The Patriots drafted two Georgia players in the first round of this year¡¯s
draft and they have one of them under contract.
Field Yates of ESPN reports that the team has signed offensive lineman Isaiah
Wynn to a four-year contract with a team option for a fifth season. Wynn was
drafted 23rd overall http://www.chicagobearsteamonline.com/brian-urlacher-jersey ,
leaving 31st overall pick Sony Michel as the only member of New England¡¯s draft
class without a deal.
Wynn played left guard and left tackle in college and offensive line coach
Dante Scarnecchia said during the offseason that Wynn would get a look at left
tackle as the team works to find a replacement for Nate Solder. He saw time at
left guard alongside Trent Brown at tackle during minicamp with Joe Thuney
missing practice time after having foot surgery.
With Wynn under contract, there are now 17 unsigned 2018 draft picks around
the league.
Christian McCaffrey will have an even bigger role in the
Panthers' offense this season.
McCaffrey, the team's first-round draft pick in 2017, carried the ball 117
times for 435 yards and established a franchise rookie record with 80
receptions. He finished the season with seven touchdowns.
While McCaffrey led the Panthers in receptions, he'll be counted on to carry
the ball more after the team parted ways with its all-time leading rusher
Jonathan Stewart. Panthers two-time NFL Coach of the Year Ron Rivera believes
McCaffrey is up to the task Josh Bellamy
Jersey , saying he can be a running back who carries the ball 200
times this season.
McCaffrey's durability has been questioned at times because his body build is
more akin to a scat back than a power back.
He averaged just 3.7 yards per carry in 2017.
"Yeah, why not?" Rivera said of the prospect of a 200-carry season.
"Everybody forgets that when he was (at Stanford) he carried the ball between
the tackles more than anybody and touched the ball more than anybody. I don't
see why not."
McCaffrey is all for it.
"Obviously anybody on the team wants the ball as much as possible," McCaffrey
said. "That is football. You should want to compete. But we are here to win
football games, so whatever that means and whatever that takes we're going to
do."
McCaffrey, the son of three-time Super Bowl champion wide receiver Ed
McCaffrey Jamison
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coordinator Norv Turner, who has taken over for Mike Shula.
He feels "a lot more comfortable" in his second year with the Panthers, even
though he's learning a new offensive scheme. But he wouldn't discuss what will
be different about his workload this year or in what different ways he will be
used under Turner for competitive reasons.
"However they want to use me, that is where I will be," McCaffrey said. "I
think we have a lot of great talent and a lot of different weapons."
He won't be carrying the entire load in the backfield http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/ryan-groy-jersey ,
of course.
The Panthers added depth at running back signing 2017 1,000-yard rusher C.J.
Anderson, who played in Denver and helped the Broncos beat Carolina in the Super
Bowl in 2015. Carolina is also expecting some added help from Cameron
Artis-Payne and Kenjon Barner.
And don't forget, it was quarterback Cam Newton who led the team with 754
yards rushing and six touchdowns last season.
The 21-year-old McCaffrey enters the season with a new perspective after a
"traumatic experience" earlier this summer.
McCaffrey, his brothers and some friends were in Colorado when they saw an
elderly man fall off a cliff while hiking with his 13-year-old grandson.
McCaffrey called 911 and one of his friends administered chest compressions.
McCaffrey said paramedics arrived at the scene in about 11 minutes. The
72-year-old Dan Smoker Sr. survived the fall and McCaffrey has developed a
friendship with him and his family. He even plans to invite the Smokers to a
Panthers home game this season.
"When you see something like that Demarcus
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every moment in," McCaffrey said. "We had a decompression moment after that. You
look at life and realize it can be gone in any split second."
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