There are 17 teams entering Week 12 at .500 or better. These clubs probably feel pretty good about themselves at varying degrees, and rightfully so.
But there is so much more football to be played before division winners are crowned and wild-card spots are secured. Even though these teams are currently in a playoff spot or firmly in the hunt, there’s a reasonably good chance they’ll have to rely on a practice-squad player or two down the stretch to help punch their ticket to the 14-club postseason.
Let’s rank members of practice squads of the 17 teams at or above .500 right now, choosing one from each team. These players can be assets for contenders over the final two months of the regular season.
Jayden Daniels is the front-runner for the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Sensational rookie season at quarterback. The Commanders defense? Not so sensational. It’s currently 26th in EPA per play allowed. Post Jon Allen injury, outside of Daron Payne and an occasional flash from rookie Johnny Newton, Washington has gotten little contribution on the inside of its defensive front. Davis isn’t a former superstar who’s aged out of his prime. But he has nine years of prior experience in the NFL on a variety of defenses from Baltimore to Cleveland to New England to Dallas. At 6-foot-5 and 330-plus pounds, he could provide Washington with serious girth, if nothing else, on the interior.
Palmer could give the Cardinals a size and speed boost at receiver, which wouldn’t hurt down the stretch. Marvin Harrison Jr. has been the team’s primary long-ball target as a rookie with six receptions on throws made 20-plus yards down the field. Michael Wilson has three and that’s it for deep catches in the Cardinals wideout room.
Palmer, a sixth-round rookie from UAB, is a nearly 6-foot-2, 210-pounder straight-line blazer with 4.45-second 40-yard dash speed. Greg Dortch operates exquisitely in the slot, and Trey McBride is emerging as an elite tight end. Arizona could use another speed perimeter threat for key contests in December and January.
Johnson went undrafted out of Memphis in 2023 but tested like an NFL-caliber safety before the draft. At 6-foot and 200 pounds, he ran 4.55 seconds at his pro day with a 32.5-inch vertical jump and 10-foot broad jump. Not elite figures, yet plenty of speed to get to the football. In his final three seasons with the Tigers, Johnson averaged 87 tackles and had 10 total interceptions along with 20 pass breakups — he has the plus instincts to live near the football. He looked ready to get a regular-season shot over the past two preseasons with the Rams and Bears.
WIth Kamren Kinchens now with three interceptions behind Kamren Curl and Quentin Lake, the Rams may not need Johnson over these final two months of the season. If the need arises, I’m confident in Johnson playing assignment-sound football behind what has become one of the NFC’s most ferocious defensive fronts.
I cannot quit Smith from his days as a prospect at Ohio State. He was incredibly refined with his hands as he tightly bent the edge repeatedly for the Buckeyes. A rookie season spent on injured reserve put his development on the wrong track, and Smith has never been able to replicate anywhere close to the efficient productivity from his collegiate days in the NFL. I know that. But he’s a 6-foot-3, 255-pounder with plus athletic skills and a pass-rush move arsenal. The Seahawks have seen Boye Mafe and Derick Hall take steps forward in 2024. The edge-rusher group beyond them needs to be better down the stretch. Maybe Smith is ready to be that low-volume specialist.
The Falcons have 10 sacks as a defense through 11 games. Atlanta’s pass rush is 31st in football with a 26.6% pressure rate. In essence, this team should be pursuing every possible option to bolster its defensive line. And Kareem sits patiently on the practice squad. The former Notre Dame star was awesome in the preseason. Just a week ago, Kareem was arguably the best defender on the field in Atlanta’s blowout loss to the Broncos. He registered three pressures on nine pass-rush opportunities.
There is no reason the 6-foot-4, 268-pound Kareem with heavy hands should be on the practice squad any longer.
Leota looks the part at a chiseled 6-foot-3 and 252 pounds. He hasn’t played since the first two weeks of the season, when he logged 54 passes with minimal results on the Panthers defense. But I’m banking on his upside here, and although Nate Herbig is a fine replacement for the injured Alex Highsmith, with Highsmith out, everyone else moves up the depth chart on Pittsburgh’s defense.
In the preseason, the former Auburn star pressured opposing quarterbacks six times on 47 opportunities. With plenty of talent around him up front in Pittsburgh, it wouldn’t shock me to see Leota create some disruption if given a chance to pin his ears back on the outside as a stand-up rusher across from T.J. Watt.
The undrafted rookie from Toledo was a star of the preseason for Philadelphia’s defense, and we’ve seen what a seismic impact the Eagles defensive line can have on linebackers with the resurgence of Zack Baun. Nakobe Dean’s dealing with a groin injury. He’ll likely be fine for Week 12, yet if the issue lingers, Gant has the springy athleticism to be a fine stand-in next to Baun up front for the Eagles.
At 6-foot-2 and 230-ish pounds, Gant has 4.69-second speed and had consecutive 116-tackle seasons for the Rockets after beginning his collegiate career at Ohio State. With what’d be plenty of free flows to the football thanks to Jalen Carter, Josh Sweat, and Co., Gant can be a useful stand-in if necessary.
The Vikings defense is a joy to watch. The aggressive dial is cranked to 100 every game. But if there’s one area in which this high-caliber defense is leaky, it’s in the middle, at defensive tackle. Harrison Phillips has become a steady three-down contributor, but he’s not routinely winning upfield in passing scenarios. Even if he’s on his game, Minnesota needs more from the interior of its front.
Bell is a stocky, disruptive nose tackle who has bounced around the league since being a seventh-round pick by the Bears in 2023. He had six pressures over the past two preseasons thanks mostly to his first-step quickness at 6-foot-1 and 310 pounds. Given what the Vikings need on the interior, Bell is worth a shot down the stretch.
Davidson made his first NFL catch in Buffalo’s win over the Chiefs in Week 11. He battled valiantly against Quintin Morris for the Bills’ No. 3 TE job in training camp, and shined before the preseason. In those exhibition outings, he snagged five passes for 50 yards. At 6-foot-6 and 251 pounds, Davidson is almost strictly a receiving option at the tight end position. Dalton Kincaid injured his knee in Week 10, which is why Davidson was elevated last week.
And Davidson can really go. He ran a 4.64-second 40-yard dash at his pro day before the 2021 draft and boasts the explosive that comes with being able to leap 37.5 inches straight into the air. Given his upside as a pass-catcher, Davidson is a viable practice-squad option at tight end, and the Bills have utilized two or more tight ends on close to 25% of their snaps to date.
Long earned his two-year, $11 million deal with the Dolphins in 2023 after asserting himself as a steady three-down linebacker with a blitzing speciality with the Titans starting in 2019. And his debut season in South Beach was tremendous, particularly against the run. Last season, Long finished seventh among all qualifying off-ball linebackers with a stop rate of 10.7%. That means, 10.7% of his run-defense snaps finished with Long making a tackle that constituted a “loss” for offense based on down and distance.
This past season with the Dolphins wasn’t as good, and as the missed tackles piled up, he was released. The Lions, a club that has two reliable starters at linebacker in Jack Campbell and Malcolm Rodriguez, are suddenly hurting for depth at the position, which explains why they signed Long after he was let go by the Dolphins. At this stage of the season, the veteran represents a fine insurance option.
Rush has the exact measurements Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo loves, as the former South Carolina standout is 6-foot-2 and 198 pounds with nearly 34-inch arms with 4.38-second speed. In his final two seasons in college, Rush intercepted three passes and knocked away 15 more on a mere 70 targets.
Following the injury to starting boundary corner Jaylen Watson, the Chiefs have had to shuffle their secondary. Trent McDuffie is a superstar, but he’s best in the slot — and most lethal as a blitzer from there. He’s been forced to the boundary with Watson out. This is where Rush could be of use. He was best in zone in college and flamed out quickly in Indianapolis after being selected in Round 5 in 2023. Yet his length and athletic gifts cannot be taught. For the Chiefs, it may be worth it to elevate Rush and plug him in on the boundary to recalibrate the proper positioning of the defensive back room, especially with a game against Justin Herbert on the horizon in Week 13.
Cunningham has been there, done that. Maybe not at the highest quality in coverage, but the experience is there nonetheless. He has over 5,300 career snaps under his belt, and at this time of year, it’s a comforting thought knowing a player with that level of experience is available to be summoned from the practice squad at a moment’s notice.
At 6-foot-3 and around 230 pounds, the sleek yet chiseled Cunningham has always been a stout run defender. He blitzes effectively, too. That season in Philadelphia, Cunningham had 85 tackles in 13 games. With Alex Singleton injured, Denver’s elite defense is down to Cody Barton as a full-time player and a platoon next to him at the other primary linebacker position. Cunningham should be elevated sooner than later.
Ironically, the Texans’ weaknesses on offense and defense are both on the interior of their lines, and Peevy is a wide, incredibly long nose tackle with some athletic juice. After a stellar career at Texas A&M, Peevy went undrafted in 2022 and barely played in the regular season in two years with the Titans.
Earlier in 2024, he logged 84 snaps on the Panthers front and pushed the pocket en route to five pressures on 52 pass-rushing opportunities. Peevy didn’t miss a tackle, either. Would Houston be getting a genuine difference-maker if Peevy was elevated? Probably not. But at over 6-foot-5 with arms stretching longer than 35 inches, he can be a disruptor next to the myriad of veterans Houston has tried inside on its defense this season.
Now officially a first-round bust, Davis lands in Green Bay, an ideal environment to resuscitate his NFL career. And it’s not as if the former Kentucky superstar was an utter disaster with the Commanders. He recorded more than 100 tackles in his second season and, after his rookie campaign, was always a reliable tackler.
His coverage skills that flashed in 2020 with the Wildcats have yet to transfer to the professional game. Why is Green Bay a stellar landing spot for Davis? It’s the locale in which De’Vondre Campbell, with a similarly towering frame to Davis, went from serviceable starter to All-Pro. The Packers defensive line is still one of the most ferocious in football, and clean lanes to the ball-carrier on run plays and frequently hurried quarterbacks on passing downs always boost the play of linebackers.
Remember this summer, when the Chargers signed Jefferson after he worked as a member of the Ravens scouting department in 2023, and, immediately, he was the best player on the field in a preseason win over the Cowboys? In that game, Jefferson logged 90 snaps off the couch, made nine tackles, snatched two interceptions and broke up another pass. Now nearly 33 years old, the former Oklahoma stud has likely lost a step or two.
But he’s played over 5,000 NFL snaps to date. The Chargers have two rock-solid, complementary safeties in Derwin James and Alohi Gilman, yet if they need to elevate Jefferson, they should feel confident in his ability to acclimate quickly to one of the NFL’s stingiest defenses.
King was a key member of Houston’s defense in 2023. Mostly a slot corner, he had 30 tackles, knocked away two passes and chipped in with four quarterback pressures as a blitzer on just under 400 total snaps. There were no touchdowns in his coverage area, either.
This is the consummate professional in the slot, with nearly 5,000 regular-season snaps to his name. He’s always been a higher-level player even though he’s been traded a few times over the past few years. Ar’Darius Washington has become a fun, bouncy slot in Baltimore’s defense. Nate Wiggins and Marlon Humphrey have played reliable football in coverage. The rest of Baltimore’s cornerback room is shaky. King could provide an instant boost of steadiness for the Ravens.
If it feels like Gipson has been in the league a very, very long time, it’s because he has. In the regular season, Gipson has played on 11,000 snaps across what is now 13 seasons in the NFL. He’s 34 but served as a critical member of San Francisco’s NFC champion defensive unit a season ago.
And in the last two years with the 49ers, he has six interceptions, 121 tackles and 11 pass breakups in 33 regular-season games. He knows the system and can still bring it from the safety spot. Gipson can be the perfect on-field mentor to what has become San Francisco’s encouraging yet youthful safety tandem of Ji’Ayir Brown and Malik Mustapha. Talanoa Hufanga should return from an injured wrist soon, yet Gipson is the ultimate insurance option on a practice squad today.
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Author: Chris Trapasso
November 22, 2024 | 10:51 am
