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Clayton Geathers

Colts Move Jack Mewhort, Clayton Geathers To IR

December 12th, 2016 at 5:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Colts will finish their season without the services of two starters after placing left guard Jack Mewhort and free safety Clayton Geathers on IR.

A left knee injury will sideline Mewhort, per the Associated Press, with Geathers being unable to overcome a neck malady that sidelined him for the past two games.

To fill the duo’s roster spots, Indianapolis promoted wide receiver Devin Street from the practice squad and signed safety Duke Williams.

Thought to potentially be out for the entire season with a torn ACL sustained during preseason play, Mewhort returned in time for Week 1 and started for the Colts in each of the 10 games for which he was active. Mewhort has rated as a top-25 guard in each of the past two seasons in the opinion of Pro Football Focus, coming in as the No. 22 player at the interior-line spot after finishing 2015 as the site’s ninth-highest-graded guard.

The former second-round pick has started each of the 40 games he’s played and will be entering a contract year in 2017.

A fourth-rounder last year, Geathers rated as a top-10 run-defending safety, per PFF, but played in just nine games in this his second season. Geathers finished with 58 tackles, five pass deflections and a forced fumble during his first season as a full-time starter, a status he will likely return to in 2017 assuming he overcomes this neck setback.

The 6-7 Colts now have eight players on IR, also placing backup linebacker Curt Maggitt on the season-ending list.

The Bills cut Williams earlier this year after the former fourth-round pick in 2013 made 10 starts for Buffalo from 2014-16.

AFC Mailbags: Browns, Bills, Titans, Raiders, Colts

July 4th, 2015 at 3:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

Earlier today, our Ben Levine pored over some of the NFC mailbags; here are some notes from the AFC side.

  • The Browns‘ front office no longer expects Josh Gordon to operate at the superstar level he showed in 2013, writes Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The longtime Browns scribe notes the team will consider trading the fourth-year wideout who’s perpetually afoul with the league if he proves he can come back to the team sober.
  • Cabot envisions Josh McCown winning seven or eight games if things go well this season and only sees Johnny Manziel re-emerging on the field if the Browns are slumping down the stretch. She does not, however, view Connor Shaw as a legitimate threat to the former Heisman Trophy winner’s backup job, noting third-stringers rarely receive sufficient practice reps and that Manziel will at least work plenty with the scout team as the No. 2 quarterback.
  • The Bills will probably approach Mario Williams about restructuring his $19.4MM cap number, which jumps to $19.9MM in 2016, in order to make room to re-sign Marcell Dareus, writes Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News. Additionally, the Bills writer suggests extending Matt Cassel ($4.75MM cap number in 2015) if he wins the starting job, and possibly cutting guard Kraig Urbik ($2.2MM), among others, to clear a payment path for Dareus to join Williams as one of the league’s highest-paid defenders.
  • Zach Brown appears to be fully recovered from the torn pectoral injury that ended his 2014 campaign after just four snaps, offers Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com. Coverage hasn’t been an issue for the fourth-year linebacker that came to the Titans as a second-round pick, but run-stoppage consistency has, per Kuharsky.
  • ESPN.com Raiders reporter Bill Williamson doesn’t think the Raiders will add another guard to compete on the right side before training camp, with the team being satisfied with J’Marcus Webb, Khalif Barnes and rookie Jon Feliciano. With Gabe Jackson coming off a solid rookie slate, the right side is indeed in need of a production uptick. Pro Football Focus (subscription required), which took scant pleasure in watching the Raiders last year, tagged Barnes as the Raiders’ worst starting lineman in 2014. Waived by the Vikings after being beaten on a blocked field goal in December, Webb’s started just one game since 2012 but is being offered the chance to compete at guard rather than his customary tackle spot.
  • Michael Crabtree‘s in a year-long preseason of sorts, with each game serving as part of the inconsistent wideout’s audition to either return to the Raiders or earn the long-term contract he coveted this offseason, writes Williamson.
  • Fourth-round safety Clayton Geathers has the talent to usurp Dwight Lowery in the Colts‘ starting secondary, writes ESPN.com’s Mike Wells. Wells viewed the Central Florida rookie as the No. 2 first-year attraction behind Phillip Dorsett and notes that Chuck Pagano mentioned the possibility of Geathers working as a dime linebacker.

Colts Sign Five Draft Picks

May 6th, 2015 at 9:20pm CST by Zachary Links

The Colts came to terms with five rookies on Wednesday, according to Mike Chappell of Indy Sports Central. Safety Clayton Geathers (round 4), defensive tackle David Parry (round 5), running back Josh Robinson (round 6), linebacker Amarlo Herrera (round 7), and offensive tackle Denzelle Good (round 7), are all officially in the fold in Indianapolis.

Geathers, a UCF product, has football in his blood with five other family members that have made it to the NFL.

“It’s just a blessing to have that family pedigree,” Geathers told Mike Wells of ESPN.com. “Just to learn from them and get advice from them. It’s just a blessing. To continue the Geathers legacy is an honor … Seeing my uncles and cousins, I wanted that same thing. Just work hard. Just to have them around to give me advice, go to games and see how everything works. It was just an honor.”

The only difference between Geathers and the rest of his clan is that he’s the only one that doesn’t play on the defensive line. Clifton Geathers, a defensive end, is still active in the NFL after signing with the Steelers in April.

Today’s deals leave the Colts with just three unsigned rookies: wide receiver Phillip Dorsett (round 1), cornerback D’Joun Smith (round 3), and defensive end Henry Anderson (round 3).

Draft Notes: Rams, Winston, Vikings, Saints

April 16th, 2015 at 7:09pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Despite already having a starting-caliber quarterback in Nick Foles, the Rams are doing their due diligence with the position as the NFL draft nears. They worked out Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota for roughly an hour Thursday, tweets the NFL Network’s Albert Breer. Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweeted earlier Thursday that, in addition to Mariota, the Rams will work out Florida State’s Jameis Winston, Baylor’s Bryce Petty, Colorado State’s Garrett Grayson and UCLA’s Brett Hundley in the coming days. Mariota and Winston should be long gone by the time the Rams’ first-round selection, the 10th overall pick, rolls around, while the rest are viewed as options in the second round and beyond.

More draft-related news:

  • NFL teams were already aware of Jameis Winston’s latest legal troubles before the news broke Thursday and those issues won’t affect his draft status, per Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (video link).
  • The Vikings have done their homework on a pair of safety prospects, Louisville’s James Sample and Central Florida’s Clayton Geathers, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (via Twitter). Both are projected as mid-round picks.
  • Although West Virginia defensive end Shaquille Riddick wasn’t among the 323 prospects invited to February’s scouting combine, he has drawn pre-draft interest from the Giants, Cardinals, Eagles, Texans, Saints, Bears and Chiefs, tweets Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. Riddick told Ulrich that is using the combine snub as motivation. “Wherever I go, I’m going to be a surprise that they’re going to benefit from,” said Riddick. “And whoever doesn’t select me, they’re going to have to worry about me terrorizing their quarterbacks.”
  • The Saints will host their local pro day on Friday, according to Evan Woodbery of NOLA.com. Per Woodbery, at least a dozen players will participate. Only those who grew up within a 40-mile radius of New Orleans or attended college within the same distance are eligible to partake.