Tag Archive for: Allen Hurns

Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins make first round of cuts, send Allen Hurns to IR

/0 Comments/in , /by

The inevitable trimming of the roster has begun. The Miami Dolphins needed to deplete the team down to 85 players by August 17, 4:00 P.M EST., and in order to do so, they have cut ties with OTs Jonathan Hubbard, Timon Parris, DT Jerome Johnson, guard Tyler Marz, and waived/injured CB Jaytlin Askew. For the final transaction, the Dolphins placed veteran WR Allen Hurns on injured reserve with a wrist injury.

Hurns, who will turn 30 in November, sat out 2020 due to Covid-19 concerns. Since his return, he hasn’t been able to make much of an impact in training camp. His best season was in 2015, where he caught 64 passes for 1,031 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Jacksonville Jaguars. That performance prompted the Jaguars to reward Hurns with an extension for 4-years, $40.65 million. Two seasons later, he was released, and spent one year with the Dallas Cowboys before signing a 2-year deal with the Dolphins in 2019.

Due to Hurns’s injured status, there are extenuating circumstances. In order for him to play for Miami in 2021, he must reach an injury settlement with the Dolphins. The standard rules for players placed on injured reserve this season is that players can be taken off of injured reserve three weeks after going on. But that only applies after the preseason is over. So for Hurns to play with Miami, they must reach a settlement. Hurns then becomes a free agent, and can re-sign with the Dolphins (or anyone else).

Loading
Loading...

Hubbard, 24, is an undrafted free agent out of Northwestern State (LA) who was attempting to compete with the likes of Larnel Coleman for a spot on the roster as depth. But unfortunately for Hubbard, he never made enough of an impression to move up to the higher units in practice.

Parris, 25, signed on with Miami on May 20. He was then waived on June 14, and re-signed on July 19. Like Hubbard, Parris was competing for a reserve role with Coleman. But also like Hubbard, he didn’t leave a lasting impression. His likely fate is Miami’s practice squad if he’s not claimed elsewhere.

Johnson, 23, is a former standout from Indiana who was named Indiana’s Outstanding Lineman of the Year for his sophomore and junior years. In 2020, Big Ten coaches voted him second-team all-conference. With the amount of depth on the defensive line, Johnson was on the outside looking in. But he could easily become a target for the practice squad if he clears.

Tyler Marz is the second oldest out of the group. At 28 years old, Marz has spent two stints with the Tennessee Titans, one with the Los Angeles Chargers, and one with the Carolina Panthers. As a former Wisconsin starter at left tackle, he was moved inside to guard to better his chances. But unfortunately, he was not able to prove himself to Brian Flores.

The outlier here is CB Jaytlin Askew. Unlike the others, Askew has the waived/injured designation. Which means that before the Dolphins can place Askew on IR, he must clear waivers. Unlike the previous five players, Askew made some plays in the secondary. His release is a result of injury and a lack of space on Miami’s loaded defense. If Askew somehow clears waivers and is available when the time comes, expect Askew to eventually be stashed on the practice squad.

Thanks to the International Player Pathway program, the Miami Dolphins still have a roster exception. Durval Queiroz Neto was shifted from defensive tackle to guard after his first year in Miami, and he’s been working at it ever since.

The next deadline for cuts is August 24, and they will have to slim down to 80 players. Anyone else on the roster bubble, no doubt they feel the pressure now.

Luis Sung has covered the Miami Dolphins for numerous outlets such as Dolphins Wire for seven years. Follow him on Twitter: @LuisDSung

Everything Tradeshows is a one-stop-shop for trade show exhibit rentals and custom exhibit display purchase solutions to companies of all sizes.

Visit them at everythingtradeshows.com or call 954-791-8882

 

Thrive Fantasy takes away the hours of research required to make the most out of your fantasy sports experience. Thrive’s featured $100K guaranteed contest is only $20 to enter, and the first-place winner takes $20K.

Go to https://www.thrivefantasy.com/?promo=5Fins and use the promo code “dolphins” to match up to $100 on your first deposit when you sign up, and take advantage of your Dolphins knowledge with their special Dolphins-based contest to get started.

Miami Dolphins: Wide receiver Allen Hurns opts out of 2020 season

/0 Comments/in /by

A member of the Miami Dolphins has opted out of playing in the 2020 season. Wide receiver Allen Hurns has elected to not participate in the upcoming season.

Hurns is the first Dolphin that has opted out of playing. The wideout offered production for Miami, and proved himself a valuable receiver. He caught 32 passes for 416 yards and two touchdowns in 14 games with Miami. He signed a two-year extension in November.

Although the Miami Dolphins would have liked his production, the organization still has plenty of targets at wide receiver. DeVante  Parker, Albert Wilson, and Preston Williams are some of the bigger names at the position. In particular, Parker looks to have a successful season. He really came into his own last year, after catching 72 passes for 1,202 yards and nine touchdowns.

Who will step up for the Miami Dolphins?

This just means that another Dolphins receiver will have to step up. Parker playing well is almost a guarantee. I would look for somebody such as Preston Williams to have a big season. After recently being cleared for football activities, he looks to really make his mark this year. After tearing his ACL in week nine, a  2019 season in which he had good momentum was put to a halt.

If the Dolphins can get a reliable secondary option to play well, this could take some of the burden off of Parker in the passing game. With how well he was playing before his injury, I expect Williams could be the one to take the next step.

With players opting out at a fast pace, this is going to allow for players all around the league to make their mark. As the Miami Dolphins get set to embark on a hopeful 2020 season, it will be interesting to see if that modifies the Dolphins passing game.

Dolphins displaying true ‘next man up’ mentality

/0 Comments/in , /by

One of the key philosophies of the New England Patriots for the past decade has been their ability to take backup players and make them play like starters. Whoever takes the place of the injured player has to provide the same level of play. Teams in the NFL look for that “next man up” mentality year in and year out. Only some actually manage to find it. However, it seems that the 2019 Miami Dolphins are on their way to putting it all together in that regard.

Observe what Miami has endured this season in the injury department. Even after trading a vast majority of their best players, those who remain on the team still are not contributing due to circumstances beyond their control. They are now all on season-ending injured reserve.

  • CB Xavien Howard – Knee
  • WR Jakeem Grant – Ankle
  • WR Preston Williams – ACL
  • SS Reshad Jones – Chest/Ankle
  • FS Bobby McCain – Shoulder

And the list goes on and on from there. As a result, the Dolphins are being forced to call on players who normally wouldn’t even make an NFL roster to take their place. Yet they make it work. They compete week in and week out in spite of their withering roster.

Unfortunately, it got even harder for Miami on Sunday. Both DeVante Parker and Albert Wilson, two of the Dolphins remaining wide receivers, left the Jets game with possible concussions. That left only Allen Hurns, newcomer Mack Hollins, and the returning Isaiah Ford as their wide receivers for the game. Parker is having a career year, so losing him especially hurt.

“It definitely made it a little bit difficult.” Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said after the game. “We had guys out there hobbled and giving everything they had. I was proud to be in the huddle with those guys. I know there’s a lot of stuff people won’t see or don’t really care to write about, but there were some guys that really gutted it out today. It was tough sledding in the second half from communications and lining up for us just because of some of the injuries we had.”

But again, while it was tough, it wasn’t impossible. Isaiah Ford responded by playing the best game of his career. The young receiver out of Virginia Tech caught six passes for 92 yards against New York. Obviously, he’s unhappy with the loss. But he’s glad he got a chance to show what he’s capable of.

“I’ve had confidence in myself the entire time that I can play at this level.” Ford said. “I know I can go on the field and help our team win.”

Undoubtedly, it’s good to see players like Ford stepping up. But who could predict the Dolphins would even be in this situation by this point?

“Just when you thought this season couldn’t get any crazier.” Fitzpatrick said. “Isaiah has been on the active (roster) and off, on the practice squad and up and down. He’s worked so hard. He’s a guy we have so much faith in as quarterbacks because whenever anybody has a question, sometimes when coaches have questions, we’ll go back to Isaiah and say, ‘What is this signal? What is this route?’ and he knows everything. I was happy to see him get out there and get an opportunity to catch some balls and really take advantage of it and make the most out of it today.”

In spite of that, Brian Flores admitted that it isn’t easy to compensate for the loss of top players like that.

“It complicates things a lot.” He said. “Obviously, when you go into a game with a specific game plan with guys in mind. When you lose one player at any position, you have a backup for that. When you lose two, that’s when it’s tough … Again, Isaiah Ford stepped in and played well. Mack Hollins who we just got a couple days ago, he stepped in and gave us some good snaps, drew a pass interference penalty. And then our tight end group, they really stepped up for us. So, I thought as a collective group, given the adversity of losing two guys, I thought we battled through it.”

Once again, coaching deserves credit for adapting and helping players shine in bad circumstances. Flores will have a lot of roster turnover come next season, with talent coming from free agency and the draft. But here and now, he has to work with what he has. What he has is not good. However, that’s what “next man up” is all about. The Dolphins are taking players who have far less talent, and bringing it to the wire every game. That alone is a sign of things to come.

Luis Sung has covered the Miami Dolphins for numerous outlets such as Dolphins Wire for six years. Follow him on Twitter: @LuisDSung

Allen Hurns signing story

Dolphins sign WR Allen Hurns to one-year, $3 million dollar deal

/0 Comments/in /by

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, after a successful tryout, the Miami Dolphins are signing veteran wide receiver Allen Hurns to a one-year, $3 million dollar contract.

This comes only days after the Dallas Cowboys released Hurns after he refused to take a pay cut and chose to test the free agent market.

“I’m good,” Hurns said during an interview with NFL Network. “Just wished they did this earlier, they asked me for a pay cut Monday, couple days before camp.”

Hurns, 27, spent the offseason recovering from a serious ankle injury he suffered in the Wild Card round of the playoffs last season against the Seattle Seahawks. Hurns is ready to play, and he’s a productive wide receiver when healthy.

“No limitations,” Hurns said. “I was set to be full go for camp, so I’m ready.”

Now, Hurns will be dressing in aqua and orange instead of Cowboy colors. He joins a crowded WR room that includes Kenny Stills, Albert Wilson, Jakeem Grant, DeVante Parker, Brice Butler, Isaiah Ford, and more.

“We saw a player who we thought was a good player,” said head coach Brian Flores during a press conference. “Could add some value to our roster, and that’s kinda how we’ll do business moving forward. If there’s a good player out there we feel like adds value to our team, we’ll try to add that player … that was the case here.”

Listed at 6’3″, 201 pounds, Hurns can line up outside and on the slot, adding more versatility. Hurns originally signed with the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2014. He has a career total 209 receptions for 2,964 yards and 23 touchdowns. 2015 was his best year, where he eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving, catching passes from Blake Bortles.

While Allen Hurns doesn’t necessarily bring something new to the table, he’s another solid option to compete in camp. The offense Miami has in mind thrives on players being versatile. More players who can do it all gives offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea more wiggle room. As training camp continues, Hurns will get a chance to prove he can be a top performer. His first practice starts immediately.