson on IR when he sprained his MCL, because they didn't want to risk some other team snatching him up. I'm not really sure of the mechanics, but that's definitely the reasoning that was given at the time. But then again, maybe this is simply a new rule in the last few years.

I don't think that is right. A couple years back Lestar Jean had what was thought to be a very minor preseason injury, however the Texans moved him to IR and the rumored reason was to avoid waivers because they might lose him if they tried to move him to the practice squad because that would expose him to waivers.

No maybe IR exposes a player to waivers also at a certain point in time, so we both could be right (as I don't know the exact rules).

 

[Adam Harstad]

I don't think that is right. A couple years back Lestar Jean had what was thought to be a very minor preseason injury, however the Texans moved him to IR and the rumored reason was to avoid waivers because they might lose him if they tried to move him to the practice squad because that would expose him to waivers.

No maybe IR exposes a player to waivers also at a certain point in time, so we both could be right (as I don't know the exact rules).

Yeah, I don't know the exact rules, either. I am absolutely certain, though, that there was a lot of conversation coming out of Denver that they did not want to put C.J. Anderson on IR because they weren't sure he'd be able to clear waivers.

A brief search turned up this post by wdcrob from last September.

The second one is tricky and I'm not sure I've got it right, but I believe that players who are injured prior to the setting of the 53 man roster must be cut and subjected to waivers before they can be placed on IR. Only players who make the 53 can be placed on permanent IR without passing through waivers first. Even if that's not quite right I'm pretty sure the gist of it is -- players have to pass through waivers before being IRd during the preseason.

That would certainly jive with the talk out of Denver, and would also make sense. Again, I think this might be a new rule designed to combat the well-known secret that teams would stick rookies on IR with injuries that wouldn't ordinarily warrant the designation just to get a de facto extra roster spot.

 

[loose circuits]

Difference between waived/injured and IR

 

[Anarchy99]

For one thing, placing a player on a practice squad does not protect a player. Any team can sign a player off of another team's practice squad as long as the new keeps that player on their active roster for the season.

Depending upon when a team wants to place someone on IR, the player may or may not be protected. IIRC, teams wanting to place a player on IR BEFORE the start of the regular season are subject to waiver claims. I believe players injured and placed on IR AFTER the season starts are protected.

 

[josefrees]

So basically a player like Sean Lee would have to pass waivers if he was put on IR now but if they wait until after the final cut deadline they can IR him without waivers, get the extra roster spot and hope the 54th guy doesn't get picked up in the short period between final cut deadline and IR assignment?

 

[Buffaloes]

Yeah, I don't know the exact rules, either. I am absolutely certain, though, that there was a lot of conversation coming out of Denver that they did not want to put C.J. Anderson on IR because they weren't sure he'd be able to clear waivers.

I think the rule dictates that if a player is placed on IR before the regular season starts he must clear waivers. Denver lost S Josh Barrett to NE because Josh McDaniels placed him on IR prior to the regular season beginning a few years ago. There was also some of talk about Denver not putting CJ Anderson on IR at the end of preseason and being worried about Lerentee McCray passing through waivers before hitting IR just prior to the start of the reg season.

 

[loose circuits]

Yeah, I don't know the exact rules, either. I am absolutely certain, though, that there was a lot of conversation coming out of Denver that they did not want to put C.J. Anderson on IR because they weren't sure he'd be able to clear waivers.

I think the rule dictates that if a player is placed on IR before the regular season starts he must clear waivers. Denver lost S Josh Barrett to NE because Josh McDaniels placed him on IR prior to the regular season beginning a few years ago. There was also some of talk about Denver not putting CJ Anderson on IR at the end of preseason and being worried about Lerentee McCray passing through waivers before hitting IR just prior to the start of the reg season.

new England did the same thing with Jake Ballard

 

[loose circuits]

Vic Cruz? Or was he IRed directly after his blow up preseason?

Cruz was the first guy I thought of.

I don't think Cruz was ever on the practice squad. I thought the Giants put him on IR rather than risk someone else picking him up.

public knowledge that Rex Ryan has said he would have scooped him

 

[Hooper31]

WR J. Kearse SEA

Wild guess. I think he was on the practice squad at some point in 2012. Problem here is I have doubts he will be fantasy relevant. He certainly had his moments this past season including some big plays in the playoffs.

 

[Nerdface Killah]

Wasn't Arian Foster on the practice squad at one point?