UDFA Update: Hidden Gems and Team Lists

Mike Valverde Posted On May 2, 2017

Even though the seven round draft is over, there are several players out there who can fill a team’s needs. You may have even heard a few stories as coaches sit idly by a player and as soon as Mr. Irrelevant is called, they are offering a contract on the spot. We covered the initial burst of UDFA (undrafted free agent) activity right after the draft and even more players have signed now.

Most of these players will not make the roster or even be worthy of a practice squad placement. Even so, that doesn’t mean someone special can’t be found among the muck; there is always a chance for a few gems. Even asking players, you may find they prefer to be a UDFA than a seventh round draft choice. These free agents can go where they want and have a better chance to make the team because they are cheaper in price.

Not to mention there has been a long list of players who have been Hall of Famers (Kurt Warner and Warren Moon) or those that may have a chance down the road (Antonio Gates, Priest Holmes, Adam Vinatieri and James Harrison). There are even those who are making their mark playing in the NFL at this moment. Athletes such as La’el Collins (Dallas Cowboys) or Allen Hurns (Jacksonville Jaguars) come to mind.

Be sure to check out the success of these players in our first UDFA update, in which Ryan McDowell looked at UDFA success and went through some of the players he liked right after the draft. Here I’ll take another look at some of those pieces who I think have a solid chance of making a squad and turning into something special.

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Corey Clement, RB PHI

Corey Clement (5’11 and 225 pounds) is a bigger back with very good feet. His good vision allows him to exploit the holes that present themselves, and he sheds blockers and falls forward. Even though he is a larger back, he has good wiggle to keep defenders from just squaring up on him. Clement is a lane-jumper and has the balance to break soft tackles and has enough speed to break one.

The reason he became a UDFA is his character and leadership flaws (he was in an altercation in an elevator that was caught on tape). Clement was also injured through the 2015 season. He doesn’t have much burst and is a one-speed type player. He also needs to understand the virtue of patience as he will constantly run up on his blockers. Clement does not have very good hands to be relied on for a third-down role.

Philadelphia is a good landing spot for him , and will work great in their committee approach as long as he doesn’t lose his cool. I suggest he takes the stairs.

Ishmael Zamora, WR OAK

Is it truly surprising that someone like Ishmael Zamora is on the Oakland Raiders? Here is a guy who took to beating his dog with a belt and was charged with a misdemeanor for animal abuse. I hope this is one incident that never rears itself again. He is a terrific athlete, and there is nothing sadder than wasted talent.

Zamora is a not only athletic for football, but he was once a track athlete and a very good one. He won the 110-meter hurdles as a junior. He also has very good size (6’4” and 215 pounds) and has a good size/speed ratio. With his track experience, it’s obvious that he can leap and has great hip flexors. His catching radius is off the chart. He doesn’t have much route experience and will rely on his talent rather than work on his deficiencies. Zamora will also have the case of the dropsies and drift on his routes. He also doesn’t seem to put much effort into blocking.

The Raiders have been successful over the last few years with picking up wide receivers that were not drafted. Both Seth Roberts and Andre Holmes have fared well. Oakland did not draft one, and Zamora could find a spot as a four or five receivers with a chance to move up the depth chart.

Travis Rudolph, WR NYG

Travis Rudolph (6’0” and 189 pounds) is a solid and consistent route runner and rarely tips his hand as he is taking flight. He is a glider with smooth acceleration. He will work back to the quarterback and plucks the ball away from his body. He has a very good catch radius, along with very good body control and balance. He will put maximum effort into his blocks and won’t just body up on the defender. Rudolph has a hard time breaking away from a defender and lacks a turbo button. He will need to get stronger so that he can win more contestable balls. Rudolph is a lot more heart than talent but has enough to become at least a fourth or fifth receiver.

The Giants are looking for someone to learn under the veteran leadership of Odell Beckham and Brandon Marshall. After two badly-behaved receivers above, here we have a very good one. Harken back to last August, and you may remember Rudolph eating lunch with an autistic elementary student who was all alone. If you need a lunch buddy, reach him on @TravisRudolph5.

Travin Dural, WR NO

He was one player I thought would get drafted, but didn’t. Dural (6’1” and 202 pounds) has good size and great speed. He can juke his way through press coverage. He shows acceleration into his routes and has an instant turbo button. He can take crossing routes and explode with them. Dural is tough and will not shy away from contact. Coaches will be able to trust him to block downfield. He’s primarily a deep threat with small hands, which will give him troubles making the grab. Dural has never reached the 40-catch mark at any time in his LSU career. He does have a hard time tracking the ball and struggles to fight off defenders when making the grab.

The quarterbacks at LSU played to a very low standard and this hampered Dural’s ability to put up any relevant numbers. Now he will have a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Drew Brees. The wide receiver crew at New Orleans is deep, and they have both Ted Ginn and Willie Snead to fill the downfield role.

Artavis Scott, WR LAC

Scott is another player who I thought would be drafted, but he did find a home in Los Angeles. At 5’10” and 193 pounds, he was the security blanket for Deshaun Watson in the last three seasons. Scott runs precise routes and can wall off defenders with his body. He has very good lateral quickness and start-stop ability. Scott has solid concentration when the ball is in the air. He will drop his pads upon contact and falls forward for more yards, and can play special teams.

He is also intelligent, as he earned his communication studies degree in just two and half years. . His route running lacks the speed for vertical running, and he is a small receiver who doesn’t stride well. Scott just managed eight targets beyond 21-yards and seemed to play in restrictive systems.

Scott will join former teammate Mike Williams who was selected in the first round. He does not have much to work against, so his chances to make the team are good.

KD Cannon, WR SF

A player with pure speed, Cannon (5’11” and 182 pounds) plays as though he was shot out of one. He stacks defenders like he is cooking pancakes and always threatens the top of the defense. Cannon plays with coordination and has good over-the-shoulder tracking capability. He will adjust his path to the ball. Even though he has small hands (8 7/8”) Cannon will stay away from catching with his body. Obviously, his body dimensions are slight, and he lacks route strength. Cannon cannot help himself catching the ball with his body and has too many drops.

Cannon has home run potential, but is just limited to go routes. Being on the San Francisco 49ers as a receiver is a good place to land. There isn’t much depth, and he brings a good vertical threat that the team lacks outside Marquise Goodwin.

Zach Terrell, QB BAL

Zach Terrell (6’1” and 209 pounds) was successful in each of his three seasons at Western Michigan. He has a nice touch on his passes and can float them over the defenders. He is very accurate on short and intermediate passes and throws with good placement. Terrell will make a throw without considering the danger aspect, but will take big shots and shake off anything negative. He wastes too much energy getting rid of the ball and struggles to make all the necessary throws for an NFL QB. Terrell will need to anticipate more and is prone to fumbles. It helped his numbers that he played in a high-octane system with a great wide receiver.

Terrell comes to Baltimore with very little competition behind Joe Flacco. If he can prove that his accuracy, toughness, and production can override his lack of size and arm strength, he could be a number two for the Ravens.

Others to keep track of:

Taysom Hill, QB Green Bay Packers
Cooper Rush, QB Dallas Cowboys
Alex Torgersen, QB Atlanta Falcons
Tion Green, RB Detroit Lions
De’Veon Smith, RB Miami Dolphins
Dare Ogunbowale, RB Houston Texans
Keon Hatcher, WR Oakland Raiders
Krishawn Hogan, WR Arizona Cardinals
Damore’ea Stringfellow, WR Miami Dolphins
Tim Patrick, WR Baltimore Ravens
Gabe Marks, WR New York Jets
Amba Etta-Tawo, WR Jacksonville Jaguars
Ricky Seals-Jones, WR Arizona Cardinals
Josiah Price, TE Minnesota Vikings

As well as the top names, here’s the complete list of fantasy relevant positional players (on both offense and defense) who have signed with a team.

Arizona Cardinals

De’Chavon Hayes, DB, Arizona State

Trevor Knight, QB, Texas A&M

Ryan Lewis, CB, Pittsburgh

Antonio Pipkin, QB, Tiffin

Ricky Seals-Jones, WR, Texas A&M

Pasoni Tasini, DL, Utah

Atlanta Falcons

Marcelis Branch, DB, Robert Morris

Jermaine Grace, LB, Miami (Fla.)

JT Jones, DE, Miami (Ohio)

Quincy Mauger, S, Georgia

Chris Odom, DE, Arkansas State

Deron Washington, S, Pittsburg St.

Baltimore Ravens

Quincy Adeboyejo, WR, Ole Miss

Omarius Bryant, DT, Western Kentucky

Tim Patrick, WR, Utah

Zach Terrell, QB, Western Michigan

Tim White, WR, Arizona State

Buffalo Bills

Jordan Johnson, RB, Buffalo

Carolina Panthers

Robert Barber, DL, Washington State

Ben Boulware, LB, Clemson

Bryan Cox, Jr., DE, Florida

Fred Ross, WR, Mississippi State

Chicago Bears

Joel Bouganon, RB, Northern Illinois

Tanner Gentry, WR, Wyoming

Cincinnati Bengals

Harold Brantley, DL, Northwest Missouri State

Hardy Nickerson Jr., LB, Illinois

Tyler O’Connor, QB, Michigan State

Josh Tupou, DT, Colorado

Cleveland Browns

B.J. Bello, LB, Illinois State

JD Harmon, DB, Kentucky

Alvin Hill, CB, Maryland

Jamal Marcus, DE, Akron

Najee Murray, CB, Kent State

Kai Nacua, S, BYU

Kenneth Olugbode, LB, Colorado

Channing Stribling, CB, Michigan

Dallas Cowboys

Austin Appleby, QB, Florida

Kennan Gilchrist, LB, Appalachian State

Joseph Jones, LB, Northwestern

Lewis Neal, DL, LSU

Cooper Rush, QB, Central Michigan

Jahad Thomas, RB, Temple

Lucas Wacha, LB, Wyoming

Denver Broncos

Jamal Carter, S, Miami

Ken Ekanem, DE, Virginia Tech

Deon Hollins, OLB, UCLA

Tyrique Jarrett, DT, Pittsburgh

Marcus Rios, CB, UCLA

Kyle Sloter, QB, Northern Colorado

Shakir Soto, DE, Pittsburgh

Detroit Lions

Michael Rector, WR, Stanford

Maurice Swain, DT, Auburn

Noel Thomas, WR, Connecticut

Robert Tonyan, TE, Indiana State

Green Bay Packers

Donatello Brown, DB, Valdosta State

Johnathan Calvin, OLB, Mississippi State

Taysom Hill, QB, BYU

Houston Texans

Eli Ankou, DT, UCLA

Zach Conque, TE, Stephen F. Austin

T.J. Daniel, DE, Oregon

Matt Godin, LB, Michigan

Deante’ Gray, WR, TCU

Justin Hardee, WR, Illinois

Dare Ogunbowale, RB, Wisconsin

Dayon Pratt, LB, East Carolina

Daniel Ross, DL, Northeast Mississippi

Malik Smith, CB, San Diego State

Indianapolis Colts

Darrell Daniels, TE, Washington

Krishawn Hogan, WR, Marian

Bug Howard, WR, North Carolina

Colin Jeter, TE, LSU

Brandon Radcliff, RB, Louisville

Jhaustin Thomas, DE, Iowa State

Phillip Walker, QB, Temple

Jacksonville Jaguars

Jeremy Cutrer, CB, Middle Tennessee State

Hunter Dimick, DE, Utah

Amba Etta-Tawo, WR, Syracuse

Justin Horton, OLB, Jacksonville

Kenny Walker, WR, UCLA

Kansas City Chiefs

Wyatt Houston, TE, Utah State

Jordan Sterns, S, Oklahoma State

J.R. Nelson, CB, Montana

Los Angeles Chargers

Sean Culkin, TE, Missouri

Michael Davis, CB, BYU

Austin Ekeler, RB, Western State

Nigel Harris, LB, South Florida

Eli Jenkins, QB, Jacksonville State

Mike Moore, LB, Kansas State

James Onwualu, LB, Notre Dame

Andre Patton, WR, Rutgers

Artavis Scott, WR, Clemson

Brad Watson, CB, Wake Forest

Dontre Wilson, RB, Ohio State

Los Angeles Rams

Aarion Penton, CB, Missouri

Casey Sayles, DE, Ohio

Miami Dolphins

Malcom Lewis, WR, Miami

Cameron Malveaux, DE, Houston

Torry McTyer, DB, UNLV

Drew Morgan, WR, Arkansas

Francis Owusu, WR, Stanford

De’Veon Smith, RB, Michigan

Damore’ea Stringfellow, WR, Ole Miss

Minnesota Vikings

Tashawn Bower, DE, LSU

Wes Lunt, QB, Illinois

Josiah Price, TE, Michigan State

Eric Wilson, LB, Cincinnati

New England Patriots

Josh Augusta, DT, Missouri

Adam Butler, DT, Vanderbilt

Austin Carr, WR, Northwestern

Cody Hollister, WR, Arkansas

Jacob Hollister, TE, Wyoming

David Jones, DB, Richmond

D.J. Killings, CB, Central Florida

Harvey Langi, LB, BYU

Kenny Moore, CB, Valdosta State

Jason Thompson, S, Utah

Corey Vereen, DE, Tennessee

New Orleans Saints

Travin Dural, WR, LSU

Ahmad Fulwood, WR, Florida

Devaroe Lawrence, DT, Auburn

Art Maulet, CB, Memphis

Sae Tautu, LB, BYU

New York Giants

Jadar Johnson, S, Clemson

Keeon Johnson, WR, Virginia

Jarron Jones, DL, Notre Dame

Calvin Munson, LB, San Diego State

Travis Rudolph, WR, Florida State

New York Jets

Brisly Estime, WR, Syracuse

Anthony Firsker, FB, Harvard

Patrick Gamble, DT, Georgia Tech

Connor Harris, LB, Lindenwood

Gabe Marks, WR, Washington State

Oakland Raiders

Fadol Brown, DE, Ole Miss

Pharaoh Brown, TE, Oregon

Anthony Cioffi, S, Rutgers

Keon Hatcher, WR, Arkansas

Rickey Jefferson, DB, LSU

Isaac Whitney, WR, USC

Ishmael Zamora, WR, Baylor

Philadelphia Eagles

Corey Clement, RB, Wisconsin

Pittsburgh Steelers

Nelson Adams, DT, Mississippi State

Christian Brown, DT, West Virginia

Francis Kallon, DE, Georgia Tech

Keith Kelsey, LB, Louisville

Scott Orndoff, TE, Pittsburgh

Nick Schuessler, QB, Clemson

Rushel Shell, RB, West Virginia

Terrish Webb, DB, Pittsburgh

San Francisco 49ers

KD Cannon, WR, Baylor

Jimmie Gilbert, LB, Colorado

Cole Hikutini, TE, Louisville

Lorenzo Jerome, S, Saint Francis

Nick Mullens, QB, Southern Miss

Seattle Seahawks

Tony Bridges, S, Ole Miss

Hayden Plinke, TE, UTEP

Darreus Rogers, WR, USC

Jordan Roos, G, Purdue

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Anthony Auclair, TE, Laval

Richie Brown, LB, Mississippi State

Riley Bullough, LB, Michigan State

Christian Kuntz, LB, Duquense

Greg Mabin, CB, Iowa

Sefo Liufau, QB Colorado

Paul Magloire, S, Arizona

Thomas Sperbeck, WR, Boise State

Tennessee Titans

Tyler Ferguson, QB, Western Kentucky

Kody Kohl, TE, Arizona State

Washington

Zach Pascal, RB, Old Dominion

James Quick, WR, Louisville

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Mike Valverde

Writer at Dynasty League Football

I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice to go with my master degree in Business Administration. In between these programs, I graduated the from the police academy. Yet, I decided to write for a career. You can catch me at the movies, playing video games, reading or writing out cryptograms, basically anything that requires me sitting on my arse. And it's a surprise to many why I like fantasy football so much.