Jeremiah Attaochu

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/3/16

Here are today’s minor moves.

  • Jerry Attaochu underwent surgery this week, and the Chargers made the customary move of placing the third-year pass-rusher on IR. Nose tackle Ryan Carrethers will take Attaochu’s roster spot, Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports (on Twitter). A former fifth-round Chargers pick in 2014, Carrethers already has 20 games of NFL experience — three starts — on which to draw after his latest promotion from the practice squad.
  • Demetri Goodson‘s third NFL season will conclude after the Packers placed the cornerback on IR and signed fellow corner Makinton Dorleant off their practice squad, Michael Cohen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports (on Twitter). Goodson played in six games for the Packers this year and started three for a team that’s struggled to keep its cornerbacks healthy. A rookie UDFA, Dorleant has not played in an NFL game yet. He’ll likely contribute on special teams, per Cohen.
  • The Bills have promoted tight end Gerald Christian from the practice squad, reports Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News (via Twitter). Starter Charles Clay missed the team’s flight to Oakland due to the birth of his child, so Christian, the Mr. Irrelevent from the 2015 draft, will provide some depth at tight end. To make room on the roster, the team released kickoff specialist Jordan Gay.
  • The Chiefs have promoted defensive tackle T.J. Barnes to the active roster, reports Terez A. Paylor of The Kansas City Star (via Twitter). If Dontari Poe is unable to play, Barnes could slide into the backup nose tackle role behind Jarvis Jenkins.
  • The Giants have signed linebacker Deontae Skinner to the active roster and waived center Shane McDermott, reports James Kratch of NJ.com (via Twitter). This is a flip-flop from the maneuver the Giants made last weekend, indicating some improved health for their offensive front.

Chargers Lose Jerry Attaochu For Season

Another Chargers season largely defined by injuries saw another player set to venture toward IR. Jerry Attaochu broke his foot in the Bolts’ victory over the Texans and will miss the rest of the season, Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

The third-year outside linebacker broke his right foot when it was caught in the turf at NRG Stadium during San Diego’s 21-13 road win. He joins a sizable contingent of Chargers who have been ruled out for the season. It’s the ninth game during which an injury sufficient enough for a Charger to be declared done for 2016 occurred.

Keenan Allen, Danny Woodhead, Jason Verrett, Manti Te’o, Dexter McCluster and Brandon Mebane highlight this list, which makes for the second straight year of rampant injuries for the Chargers, who have battled to a 5-6 record despite the throng of unavailable key talent.

Attaochu did not build on a successful 2015 campaign, though, and already missed three games with a high-ankle sprain. The former second-round pick notched six sacks last season but came up with only two this fall. The Georgia Tech product served as a near-full-time starter for the ’15 Bolts, breaking with the first unit in 12 games. This season, Kyle Emanuel usurped him in the lineup, relegating Attaochu to an off-the-bench role save for one game. Attaochu’s recorded just two sacks and saw action in just 178 snaps.

Emanuel profiles as a run-stopper and does not have a sack this season. Fourth-year player Tourek Williams figures to see more work as a result of this latest setback.

Extra Points: Attaochu, Bowman, Bridgewater

Earlier today, Rory Parks gave us a roundup of some notes from some early Sunday NFL news, including an update on Chris Borland‘s post-NFL life, Marcus Mariota’s potential holdout, and a couple of notes on the Saints, Browns, and Broncos.

Now, for anyone who was too busy watching the USA defeat Japan 5-2 in the World Cup, here are a couple more pieces of NFL news that trickled across the landscape this evening:

  • Second-year pass rusher Jeremiah Attaochu only had two sacks in limited snaps as a rookie, but is focused on improving that number in 2015, writes Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com. He writes that Attaochu trained in combine-related drills for much of last offseason, but is focused on football-specific drills and getting reps in practice to prepare him for an increased role with the Chargers this year.
  • The Dolphins signed Zackary Bowman this offseason to compete for the starting cornerback job across from Brent Grimes, but right now the leader for that spot is Jamar Taylor, writes James Walker of ESPN. Bowman hasn’t stood out in minicamps, and Walker writes he has about a 50 percent chance of making the final roster, depending on how many cornerbacks the team keeps on the depth chart.
  • The Vikings are excited about Teddy Bridgewater and how he got stronger as the season went on in 2014, especially offensive coordinator Norv Turner, writes Tom Pelissero of USA Today in his offseason report. With Adrian Peterson, Kyle Rudolph, Matt Kalil, and Brandon Fusco all back healthy on available, and Mike Wallace added to the fold, Bridgewater is ready to break out as leader of the offense.
  • Detroit Lions’ beat writer Dave Birkett addressed a number of issues on a Q&A with Ste Hoare of TheRouteTree.com. Birkett believes that Ameer Abdullah will begin the season as a complement to Joique Bell in the role Reggie Bush filled, but expects him to eventually emerge as the feature back. He also addresses the concern that first-round pick Laken Tomlinson’s interest in the medical field could leave him to an early retirement in the vain of Borland, but Birkett does not believe the team is worried and writes that the Lions encourage his interests off-the-field.

Chargers To Sign Jeremiah Attaochu

The Chargers have agreed to terms with second-round pick Jeremiah Attaochu, a league source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (via Twitter). The outside linebacker out of Georgia Tech was taken with the 18th pick in the second-round.

The Chargers were high on the OLB and knew that he wouldn’t fall to them with the 25th pick in the second round (57th overall), so they sent the Dolphins their fourth-round pick to move up seven slots. Attaochu is a true 3-4 outside linebacker and has been praised for his high motor. He made a quick impact from the very beginning at Georgia Tech, registering 23 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks in a reserve role as a true freshman. He steadily improved each season, and as a senior, dominated by recording 45 tackles, 16 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks.

NFC Draft Notes: Falcons, Lions, Eagles

To kick off the day, we rounded up a handful of draft-related items out of the AFC. Now let’s shift our attention to the NFC and check out the latest….

  • We heard earlier in the week that Jake Matthews has a visit scheduled next week with the Falcons, but before that happens, Atlanta is sending a contingent to Auburn to meet with the draft’s other top offensive tackle, Greg Robinson, according to Alex Marvez of Fox Sports (via Twitter).
  • Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post passes along word of a pair of tight ends visiting or working out for NFC teams. According to Wilson, Iowa’s C.J. Fiedorowicz, who was previously visited the Jets and Buccaneers, is visiting the Lions today, while Cincinnati’s Blake Annen recently had a private workout for the Eagles.
  • Cal linebacker Khairi Fortt, who met with the Ravens earlier in April, is visiting the Seahawks today, tweets Rich Cirminiello of CampusInsiders.com.
  • Chris Russell of ESPN 980 reports (via Twitter) that the Redskins are bringing in Georgia tech outside linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu for a visit this week. Attaochu indicated last month that Washington was one of the teams showing the most interest in him.
  • The 49ers hosted Cumberlands running back Terrance Cobb for a pre-draft visit, writes Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.
  • Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times takes a look at Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees, who is scheduled to visit the Bears on Friday.

Extra Points: Cousins, Hood, Graham, Saffold

A Kirk Cousins trade remains unlikely for the Redskins, write Mike Jones and Mark Maske of the Washington Post. There was talk that Washington would be open to moving the quarterback since he would like to start and he is stuck behind Robert Griffin III on the depth chart. For his part, Cousins has said that he will be professional and won’t demand a trade.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

  • Before he agreed to sign with the Jaguars, defensive lineman Ziggy Hood received interest from the Redskins, Raiders, and Chiefs, tweets Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. Meanwhile, Chris Clemons said the Raiders and Falcons reached out to him before he agreed to sign with the Jaguars, according to O’Halloran (via Twitter).
  • Cornerback Corey Graham, who signed with the Bills, told reporters today that he was preparing to go to dinner with the Redskins when he got the call from his agent about Buffalo’s offer (Twitter link via Joe Buscaglia of WGR550).
  • Wide receiver Jacoby Jones had a similar story to Graham, as Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun details in a pair of tweets. Jones says he was in New York, about to have dinner with the Giants, when he realized he wanted to stay with the Ravens and headed for the airport instead.
  • Safety Mike Mitchell is extremely happy to be with the Steelers and tells reporters, including Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (on Twitter) that he wanted to come to Pittsburgh more than the club wanted him to be there.
  • As expected, the Cardinals have paid Daryl Washington his option bonus, tweets Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic. There was some talk that they wouldn’t pay out his bonus due to legal issues.
  • Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle provides a look at the Raiders‘ perspective on why their deal with Rodger Saffold fell apart yesterday.
  • Wide receiver prospect Marqise Lee is drawing significant interest from the Jets and had a private meeting with the team, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
  • Georgia tech outside linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu, a projected second- or third-round pick tells Matt Zenitz of the Carroll County Times (Twitter links) that six teams have shown strong interest in him. Those clubs are the Ravens, Eagles, Titans, Redskins, Chargers, and Steelers.

Zach Links contributed to this post.