C.J. Anderson - Pro Football Rumors

AFC Rumors: Marshall, McCoy, Anderson

May 8th, 2015 at 11:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

Already traded three times in his nine-year career, Brandon Marshall narrowly missed out on what could’ve been his highest-profile transaction.

In an appearance on ESPN 1000, the Jets wideout said he was nearly traded to the Patriots before last season, writes Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Bears pondered trading Marshall but instead gave the now-31-year-old receiver a three-year, $30MM extension last May. They ultimately trading Marshall to the Jets this offseason after acquiring him in 2012. Marshall, who saw his streak of seven consecutive 1,000-yard seasons end last year, preferred to remain in Chicago for the remainder of his career.

Elsewhere around the league on Friday night …

New Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase, while praising Matt Forte‘s fitness level, said his old charge in the backfield, C.J. Anderson, had to be subbed out frequently due to being “a little chubby” sometimes. The Broncos’ newfound starter told 9News‘ Mike Kils that his weight issues are nothing new. “Hey, everybody knows I’m a weight guy,” Anderson told Klis. “My body can go up and down.” The Broncos‘ offense became increasingly reliant on Anderson last season despite the former undrafted performer hovering on the fourth level of the depth chart during training camp due to his inconsistent shape status.
In a lengthy ESPN piece on Chip Kelly‘s enigmatic offseason, one NFL executive told ESPN.com’s Ashley Fox he saw merit in the Eagles coach’s madness and did not agree with the Bills‘ decision to immediately extend LeSean McCoy. “He had an impressive five-year run, but measure it statistically,” the executive said. “Over time, most running backs have a five- to six-year run, then they decline relatively precipitously. They don’t become bums overnight, and they don’t fall off the cliff, but Buffalo made an extremely stupid mistake extending him. They should’ve played it out. He will not earn that money.” Buffalo tacked three years onto McCoy’s contract, which is now a five-year deal worth $40MM, shortly after acquiring him from Philadelphia.
Following Dante Fowler Jr.‘s torn ACL that’s expected to sideline him for the season, the Florida Times-Union’s Ryan O’Halloran looks at the team’s remaining candidates to play the “Leo” defensive end in Gus Bradley‘s 4-3 scheme. Chris Clemons now goes from third-down rush specialist to every-down player, while 2012 second-rounder Andre Branch escapes the roster bubble with much more playing time available, notes O’Halloran.

C.J. Anderson To Enter OTAs As Starter

March 28th, 2015 at 5:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

The centerpiece of a reshaped offense during the latter portion of last season, C.J. Anderson will get a weighted chance at an encore for the Broncos, reports DenverBroncos.com’s Andrew Mason.

Gary Kubiak announced the former 2013 undrafted free agent who totaled 1,173 yards from scrimmage after stepping in for multiple injured runners will open the Broncos’ OTAs next month as the starter.

“He made a big jump as a player, and I think he’s earned the right to walk in to the offseason program — the OTAs — and line up as our starter,” Kubiak told Mason. “But he’s got to continue to earn it on a daily basis. I think he’s shown he has all the ability to be an excellent starter in this league, so we’re really looking forward to working with him.”

There were previous rumblings of a more open competition heading into training camp, but Anderson is the only runner in the Broncos’ top trio that didn’t suffer a season-altering injury in 2014. A groin ailment sidelined Montee Ball, 2014’s opening-night starter, and paved the way for Ronnie Hillman (two 100-plus-yard games after taking over for Ball as the starter in Week 4) before the smaller ball-carrier sustained a foot sprain that sidelined him for nearly two months.

Early-round draft picks Hillman (third round, 2012) and Ball (second, 2013) have enjoyed sporadic success in Denver, but neither matched the run Anderson did last season. The stout runner seems a natural fit in Kubiak’s zone-blocking system that’s made stars out of several backs, most recently undrafted talent Arian Foster. In more than 100 extra snaps last season, however, Foster couldn’t match Anderson’s production, according to Pro Football Focus, which rated him as a top-4 halfback (subscription required).

This could begin a more stable offseason for Anderson, who was fourth on the Broncos’ depth chart last summer after showing up to training camp in less-than-optimal condition and a healthy scratch in Week 5 against the Cardinals before his steady ascent.

AFC Notes: Bills, Patriots, Broncos, Texans

July 19th, 2014 at 9:41pm CST by Ben Levine

Let’s see what’s going on around the AFC on this Saturday evening…

The Bills have activated cornerback Leodis McKelvin from the physically unable to perform list, the team announced today. The former first-round pick was recovering from offseason hip surgery. The team also placed defensive lineman Marcell Dareus and offensive lineman J.J. Unga on the active/non-football injury list.
Rob Gronkowski is expecting to be ready for the Patriots season opener, telling ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss that he hopes to play all 16 games. “I’m planning on playing the whole season this year,” he said. “I just want to play football. I love playing the game.”
Mike Klis of The Denver Post could envision the Broncos adding a veteran running back. The writer isn’t concerned about Montee Ball, but he is skeptical of backups Ronnie Hillman and C.J. Anderson.
Arian Foster‘s “future with the Texans and career arc are on the line in 2014,” writes the Houston Chronicle’s Brian T. Smith.

Extra Points: Titans, Jags, Graham, Broncos

July 5th, 2014 at 4:57pm CST by Rob DiRe

The Titans have a number of veterans that are coming to the end of their contracts after 2014, and Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean gives his opinion of who the Titans should work to extend and who they should wait until after next season to decide on. Wyatt wants the team to extend Jurrell Casey and Brett Kern sooner rather than later, but asks the team to show patience with some of their other veteran players.

Here are a few other stories from around the NFL:

The Jaguars‘ pass rush is set to be much improved in 2014, and Ryan O’Halloran of Jacksonville.com is absolutely buying into they hype. His reasoning for believing in this unit is simple. The pass rush can’t get any worse, and the key additions should be able to make a difference immediately. Although Dekoda Watson only had three sacks in 60 games for the Buccaneers, the Jaguars believe he has unique pass-rushing skills, and Chris Clemons will be able to provide some pressure as well. While Red Bryant is not known as a sack artist, his contributions in the running game will put the team in better shape on passing downs, another area where they struggled recently.
While there has not been a lot of positivity surrounding Saints‘ tight end Jimmy Graham since losing his grievance regarding his franchise tag, Drew Brees hasn’t forgotten Graham’s value to the league, writes Julie Boudwin of NOLA.com.“Jimmy Graham has revolutionized the position,” said Brees. “He’s a guy who is so talented at so many things you know and obviously he’s a big part of our offense and I hope that they’re able to reach a long-term agreement here sooner than later. At the end of the day, this is part of the process and I think we all understand that.”
The Broncos had the best offense in the NFL by a wide margin in 2013, and the only pieces not returning this season are receiver Eric Decker who signed with the Jets, and tailback Knowshon Moreno who is now with the Dolphins. Even still, Sayre Bedinger of PredominantlyOrange.com has highlighted five dark horse candidates to impact the offense in 2014. His top five are tight ends Virgil Green and Gerell Robinson, rookie wideout Cody Latimer, and running backs Ronnie Hillman and C.J. Anderson.