NY Jets sign three players to fill out the practice squad

The NY Jets signed three players to fill out the empty slots on their practice squad.

The NY Jets have filled out the remaining three empty slots on their practice squad as of Tuesday evening signing a trio of new players to the organization.

The Jets have officially signed veteran linebacker Bryce Hager, former undrafted linebacker Noah Dawkins, and former undrafted offensive lineman Blake Hance to their practice squad.

The team also announced a few other roster moves on Tuesday including the full-time promotion of wide receiver Josh Malone to the active roster, the placing of cornerback of Arthur Maulet on injured reserve, and the release of linebacker Paul Worrilow from the practice squad.

With Malone and Worrilow gone from the practice squad, the Jets had additional slots to fill and now the unit is once again a full 16-player squad.

Hager is the player with the most experience of the three having played in the NFL for the past five seasons. A seventh-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Hager developed into an ultra-reliable special-teams ace for the Los Angeles Rams.

Altogether, Harger spent all five years with the Rams playing in 16 games in each of his first four seasons before a shoulder injury ended his 2019 campaign prematurely.

That was a shame too, given that he had finally been entrusted with a starting role for the first time in his career starting four of the first five games of the season.

Hager signed on with the Las Vegas Raiders this past August looking to crack a new-look Raiders linebacker corps but he was released just a few weeks later. Nonetheless, he’s certainly a quality addition given the Jets’ lack of depth at the linebacker position right now.

The Jets also signed two relatively young players to their practice squad.

The Jets also signed another linebacker in the aforementioned Noah Dawkins. An undrafted free agent in 2019, Dawkins originally signed on with the Cincinnati Bengals before being released and signed to the team’s practice squad.

He’d only last around a month there, however, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would swoop in and sign Dawkins to their active roster in early October. The Citadel product would go on to play in 10 games down the stretch playing almost exclusively on special teams.

A little undersized at just 235 pounds, Dawkins ran a blazing 4.41 40-yard dash at his pro day despite running on a tweaked hamstring. His athleticism will certainly be intriguing to a Jets team starting the likes of Neville Hewitt and Alec Ogletree at linebacker — quite the opposite.

As for Hance, the Northwestern product is an offensive tackle by trade and has had brief stints with the Buffalo Bills, Washington Football Team, and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Interestingly enough, Hance also has a background as a tight end allowing him to fit the bill of athletic offensive tackles in the Jets’ organization.

Of the three, Hager is probably the most likely to see time on the active roster. With Blake Cashman still out and Avery Williamson struggling to see the field, that could come sooner rather than later.