Tales from the Bubble

A roundup of fading prospects, practice squad hopefuls and cancer survivors battling for NFL roster spots as the preseason comes to a close.

It’s nearly the end of the preseason. Do you know who is making your team’s final roster?

Perhaps it’s one of these guys.

Deuce Vaughn, RB, Dallas Cowboys

Deuce Vaughn looks like he could be a rolling barrel of fun this season.

The second-year Cowboys running back, who is built like a curling stone and moves like a slot car, rushed five times for 34 yards on Saturday, juking a few defenders on one highlight-worthy 12-yard run. K.D. Drummond of The Cowboys Wire credited Vaughn with 19 yards after contact. “This is the Darren Sproles starter kit many hoped for,” Drummond wrote. “He just has to prove it in games that matter on this level.”  

Vaughn was a training camp star as a sixth-round pick out of Kansas State last year. He was almost useless as a rusher/receiver/return man once the season started, however, and he was often a healthy scratch. He missed multiple practices, a scrimmage and the preseason opener this year with a hamstring injury. Vaughn needed a highlight-reel play last week. He could use a few more on Saturday against the Chargers.

The Cowboys running back room is crowded but terrible, like the Titanic’s steerage or a jar of olives from 1993. Jerry Jones, you may recall, neglected the running back position in the draft and free agency, but folks may have lost track of that because Jerrah went on to neglect so much else. Zombie Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle have the top two jobs sewn up. Vaughn is battling knockaround veteran Royce Freeman, practice squad mainstay Malik Davis and others for the RB3 role.

Vaughn is the only player in the paragraph above with a wisp of upside. The Cowboys coaching staff must realize this. He didn’t really a get a fair audition last year: Vaughn usually only got the football when the Cowboys were blowing an opponent out or getting blown out, and it’s hard to shine in garbage time. Still, a third or fourth running back must be useful on special teams, and the Roomba-shaped Vaughn may not fit that bill, though he got an opportunity to return a kickoff last week.

Vaughn is a player to watch in the days ahead. He could be the chairman of the Cowboys running back committee by November. He could also be cut next week. 

Chris Blair, WR, Atlanta Falcons

Remember that 41-yard bomb Michael Penix tossed up the right sideline in the Falcons preseason opener? Chris Blair was the recipient. Blair was at it again with four catches for 91 yards against the Ravens last weekend, including 32, 27 and 21-yard strikes from Taylor Heinicke. 

Blair caught passes from Heinicke on the Falcons scout team last year; he only suited up for one game. He went undrafted out of Alcorn State in 2020, latched onto the Packers practice squad in 2021, got cut in the 2022 offseason and tried out for the Titans and Colts before heading to the XFL, where he caught 25 passes for the DC Defenders in 2023. Blair may be the very definition of a fringe NFL player. There are about 50 guys just like him clinging to rosters around the league. Few will play in September.

Blair has not had a perfect preseason. He fumbled after a short reception on the series before that bomb from Penix. But he has gotten a lot of playing time early in preseason games, which is as much as someone who has been knocking around practice squads and minor leagues for four years can hope for.

“We know that this league, it can be pretty hard to get into,” Blair told D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. " I know that this is a job interview, not just for the Falcons, but for 31 other teams.”

“I just want to put good things on tape.”

For a team that appears to be throwing money and resources at every veteran who is not nailed down, the Falcons surprisingly lack depth at wide receiver. Drake London and Darnell Mooney are the starters, with Mooney best suited to the slot. Ray-Ray McCloud, more of a return man and gadget specialist, is penciled in as the third receiver. KhaDarel Hodge is a special teams ace and WR4. Tight end Kyle Pitts operates as a de-facto wide receiver, and former head coach Arthur Smith liked to tinker with Bijan Robinson and others (including towel boys and season-ticket holders) as wide receivers. But the Falcons could use someone to operate as a traditional possession receiver. Maybe it will be sixth-round pick Casey Washington, but he had zero catches on six targets last Saturday. Maybe it will be Blair.

The Falcons have shut down Penix, Kirk Cousins and anyone who is anyone on their roster for the rest of the preseason. Friday night’s finale against the Jaguars promises to be a snore. But Blair will likely be fighting for a roster spot and an offensive role for a playoff team. Even if that playoff team is not the Falcons.

Lewis Cine, DB, Minnesota Vikings

Cine, a lean, speedy, feisty slot-safety type out of Georgia, was the 32nd pick in the 2022 draft. He drew training camp accolades as a rookie but started his rookie season on special teams. A compound fracture of his left leg ended Cine’s 2022 season after just four games. He dedicated himself to rehab, got healthy in the 2023 preseason, but landed right back on special teams. A hamstring issue limited Cine at times, but he was also often a healthy scratch. He appeared in just seven games, rarely as a defender.

Inconsistent tackling appears to be what has kept Cine off the field: he’s a fly-around guy who will come in too high and out-of-control when trying to bring ballcarriers down in the open field. The Vikings also have other options at safety – Harrison Smith, Josh Metellus, Cam Bynum – though the whole point of drafting Cine was likely to make the aging Smith expendable. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who loves to mix-’n’-match defenders and send aggressive speedsters after the quarterback from the slot/A-gap/outer space, simply didn’t trust Cine on the field.

Cine produced an absolutely epic preseason performance against the Browns last Saturday: 10 tackles, one sack, one interception and a thumping hit on Tyler Huntley to prevent a first down. That game would earn him Defensive Player of the Week notice during the regular season. But there’s a bittersweetness to a fading prospect enjoying a huge preseason game: Cine should be on the Gatorade string right now, not playing for his career.

Kevin O’Connell was polite and upbeat when asked about Cine after the game. "Great to see him really look comfortable out there and make some plays on the football. I felt his physicality. I know the guys on the sideline were fired up to see Lew do his thing." That’s coachspeak for I’m showcasing the lad so he can get work elsewhere, though I felt his physicality sounds rather spicy out of context.

Cine probably needs a fresh start. He’s the sort of player who gets traded for a seventh-round pick during cutdowns: too baggage-laden for a serious commitment, too good to land on the waiver wire. Another splash play or two against the Eagles on Saturday afternoon would really help his cause. 

Jose Ramirez, Edge Rusher, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Let’s not get too carried away by Jose Ramirez’s three-sack performance versus the Jaguars last week. After all, one of those sacks came when Mac Jones tripped over a blocker’s feet when trying to flee the pocket; Ramirez merely tagged Jones after he fell to the turf. Another sack came when a horde of Buccaneers defenders chased C.J. Beathard back toward his own end zone for a 17-yard loss; Ramirez just happened to be the guy who got there first. Ramirez, a seventh-round pick out of Eastern Michigan (by way of Arizona) in 2022, shined last Saturday in a game of sandlot football between two teams that kept their starters in Tupperware.

But gosh Ramirez is quick, especially in his first three steps. And he notched a sack against the Bengals last week, plus some scattered “wins” against his blockers. If folks are comfortable comparing Caleb Williams to Patrick Mahomes, then no one should mind if I say that Ramirez looks like Bryce Huff.

Ramirez, who spent all of last season on the practice squad, told Bucs reporters after Saturday’s hat trick that he owes his 2023 success to a simplified philosophy.

“Ever since I had a couple of rushes in practice where I was trying to do too much, I talked to YaYa, I talked to other guys,” Ramirez said, per Matt Matera of Pewter Report. “They were like, ‘Man, just get off the ball.’ My first thing is always just get off the ball. Whatever the tackle gives me, that’s what I’m going to take.”

“YaYa” is YaYa Diaby, who recorded 7.5 sacks as a rookie in 2023. Diaby suffered an ankle injury early in the month and has been out of practice for a while. Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, the somewhat-disappointing 2021 first-round pick, has been sidelined with a neck injury and may be on the roster bubble. Shaq Barrett and the pass rushers who helped the Bucs win the Super Bowl in 2020 are long gone. Defensive back Antoine Winfield actually finished second to Diaby on the team in sacks last year. Vita Vea is great, but a star defensive tackle without a quality edge is like an anvil without a hammer. 

The Bucs, in short, need edge rushers who are at least good enough to pat Kirk Cousins, Bryce Young or Derek Carr on the back after they slip and fall. Second-round pick Chris Braswell earned rave reviews in joint practices, but edge rushers work better in bunches. 

“The Bucs are so barren for a good edge rush that even a guy who was a weekday warrior last season on the practice squad who gets a couple of sacks (three actually) in a game that will be fully forgotten in three weeks, Joe is ready to embrace as if Julius Peppers showed up at One Buc Palace,” wrote Friend-of-the-Zone JoeBucsFan.

So don’t get carried away about Ramirez’s four preseason sacks. But don’t be surprised if he makes the Bucs roster and ends up notching a few sacks. Or even emerges as a “best kept secret”-type like Huff.  

Deneric Prince and Carson Steele

If you are looking for a reason to watch Thursday night’s Chiefs-Bears preseason game, then you should probably skip Thursday night’s Chiefs-Bears preseason game. Caleb Williams has shown all he needs to show. Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce provided one behind-the-back pass to carry us through until September. Summer is fleeting! Life is short! Go for a stroll! Read a book! Sit on the porch and offer up your ankles to hungry mosquitos!

I, on the other hand, will be watching that game, because: a) this is my job; b) I’m a junkie; c) my ankles already look like I am auditioning for a Curt Schilling biopic; and d) Deneric Prince and Carson Steele are battling for the Chiefs backup running back role. 

Prince went undrafted out of Tulsa in 2023. He generated some camp buzz, then disappeared onto the Chiefs practice squad. The Chiefs cut loose La’Mical Perine (now on the Steelers) and Jerick McKinnon (now 32 years old) in the offseason and did not draft a running back, which suggested that Prince was in line for a backfield role. Prince, a square-shouldered thumper, burst through an arm tackle for a 41-yard run against the Lions last week and has displayed some versatility with a few short receptions.

Steele is a burly UDFA from UCLA by way of Ball State. He trucked some Jaguars defenders for a 20-yard run in the preseason opener. The Chiefs have given Steele some reps at fullback. He was seen running a short-yardage fullback dive at an open practice. He’s also ahead of Prince on the depth chart, according to folks who watch practice each day and note who lines up with which string. 

Clyde Edwards-Helaire is Isiah Pacheco’s nominal backup. Edwards-Helaire is dealing with a form of PTSD stemming from a 2018 shooting. Based on some of the symptoms he described, including significant weight loss, he may be best served by a stint on the non-football injury list. Prince and Steele could both end up with offensive roles for the defending champions, perhaps with Steele serving as a specialist for a team that doesn’t run traditional quarterback sneaks.

Both Prince and Steele are fun to watch. They may be battling for a chance to play for a historic team on Thursday. Are you sure you don’t want to watch? You probably are. That’s fine: Too Deep Zone (and the entire fantasy media community) will let you know how it all turns out.

John Metchie, WR, Houston Texans

Metchie lost his rookie year to leukemia. Not a high ankle sprain. Not an ACL tear. Acute promyelocytic leukemia. He underwent treatment in 2022, was cleared to play in 2023, caught 16 regular-season passes, received zero Comeback Player of the Year votes and found himself on the Texans roster bubble entering 2024 training camp. 

A collegiate superstar and former second-round pick overcoming cancer and returning to the field should be the subject of an inspirational film, not trade rumors and 53-man roster projections. But here we are. 

Metchie shined against the Giants last week, with six catches for 58 yards and one touchdown. He looked a lot like the receiver who shined opposite Jameson Williams and caught passes from Mac Jones and Bryce Young at Alabama three years ago. 

Being over a year removed from cancer treatment has helped Metchie’s game, the seasoned columnist writes, reeling at the obviousness and absurdity of his own sentence. “You go through so long with treatment for so long and even though you are done you are not really done,” Metchie said after Saturday’s game, per longtime Texans reporter Aaron Wilson. “You have to give it some time for your body to flush it out and for you to able to keep building and just flush it out. I kind of expected it would be better.”

But is there room on the Texans roster among Stefon Diggs, Nico Collins, Tank Dell and so many others? Is this REALLY the question we are asking? Yes, because making the roster bubble is a minor miracle for Metchie. And if he doesn’t fit in Houston, he surely fits somewhere.

When it comes to making the Texans roster, Metchie has a powerful ally. “Metchie has been working really hard,” C.J. Stroud said on Saturday, per Wilson. “He’s a great friend of mine, somebody who I have a lot of love for. It’s just exciting to see him able to put all his talents and things on display. I’m really excited for him. I think he’s going to be a great addition to our team.”

Sounds like the quarterback has made up his mind. The Texans should listen to him.

And Many More

So many fading prospects, late-round picks and practice-squad hopefuls end up as names in my notebook this time of year.

Here in Eagles territory alone, John Ross and Mekhi Becton are fighting for their futures. Ross and Becton were draft-season superstars a few years ago. Now they are footnotes.

Dante Pettis caught two touchdown passes for the Bears last week, but he was not on the field with the Caleb string. Pettis is a former second-round pick who started seven games last year. He’ll be likely to claim the final spot on the Bears depth chart.

A whole encyclopedia’s worth of fantasy content was written around Cam Akers from 2020 through 2022. He played well as a rookie, suffered an Achilles injury, came back with a solid season, went from the starting lineup to the trading block in a few weeks and ended last season on the Vikings injured reserve. Akers was the most famous player in the Hall of Fame Game a few weeks ago and is now fighting for a Texans roster spot, just like Metchie.

Did Broncos safety Keidron Smith secure a roster spot with two interceptions in two weeks? Were Cameron Thomas’ two sacks against the Colts a sign that he has turned the corner in his third season? Such questions are best answered by local beat writers. But I must at least ask them. Better to get a sense of who will be lurking on the Bears or Broncos bench come October than to watch a handful of Caleb Williams/Bo Nix throws over and over again until I see the image of the blessed virgin on the field. 

JoeBucsFan said it best earlier: “a game that will be fully forgotten in three weeks.” This upcoming weekend’s games may be forgotten in more like three beers. But the players won’t forget. And there’s a chance that one of the stories above is the first chapter of a saga that extends through this season and beyond. If so, perhaps we will look back in January. If not, there will be dozens more tales from the bubble to tell next August.

Podcasts and Mailbags

Matt Lomardo — that’s LombardO, with an O — and I got to speak with Dolphins great Richmond Webb on this week’s Between the Hashmarks podcast. Webb talked Dolphins, modern training camp versus 1990s hell-camps, Hall of Fame campaigns and more. I also did my best to get Matt to simmer the heck down with the Caleb Williams hype.

PODCAST - Between The Hashmarks Episode 2: CONFLICT over Rookie QBs, Richmond Webb Joins

You can download the podcast here. Matt hosts the podcast at Between the Hashmarks, which is the best place to check out what he and I are up to.

As you read this, I am busily scouring through your mailbag questions. Look for responses to many of them on Friday!

Several mailbag questions pertained to backup quarterback rankings. In fact, Luis Guilherme asked: “When we'll get the backup QB rankings? That was a favorite feature of old FO to me, and I think it's a topic that can get some traction before the season starts.”

Ask and you shall receive! I will schedule my Backup Quarterback Rankings for Tuesday, September 3rd, when all the other NFL websites are traying to cram last-second season preview material down your face holes. I would schedule them earlier, but backup quarterbacks have a habit of losing jobs and getting new ones during cutdowns. Anyway, if you don’t see many backup quarterback questions addressed on Friday, that’s why.

Photo by PLBechly via Wikimedia Commons