HEADLINES

Ben Banogu

Cowboys Set 53-Man Roster

August 29th, 2023 at 5:36pm CST by Ben Levine

The Cowboys were busy today, with the organization announcing 36 roster moves as they reduced their team to 53 players:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

  • OT Josh Ball
  • WR David Durden
  • LB DeMarvion Overshown
  • TE John Stephens Jr.

According to Nick Harris of the team website, both long snapper Trent Sieg and cornerback C.J. Goodwin are expected to rejoin the active roster once the dust settles from this initial round of cuts.

Quinton Bohanna spent the past two years in Dallas after being selected in the sixth round of the 2021 draft. He got into 27 games (10 starts) over the past two years, collecting 29 tackles while playing both on defense and special teams. The Cowboys added first-round defensive tackle Mazi Smith this offseason, making Bohanna expendable.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/28/23

August 28th, 2023 at 8:27pm CST by Sam Robinson

We are less than 24 hours from the deadline for NFL teams to trim their rosters to 53 players. Here are the latest moves teams have made as they pare their squads down toward the in-season limit:

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

  • Released from IR via injury settlement: DB Tino Ellis

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Minor NFL Transactions: 6/7/23

June 7th, 2023 at 6:53pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are today’s minor transactions from around the league:

Atlanta Falcons

Dallas Cowboys

Los Angeles Rams

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

 

Banogu is a local product for Dallas, even playing for the nearby Horned Frogs in Fort Worth for college. While at TCU, Banogu totaled 8.5 sacks in each season while racking up a combined 34.5 tackles for loss. His ability to make plays behind the line of scrimmage factored into the Colts selecting him in the second round in 2019. After a disappointing first three seasons, we considered him a likely release candidate, but he was able to finish out his rookie contract and hit free agency instead.

In Dallas, Banogu has a long line to work through to earn snaps. The Cowboys have quite a bit of depth at defensive end with Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, Dorance Armstrong, last year’s second-round pick Sam Williams, Dante Fowler, Takkarist McKinley, Chauncey Golston, and more on the roster. Banogu will have to live up to his second-round draft stock in order to break onto the field in Dallas.

Release Candidate: Colts DE Ben Banogu

July 9th, 2022 at 6:22pm CST by Ely Allen

The Colts have a strong recent history picking in the second round of the NFL draft. General manager Chris Ballard has hit multiple homeruns on both sides of the ball with picks like linebacker Darius Leonard in 2018 and running back Jonathan Taylor in 2020. Defensive end Ben Banogu, though, a 2019 second-round draft pick, may soon see his opportunity in Indianapolis come to end, according to Mike Wells of ESPN.

Banogu’s college career granted him access into the league. After one year of play at Louisiana-Monroe as a redshirt freshman, Banogu transferred to TCU, sitting out for a year before he could play in Fort Worth. The Nigerian-native made the most out of his final two years of eligibility, compiling 8.5 sacks in each of his two seasons with the Horned Frogs and totaling 34.5 tackles for loss in those years. In both seasons of Big 12 play, Banogu was named first-team All-Big 12.

Banogu’s domination at the collegiate-level justified Ballard’s use of a second-round pick at the time. The Colts saw what he did at TCU and wanted to see that production in their blue and white, putting him on the field early and often during his rookie season. That first year in the league, under the mentorship of Justin Houston while playing with Al-Quadin Muhammad and Jabaal Sheard, was Banogu’s best. While he only tallied 11 total tackles, he recorded 2.5 sacks, 3.0 tackles for loss, 5 quarterback hits, a forced fumble, and a pass defensed. He was on the field for a quarter of the team’s defensive snaps as a back up, getting a good amount of experience as a rookie.

In the two years since, Banogu has only made 8 total tackles and 1 quarterback hit. He hasn’t collected a sack or tackle for loss since November of 2019. While Banogu has seen a significant drop in snap count when he’s active, the other factor that has crushed his production is his availability. Banogu has seen long stretches of time over the past two seasons as a healthy scratch, a situation where an injury is not the reason a team lists a player as inactive for a game.

Banogu has seen his opportunity begin to wane. The Colts drafted pass rushers in the first and second rounds last year in Kwity Paye and Dayo Odeyingbo, who both currently sit above Banogu on the depth chart. Indianapolis also brought in former Pro Bowler Yannick Ngakoue to add a veteran presence to the ends-group.

Banogu has seen the field less and less each season, spending most of last year on the inactive list. The team’s moves to add production to the defensive end position over the past year or so points to the end of their patience. Banogu is trending fast towards a bust-label and it could cost him his job by the end of August.

Extra Points: Ravens, WRs, Colts, Banogu, Giants

June 26th, 2019 at 9:07pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Ravens could potentially trade for a wide receiver before the start of the regular season, but there aren’t exactly a bevy of top-end pass-catchers on the trade block, as Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic writes. Baltimore used its first- and third-round picks on wideouts Marquise Brown and Miles Boykin, respectively, adding them to a depth chart that already includes Willie Snead, Seth Roberts, Michael Floyd, and others. Given that the Ravens parted ways with both Michael Crabtree and John Brown earlier this offseason, they could be looking for extra depth, but it seems unlikely they’ll be able to land a true No. 1 wide receiver via trade.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

  • The Colts are moving second-round pick Ben Banogu to defensive end, according to Kevin Bowen of 1010 The Fan. Banogu played defensive end at TCU, but as Bowen writes, Banogu spent his collegiate career as a stand-up edge rusher, whereas he’ll be in a three-point stance in Indianapolis. “Can he do different things and put him in different spots?” said defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. “No question he can do that. But let’s get his feet on solid ground at one spot and then kind of develop him from there.” Justin Houston and Jabaal Sheard are locked in as the Colts’ starting defensive ends, so Banogu will compete with 2018 second-rounder Kemoko Turay for reserve playing time.
  • The Giants‘ offensive lines in 2016 and 2017 were billed as among the NFL’s worst, but as Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com points out, many members of those front fives still have jobs around the league, and some are penciled in as starters. Justin Pugh and Weston Richburg are on expensive deals in Arizona and San Francisco, respectively, while Ereck Flowers is projected as a starting guard for Washington. Bobby Hart is the Bengals’ top right tackle, while guard John Jerry — who was out of the NFL in 2018 — could now start for Cincinnati following a season-ending injury to rookie tackle Jonah Williams.
  • In case you missed it, the Ravens today worked out former Bengals linebacker Vincent Rey.

AFC Notes: Jets, Collins, Patriots, Colts

June 9th, 2019 at 4:45pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Jets officially have a new regime in charge. After a lengthy search, New York settled on Joe Douglas to be their new general manager. The Douglas/Adam Gase partnership will certainly be an interesting one, and now all eyes are on how Douglas will proceed with the team. To predict how Douglas will manage the franchise, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com took a look back at his time in Philadelphia and the Eagles’ philosophy under Howie Roseman. Cimini came to several conclusions, including that Jets fans should “watch the early strike” and look for Douglas to wrap up cornerstone pieces aggressively.

Cimini notes the Eagles’ recent early extending of Carson Wentz as the latest example of that philosophy. He also writes that the Jets “have been lagging in this area,” and kicked the can down the road on many of their soon-to-be free agents like Leonard Williams and Robby Anderson. Cimini also has the scoop on some shuffling the Jets did in the front office, including promoting Greg Nejmeh to director of pro personnel. Cimini also writes that Douglas’ track record shows he’ll make the offensive line a priority. It’s “too late for a 2019 overhaul, but this will be one of the stories next offseason,” Cimini says. Keeping Sam Darnold upright is the most important thing for the team, so that would make a lot of sense.

Here’s more from the AFC on this quiet Sunday:

  • Speaking of the Jets, in the same piece, Cimini details what Douglas’ hiring means for some current members of the team. Cimini notes that Gase already got rid of a couple holdovers in Darron Lee and Jordan Leggett, and writes that “you can bet a few more of Mike Maccagnan’s former draft picks will be dropped in the coming months.” Specifically, he names wide receiver Charone Peake, running backs Elijah McGuire and Trenton Cannon, and defensive linemen Nathan Shepherd and Folorunso Fatukasi as among those in danger of being cut. The old coaching staff always swore by McGuire, but a lot of Todd Bowles’ favorites might find themselves on the outside looking in. Shepherd was the 72nd overall pick just last year, so his release would be particularly notable.
  • Jamie Collins was able to come back home when he signed with the Patriots a few weeks ago. The linebacker was drafted by the Pats in the second round back in 2013, and spent the first few years of his career there. He was traded to the Browns for a third round pick in 2016, and Cleveland gave him a massive extension. He never lived up to that deal, and he was released back in March. He only got $250K guaranteed from New England this time around, so many observers assumed he wouldn’t even be guaranteed a roster spot. Mike Reiss of ESPN.com was initially in that camp, but he’s changed his mind recently. After observing how they’ve used him in practice, Reiss now believes the Patriots “have significant plans for him as long as everything stays on course.” Reiss writes that he’s been practicing as one of the team’s top linebackers, and that “the biggest tip-off was his presence as the top right guard on the punt protection unit.” It sounds like Collins is at the very least a good bet to make the team, and could potentially earn back a large role on defense.
  • The Colts raised some eyebrows when they drafted Ben Banogu back in April. Indy took the pass-rusher in the second round, 49th overall. That was higher than many analysts had him pegged, as Lance Zierlein of NFL.com had him stamped with a fourth or fifth round grade. The Colts bet big on his excellent athleticism, and they’ve been experimenting with how to use it. They started him off as a SAM linebacker this offseason, but have been using him at defensive end more frequently recently, according to Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star. The Colts’ defense took a huge step forward last season, and they’re hoping Banogu can help them continue that with his physical traits and speed.