Packers Activate S Darnell Savage Off IR
The Packers’ secondary is getting a solid reinforcement as the Packers announce the activation of starting safety Darnell Savage off of injured reserve. Savage returns after missing the team’s last five contests. 
The past two games have seen Green Bay function with two backups at safety as starting strong safety Rudy Ford has missed time with a combination of biceps and groin injuries. In both contests, the team was forced to rely on Jonathan Owens and Anthony Johnson.
Owens has been filling in for Savage since his placement on IR and has mostly struggled as a starter, grading out as the league’s 75th-best safety, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). In his lone season as a starter for the Texans last year, Owens struggled in a similar fashion, grading out as the 86th safety out of 88 ranked players at the position. Johnson, a seventh-round rookie, hasn’t fared much better, grading as the 72nd safety, according to PFF, but he did nab an interception in one of his three starts this year.
Savage will now have a chance to return and make a case for himself in what’s left of his contract year. The Packers picked up his fifth-year option back in the 2022 offseason, but it doesn’t seem like there has been much in the way of extension talks. In fact, it was seeming like Green Bay may have regretted their decision to opt-in for the additional year of Savage’s rookie contract after benching him for a four-game stretch last year. The Packers don’t have much of a choice but to start Savage for now, allowing him an additional few games to show what he’s worth in free agency.
In addition to Savage’s activation, Green Bay announced its two standard gameday practice squad elevations for tomorrow’s Sunday night matchup with the Chiefs. Fullback Henry Pearson and running back James Robinson will be suiting up with the active roster tomorrow night. Robinson spent time with both the Patriots and Giants in the offseason. After failing to make a 53-man roster, Robinson signed to the Packers’ practice squad in mid-October and has been off-and-on with both the p-squad and active roster ever since. He has yet to make an in-game appearance this season.
Panthers’ S Jeremy Chinn, OLB Yetur Gross-Matos Join Horn Off IR
Reinforcements are on the way for the Panthers this weekend, as the team has formally activated three defenders from injured reserve. The Carolina defense has been depending on injury replacements for much of the season but is finally set to return three recent, high draft picks in cornerback Jaycee Horn, safety Jeremy Chinn, and outside linebacker Yetur Gross-Matos. 
Injuries have been a torment in Horn’s young career so far. After a fracture in his foot prematurely ended his rookie year after three games, Horn battled back to be fully healthy for his sophomore season. He would miss two games early in the year but would start 13 before suffering a season-ending broken wrist. This year, Horn only got through 20 snaps before suffering a hamstring injury that would require a 10-week IR stint.
Horn’s talent is undeniable. Despite the frequent injuries, the Panthers are always eager to get him back on the field, never choosing to ease him in. He’s started all 17 games he’s appeared in. In the short samples we’ve seen thus far, he’s proven to be as good as advertised. In the lone three games of his rookie season, he nabbed an interception and a pass defended. The following year, in 13 starts, Horn recorded three picks and seven passes defensed. Expect him to slot back in immediately as a starter across from Donte Jackson as soon as the coaching staff deems him healthy enough to return.
Chinn’s return couldn’t come at a better time. His usual starting role had been reduced a bit with the free agent addition of Vonn Bell, but with Bell set to miss this weekend’s matchup with a shoulder injury, Chinn should slot right back in as a full-time starter next to Xavier Woods, as opposed to only being on the field for certain packages in each start.
As Chinn’s role in the Panthers’ defense has changed and Carolina has found a suitable starting duo in Bell and Woods, the team had begun listening to trade offers on their former second-round pick. Before the Eagles brought in All-Pro Kevin Byard from Tennessee, Philadelphia reportedly kicked the tires on Chinn. While Chinn’s future may still lead him out of Carolina eventually, the Panthers will be happy to utilize him while they’ve still got him with Bell out.
Gross-Matos is experiencing a bit of disappointment in a contract year but continues to persist. It started when he was forced to change his style of play a bit to fit in new defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero‘s 3-4 scheme. Then, Gross-Matos took a backseat on the depth chart as veteran free agent signing Justin Houston slotted in as the starter across from pass rushing star Brian Burns.
Gross-Matos responded by putting up 2.5 sacks in six games of limited time before getting placed on IR, a much faster pace than he’s shown in the past. Houston has since been placed on IR, as well, forcing Carolina to turn to options like Marquis Haynes, Amare Barno, and rookie third-round pick DJ Johnson as starters at outside linebacker. Gross-Matos should now get a chance to make a strong case for himself as an extension candidate or future free agent.
The Panthers are dangerously close to becoming the first team eliminated from playoff contention, and given that Chicago owns their first-round pick thanks to the trade that helped the Panthers to draft quarterback Bryce Young No. 1 overall last year, the team doesn’t have much of a reason for tanking. So, this next stretch of three-straight divisional matchups proves as a measuring stick of how Carolina may measure up with a more-experienced Young and a less-injured defense.
Additionally, the team announced their two standard gameday elevations from the practice squad. Defensive end Chris Wormley and offensive guard Justin McCray will both be suiting up for tomorrow’s matchup in Tampa Bay.
Clemson LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. Declares For Draft
One of two Clemson linebackers expected to be among the top linebacker prospects of the 2024 NFL Draft, and one of three Clemson defenders expected to be taken in the first two days, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. announced on his Instagram this week that he would be forgoing his remaining years of eligibility in order to pursue his NFL dreams. Trotter’s father was an All-Pro NFL linebacker who played from 1998-2009, spending eight of those years with the Eagles. 
Unlike his father, the junior Trotter came into college as a highly-touted recruit ranked in the Top 100. Growing up in the city of his father’s team, Trotter came out of St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia, committing to Clemson as a junior in high school before joining the Tigers as an early enrollee in January 2021. Despite coming in early, Trotter failed to crack the lineup as a freshman, stuck on the depth chart behind seniors James Skalski and Baylon Spector and future third-round pick Trenton Simpson.
Trotter took the reins as a sophomore and led the team in tackles each of the past two seasons, even with Simpson still on the roster last year. Trotter was especially disruptive. In 2022 and 2023, Trotter led the Tigers in tackles for loss (28.5 combined), and despite being an off-ball linebacker, he led the team in sacks both years, as well, with a combined 12.0.
Trotter hasn’t only had a nose for the tackler, he’s done well to sniff out the ball in the air, as well. In his two years as a starter, he posted identical marks with five passes defensed and two interceptions in each year. In both seasons, he returned one of those two interceptions for a touchdown. He also forced three fumbles over that time. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranks Trotter’s performance this season as college football’s 13th-best for a linebacker.
In the past two years, only three off-ball linebackers have been drafted in the first round and only one more in the second round. Dane Brugler of The Athletic ranked Trotter as one of the top five underclassmen linebackers coming into the season. A strong junior year solidified that status as Mel Kiper’s most recent ESPN Big Board lists Trotter as the second-best off-ball linebacker in the draft behind Texas A&M’s Edgerrin Cooper, a redshirt junior who has yet to declare.
With the expectation that the same patterns will hold from previous years, Trotter may not expect to join teammate Nate Wiggins in the first round, but Trotter should still expect to hear his name called during the first two days of the draft. Even if the second round comes and goes and he remains on the board, both of the past two years showed a run of linebackers in the third round that should solidify his status as a Day 2 pick.
Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick Expected To Play
While the Steelers will continue to deal with a number of defenders being on injured reserve, they are set to return a leader on that side of the ball in safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. According to ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, Fitzpatrick is set to appear in his first game in four weeks this Sunday against the Cardinals. 
Fitzpatrick had to make his exit early into the team’s loss to the Jaguars back in October with a hamstring injury. Pittsburgh didn’t think they would need to place its veteran safety on IR, hoping to see him return sooner rather than later, but after four weeks without their vocal leader, gaining an extra roster spot by placing him on IR would’ve been the preferred move in retrospect.
The extended absence is the first of Fitzpatrick’s storied career. In the five and a half seasons until this absence, Fitzpatrick has appeared in 86 of a possible 89 games, starting in 81. Fitpatrick had never missed consecutive games either, with the three absences being one-game situations. Even when the former Dolphin was traded two weeks into the season from Miami, he was in black and yellow six days later without missing a snap.
In Fitzpatrick’s first multi-game absence, the team had to promote practice squad safety Trenton Thompson to the active roster. Keanu Neal and Elijah Riley were filling in the first few weeks before finding their way to IR. Thompson has performed well for being thrown into the fire, but the Steelers will be excited to return Fitzpatrick next to strong safety Damontae Kazee this weekend.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/1/23
The first minor transactions of December:
Carolina Panthers
- Signed to active roster: WR Mike Strachan
- Waived: CB David Long
Cleveland Browns
- Placed on reserve/suspended list: WR Michael Woods
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed to active roster: DL Pat O’Connor
- Placed on IR: DL Mike Greene
Long gets waived from the Panthers’ roster just a week after starting for them against the Titans. Long, who was claimed off of waivers about a month ago, has not been a regular starter in Carolina but was forced into action due to the injury absences of C.J. Henderson and Jaycee Horn. With both players nearing their return, and the recent waiver claim of Shaquill Griffin, the Panthers decided to bring up Strachan instead holding onto Long. The big-bodied receiver had one catch for 45 yards as a practice squad callup earlier this year.
Woods has received a six-game suspension for an incident that took place this summer in which he violated the NFL’s personal conduct policy, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Woods has already missed the entire season up until now on the reserve/non-football injury list after tearing his Achilles tendon back in April. While the Browns hoped for the possibility of a late-season return, this newest development guarantees that Woods will miss the entire 2023-24 season.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/1/23
December’s first practice squad adjustments:
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: WR Ethan Fernea
- Placed on practice squad IR: WR K.J. Hamler
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: OL Austen Pleasants
- Released: FB Zander Horvath
Hamler reportedly had joined the Colts’ practice squad at full health after undergoing offseason surgery to repair a partially torn pectoral muscle and taking time away from football to deal with pericarditis, a heart condition that didn’t require surgery but did necessitate medication. Despite being seemingly healthy at the time of his signing, Hamler has yet to be elevated for an in-game appearance in 2023 and is now headed to the practice squad’s injured reserve. It’s unclear if this newest transaction has anything to do with the 24-year-old’s previous health issues.
Clemson CB Nate Wiggins Declares For Draft
One of college football’s best cornerbacks over the past two years has decided to forgo his remaining eligibility and declare for the 2024 NFL Draft. Clemson’s Nate Wiggins told ESPN’s Pete Thamel of his intentions during a phone interview today. 
“I just feel like it was that time. All the hard work I’ve put in, I feel like it was time for me to declare,” Wiggins explained. “This was a dream that I always wanted, and it came fast.”
Wiggins became a full-time starter for the Tigers as a sophomore last season. In eleven starts, Wiggins led the team with 14 passes defended and added on a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown. While Pro Football Focus (subscription required) didn’t tout his 2022 season as elite, Wiggins was still credited as a first-team All-ACC selection by some publications, though not by the Conference itself.
That honor would have to wait until this year, in which Wiggins was named by the Conference as a first-team All-ACC cornerback. That status was reflected in Wiggins’ PFF ranking which saw him elevate all the way up to the 25th highest ranked cornerback in the nation. With a bowl game still to go, Wiggins once again leads his defense with nine passes defensed and two interceptions, one of which he returned 46 yards for another touchdown. He also showed off other playmaking abilities in 2023 with a sack and two forced fumbles.
Wiggins has prototypical size at the cornerback position with a long, 6-foot-2 frame and arm length and body control that grant him an easy advantage on contested balls. He’s not too thin at 185 pounds, and while he may not have strong initial quickness, he is considered the team’s fastest player and possesses great recovery speed to stay with receivers downfield.
He’ll need to get stronger at the next level in order to compete against physical NFL wideouts, but that hasn’t stopped corners from getting drafted early in the past, as long as they have other promising attributes. He also missed two games this year with a knee injury, which might have teams looking a little closer at his medicals come time for evaluations.
Wiggins projects as a clear first-round pick, even in a strong cornerbacks class. ESPN’s Mel Kiper has Wiggins ranked as college football’s 20th best draft prospect while Dane Brugler at The Athletic has Wiggins all the way up at 12. Brugler slots Wiggins in as CB3 behind Alabama’s Kool-Aid McKinstry and Kalen King from Penn State. Kiper also ranks McKinstry ahead of Wiggins, but he puts Georgia cornerback Kamari Lassiter in between them and even ranks Cooper DeJean from Iowa as his CB1 in front of the other three.
Regardless, after last year saw five corners selected in the first 32 picks (Pittsburgh’s Joey Porter Jr. was technically a second-rounder), placing Wiggins as a Day 1 pick seems like a safe bet. Wiggins is expected to measure and test very well, so barring anything injury-related, his stock is likely only going to rise.
USC QB Caleb Williams Expected To Declare For Draft
USC junior quarterback Caleb Williams has been projected as the 2024 NFL Draft’s No. 1 overall pick for over a year now. In August, he attempted to temper expectations a bit about his likely declaration following the college season, but that hasn’t stopped pundits from continuing to speculate. At this point, he is still expected to declare and end his collegiate career, but Williams told Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times that he is still contemplating the decision. 
There was some thought that Williams’ initial lack of commitment back in August was a concerted effort to avoid being drafted by a team he isn’t interested in joining. When a player like Williams is a near guarantee to be the first player selected, they naturally have the luxury of knowing who will have the No. 1 overall pick by the time the deadline to declare arrives on January 15. If the season ended today, that honor would belong to the Bears, who own the 1-10 Panthers’ first-round pick thanks to the trade that allowed Carolina to draft Bryce Young No. 1 overall in 2023.
This time around, if Williams is considering staying in college for 2024, it might be because he’s unhappy with how he’s leaving USC. Over his first two seasons at Oklahoma and USC, Williams only lost five total games combined. This past year in Los Angeles saw Williams and the Trojans match that total in the last six weeks, alone. After starting 6-0 and rising as high as 10th in the AP rankings, USC would go on to lose five of their next six games with their lone win being a last-second, one-point win over the then 3-5 Golden Bears. They only escaped Berkeley with a win when Cal failed to convert a two-point conversion on a touchdown allowed in the final minute of regulation.
The 7-5 season is disappointing in its own right following the lofty expectations of the prior year’s 11-3 team, but Williams himself also failed to reach the heights of last year’s Heisman-winning campaign. Williams won the prestigious award and a unanimous All-American selection after throwing for 4,537 yards and 42 touchdowns while limiting his interceptions to only five.
This year, Williams kept his interception total at five but failed to match his other Heisman numbers with 3,633 passing yards and 30 touchdowns, albeit in two fewer games. Even if he wouldn’t have matched those prior year numbers with two more chances, he seemed to be a bit more efficient this season, increasing his completion percentage, yards per attempt, and passing efficiency rating.
Because of that, Williams’ status as the projected first pick overall hasn’t changed. Neither has the expectation that he will decide to forgo his remaining eligibility and declare for the draft. Still, Williams seems to be taking his time, calling this a “game-time decision.” I’m not sure this means we’ll see Williams perform in USC’s bowl game this postseason, but expect the 22-year-old to take things down to the wire in January before making an official decision.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/29/23
Wednesday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Designated for return from IR: G Elijah Wilkinson
Carolina Panthers
- Placed on IR: G Chandler Zavala (story)
Denver Broncos
- Designated for return from IR: WR Brandon Johnson
Houston Texans
- Signed to active roster: CB Desmond King
- Placed on IR: T Tytus Howard (story)
Miami Dolphins
- Designated for return from IR: RB Chris Brooks
New York Jets
- Designated for return from IR: CB Justin Hardee, G Wes Schweitzer
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: DT Jaleel Johnson
After missing the Cardinals’ last six games on injured reserve, Wilkinson is now on track to return to his starting left guard post this season. Arizona has used a mixture of Trystan Colon and Carter O’Donnell to fill the spot in the interim.
King found his way to the Texans’ practice squad after being waived by the Steelers and was elevated to game action last week. After starting 25 games for Houston in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, King will be a welcome addition back to the active roster.
Hardee has missed six games with a hamstring injury. The Pro Bowl special teamer returned to practice today alongside quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Schweitzer. Schweitzer was one of several offensive linemen in New York who sustained injuries earlier this year, but after missing the four games required of an IR stint, Schweitzer is working to return, as well.
AFC North Rumors: Bengals, Battle, Watson, Steelers
The Bengals have already announced that starting quarterback Joe Burrow‘s season is over after he suffered a thumb ligament tear. The only information left to report on Burrow’s situation is that he is set to undergo wrist surgery tomorrow, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The expectation is that Burrow will be able to make a full recovery in time for the 2024 season.
On the administrative side of things, Rapoport also reports that the league is “investigating if Cincinnati should have listed Burrow on its injury report prior to” the game in which he seemingly suffered the season-ending injury. The night before the team’s matchup in Baltimore, Burrow was shown on a team social media post with an apparatus on his right wrist before the post was taken down. That same wrist is the one receiving surgery tomorrow. Rapoport says that the Bengals have “turned in hours of footage to the NFL showing that Burrow was healthy prior to the game.” The team’s doctors claim that the injury was acute and not one that happened over time.
The team opted to run Burrow’s offense and playbook in Jake Browning‘s first career start. The Bengals coaches had full confidence in Browning running the offense but still planned to run the ball a bit more than usual to take some pressure off his shoulders. Browning and the Bengals would lose to Pittsburgh, but Browning would complete 19 of 26 pass attempts for 227 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. The plan to run the ball a bit more fell through as limited possession time and offensive success led to only 11 carries.
Here are a few other rumors from around the AFC North, staying in Cincinnati for a beat:
- Another position for the Bengals experienced a change in starter as defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo announced rookie third-round pick Jordan Battle as the team’s starting strong safety over Nick Scott earlier this week, per Kelsey Conway of USA Today. Scott still had a role in today’s game but played a clear second fiddle to Battle. Asked what about Battle made him the choice at starter, Anarumo claimed it was his tackling ability.
- Another AFC North starting quarterback underwent surgery for their season-ending injury as the Browns‘ Deshaun Watson had a procedure done on his shoulder earlier this week, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. Watson is expected to be healed in time to start the 2024 season.
- A big story in the struggles of the Steelers’ offense this year has been the frustration of wide receiver Diontae Johnson. Those frustrations reportedly boiled over after last week’s loss to the Browns, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, leading to a heated argument with star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick that needed to be broken up by teammates Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt. Johnson only had two catches on the day and was visibly upset on the sideline as he engaged in an animated conversation with head coach Mike Tomlin. Johnson’s annoyance would continue as he was later seen “chirping” at the coaches all the way to the locker room after the game before being confronted by Fitzpatrick. Perhaps the firing of former offensive coordinator Matt Canada helped to cool Johnson down, as Johnson received eight targets today.