UDFA Thread

[wichmae]

Naashon Hughes EDGE from Texas has signed.
https://247sports.com/player/naashon-hughes-12856

[phillipmike]

Good job wichmae. Keep it up!

[wichmae]

Official UDFA class

Green Bay Packers
Jacob Alsadek, G, Arizona
Tim Boyle, QB, Eastern Kentucky
Austin Davis, C, Duke
Damon Gibson, WR, Minnesota-Moorhead
Raven Green, S, James Madison
Naashon Hughes, EDGE, Texas
CJ Johnson, ILB, ETBU
Tyler Lancaster, DL, Northwestern
Alex Light, OL, Richmond
Filipo Mokofisi, DT, Utah
Marcus Porter, ILB, Fairmont State
Kevin Radar, TE, Youngstown State
Chris Seisay, CB, Portland State

[dbrodz7]

Official UDFA class

Green Bay Packers
Jacob Alsadek, G, Arizona
Tim Boyle, QB, Eastern Kentucky
Austin Davis, C, Duke
Damon Gibson, WR, Minnesota-Moorhead
Raven Green, S, James Madison
Naashon Hughes, EDGE, Texas
CJ Johnson, ILB, ETBU
Tyler Lancaster, DL, Northwestern
Alex Light, OL, Richmond
Filipo Mokofisi, DT, Utah
Marcus Porter, ILB, Fairmont State
Kevin Radar, TE, Youngstown State
Chris Seisay, CB, Portland State

Anybody know anything about any of these guys? Who should we be excited about and who's going to be gone by August?

[Balls2TheWalls]

I wouldn't get overly attached to any of the UDFAs. The positions that we generally scout well through post draft means are pretty deep now. We, historically, are able to find people on the interior O-line and at cornerback.

With the additions of Jaire Alexander and Josh Jackson, it would be difficult to see someone making the roster behind a wall of King, Tramon, Jaire, Jackson, and House. Rollins, Hawkins, and Pipkins are all going to get shots over someone like Seisay. He is probably camp fodder. The same can be said for defensive linemen around Daniels, Clark, Wilkerson, Lowry, and Montravious Adams. Looney probably has the best chance of latching on at the back end of that part of our roster.

Boyle is likely just a camp body. Kizer and Hundley are going to have a huge head start, and Hundley is going to be given every chance to atone for his systematic crushing of his own trade value. Gibson and Radar are going to be interesting prospects at Tight End. Gibson ran a 4.6 40, but is in an H-Back mold. We only have 4 TEs on the roster going into the offseason workouts. Graham and Kenricks are locks, but Byrd and Tonyan are anything but locks. We could see one push for a #3 position if they bring something interesting to the roster.

Naashon Hill had a chance to be a late draft pick. He doesn't quite have the athletic tools that Donnerson has, but he has the pedigree of playing at a big name school. You have to think that 3 of the EDGE spots are earmarked for Matthews, Perry, and Biegel. We probably keep 5 there and he is going to have to compete with Gilbert (probably the early favorite to take one of the spots), Odom, Fackrell, and Donnerson. It is also the position most likely to get interest from us in free agency.

We have room to bring in 1 more ILB with our current depth at ILB. Martinez, Burks, and Ryan are all pretty much sure things to make the roster, but with Joe Thomas leaving we still have room on the active roster for someone to make a move. I am not sure I would bet on teams from D2 and D3 schools, but there is a reason the players got invited to the roster.

Offensive Line is one of the positions we are very effective at scouting. We hit a lot in the mid to late rounds, and we find depth outside of the draft. You are probably looking at the current roster locks as Bakh, Taylor, Linsley, Bulaga, Murphy, McCray, and (unfortunately) Spriggs. You will see a lot of depth battling between Amichia, Patrick, and any of the UDFAs we brought in. We hold 9 at the position most years. Alsadek is the most known of the guys we brought in, but both Alsadek and Light are enormous. Alsadek is 6'7, and Light is 6'5. Both project to play guard.

If I was going to pick 2 guys from that list to possibly make the team, I would pick Damon Gibson to make the team as a 3rd or 4th tight end, and Jacob Alsadek to make the team as a possible G/RT at the back end of the offensive line depth.

[MickeyDavis]

McGinn on Lancaster

Of the 14 nose tackles drafted over the weekend, only one had more traits earmarking him for a successful career in the NFL than Northwestern’s Tyler Lancaster.

That was Vita Vea of Washington, who often has been compared to Haloti Ngata.

Vea’s new home was determined within the first 90 minutes Thursday night when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him with the 12th overall pick. As for Lancaster, well, that eagerly awaited phone call never came.

Lancaster cast his lot with the Green Bay Packers shortly after the draft ended late Saturday afternoon, agreeing to a free-agent contract. Now he aims to show the rest of the league that his distinctive characteristics are worthy of a lengthy career.

“I’ve known that for a long time,” Lancaster said of his athleticism Saturday night. “I believe whoever got me, in this case Green Bay, was going to have a pleasant surprise once I got on campus. As you’ve seen, I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to prove something come minicamp.”

Various teams have developed baselines for success at each position based on the measurables. For one team, Vea came out at the top of the nose tackles followed closely by Lancaster’s score, which surpassed Alabama’s Da’Ron Payne and all the other nose men.

Lancaster (6-3 ½, 316) can’t begin to compare with the sheer size of Vea (6-4, 347) but hung right with him in other departments.

Lancaster’s 40 time of 5.03 seconds was a tick faster than Vea’s 5.07. Vea had the edge on the bench press, 41-32, but Lancaster had longer arms (32 7/8 inches to 32 5/8) and bigger hands (10 ¾ inches to 10).

Vea never did a vertical or broad jump; Lancaster’s 9-5 effort in the broad jump was remarkable, and his 27-inch vertical was solid.

When it came to the Wonderlic intelligence test, Lancaster almost doubled Vea, 33-17.

Lancaster was a three-year starter for the Wildcats but his statistics were far from overwhelming. He had 101 tackles (18 ½ for loss), 3 ½ sacks and three passes defensed.

However, the Wildcats had such respect for Lancaster, who played at Plainfield East High School in Romeoville, Ill., that he was voted by teammates to wear the No. 1 jersey in 2017.

“He’s a lunch-pail, blue-collar, Chicago kind of football player,” NU coach Pat Fitzgerald told the Chicago Tribune. “Nobody has moved him. He’s an All-Big Ten lineman for us – a force on the inside.”

Something’s missing here. Lancaster didn’t just become a great athlete overnight. He’s obviously strong, smart, dedicated and tough.

Why wasn’t he drafted like all those lesser athletes at nose tackle?

“I think a big part of it is mentally,” said Lancaster. “I’m not saying I have anything wrong with like my mental understanding of the game, but maybe I take coaching too literally.

“I was a one-gap player in a 4-3 defense here. I would pride myself on holding my gap where sometimes you’ve got to get out there and make a play. Leave your gap and take the TFL (tackle for loss) in the backfield instead of letting the linebacker come through and get it.

“I really think that I maybe let our scheme consume me in a way. I just need to go out there and start attacking more. I’ve got to get more hungry, I’d say. I think I can change that about myself.”

He hopes to do it for the Packers, who other than Muhammad Wilkerson haven’t added a 300-pound defensive lineman since the end of the season. Lancaster and his agent had NFL depth charts memorized and paid rapt attention to each pick for three days.

At nose tackle, Green Bay has Kenny Clark, Montravius Adams and now Lancaster.

Lancaster was one of the Packers’ 30 pre-draft visits. He didn’t want to leave.

Frequent conversations with defensive end Dean Lowry, who started alongside Lancaster in 2015, further strengthened his inclination to sign with Green Bay if he wasn’t drafted.

“I loved the atmosphere,” said Lancaster. “I’d say mid-seventh round we made that decision.”

Many teams discussed the offensive line because Lancaster was a center in high school and actually was recruited there by Northwestern. Maybe his abundant athletic ability sparked the move to defense.

In any event, Lancaster has a style change to enact and a career to chase.