Ben Heeney

XFL Draft Day 1 Fallout

The XFL’s two-day draft began Tuesday. In addition to certain quarterbacks being assigned to teams, several notable players went off the board in the rebooting league’s selection event.

The league divided its draft into sections. Skill-position players (and other quarterbacks) went in one portion of the draft, with offensive linemen going second and then select defenders in another section. Connor Cook was the first quarterback to go in the non-allocation portion of the draft, being selected by the Houston franchise at No. 2 overall.

Here are some recent NFL skill-position players taken:

Here are the notable offensive linemen selected in that section of the draft:

Lastly, some front-seven names of note came off in that part of this event:

For a full team-by-team breakdown, Sporting News cataloged the first parts of this event.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/8/18

Here are Saturday’s minor moves.

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/29/18

We don’t dance now, we make minor moves:

Cincinnati Bengals

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

New Orleans Saints

San Francisco 49ers

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/14/18

Here are today’s restricted free agent and exclusive-rights free agent tender decisions, with the list being updated throughout the day. All links go to Twitter unless otherwise noted:

RFAs

Tendered at the second-round level ($2.914MM):

Tendered at original round level ($1.907MM):

Non-tendered:

ERFAs

Tendered:

Non-tendered:

Texans Place OT Chris Clark On IR

The Texans have placed left tackle Chris Clark and linebacker Ben Heeney on injured reserve, the club announced today. In related moves, Houston promoted LB Gimel President, LB LaTroy Lewis, and G Chad Slade from its practice squad to the active roster.Chris Clark (Vertical)

Clark, 32, had been serving as the Texans’ starting left tackle, a role he played while longtime starter Duane Brown was holding out and after Brown was traded to the Seahawks. Manning the blindside of a line that ranks in the bottom half of the league in both adjusted line yards and adjusted sack rate, Clark graded as a bottom-10 tackle, per Pro Football Focus.

Houston has several options to take over at left tackle: Kendall Lamm replaced Clark — who has a high ankle sprain and a bone bruise, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link) — but fourth-round rookie Julie’n Davenport could also be in the mix when he returns from his own injury (a shoulder issue that caused him to miss Week 12). Long-term, Clark probably isn’t in the Texans’ plans, as his contract expires after the 2017 campaign.

Heeney, meanwhile, is a former fifth-round pick whom Houston acquired off waivers earlier this year. Although Heeney barely played on the defensive side of the ball, he did manage 107 special teams snaps in only five games.

Texans Claim LB Ben Heeney Off Waivers

The Texans have claimed linebacker Ben Heeney off waivers from the Saints, according to veteran NFL reporter Adam Caplan (Twitter link). To create roster space, Houston has waived safety Kurtis Drummond.Ben Heeney (Vertical)

Heeney, a fifth-round pick in 2015, appeared in 15 games for the Raiders during his rookie campaign but was placed on injured reserve early on in 2016. Waived by Oakland during final cutdowns earlier this year, Heeney latched on with the Saints’ practice squad. While he was promoted to New Orleans’ active roster for Week 4, Heeney wasn’t active for that contest against the Dolphins.

Houston is currently well-stocked at inside linebacker even with veteran Brian Cushing serving a 10-game PED suspension, as the club boasts starters Zach Cunningham and Benardrick McKinney plus backups Brian Peters and Dylan Cole. As such, Heeney won’t be asked to play many (if any) defensive snaps for the Texans, and will likely serve on special teams duty. Through four games, Houston ranks 18th in special teams DVOA, a marked improvement over their No. 31 finish in 2016.

Drummond, meanwhile joined the Texans as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State in 2015. Through two-plus years in the league, Drummond has appeared in nine games while spending most of his time on special teams. His 2016 season was lost to injury issues, as he spent the entire campaign on IR.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/3/17

Today’s minor moves:

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

Tennessee Titans