Da'Rick Rodgers Released

[DaneMcCloud]

Chiefs release WR Da'Rick Rogers
Adam Teicher, ESPN Staff Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Talented but troubled wide receiver Da'Rick Rogers was released by the Kansas City Chiefs just hours before they were to begin their mandatory minicamp. Da'Rick Rogers has caught only 14 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns during his NFL career.

Rogers, 23, was one of the SEC's best wide receivers in 2011, when he caught 67 passes for more than 1,000 yards and scored nine touchdowns for Tennessee. But he was subsequently thrown off the team for disciplinary problems and transferred to Tennessee Tech.

Rogers has been unable to make it in the NFL. He signed with the Chiefs, his third NFL team, in January but hadn't been impressive during offseason practice. The Chiefs also may have felt comfortable releasing Rogers because of the emergence of rookie wide receiver Chris Conley, who has played well in practice.

Rogers pleaded guilty in May in Indianapolis to resolve a 2014 DUI case. He was sentenced to one day in jail and six months of probation.

The Chiefs also released offensive lineman Kelvin Palmer, who recently signed as a free agent, and signed offensive lineman Tavon Rooks of Kansas State.

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Who? Rodgers?

Ummm....no one....Avant....half this board thought or still thinks Avant will be our #2.

Who thinks he will be the #2 WR?

My depth chart

Maclin
Wilson
Conley
Thomas
Avant
Hemmingway

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Who? Rodgers?

Ummm....no one....

No. There were definitely a few rubes who thought he was gonna be a playmaker this year.

[ModSocks]

Originally Posted by BossChief

Who thinks he will be the #2 WR?

My depth chart

Maclin
Wilson
Conley
Thomas
Avant
Hemmingway

Pre-Conley hype? A shit ton of people....the company line (pre-Conley hype train) was that Avant would be the #2 "until Conley was ready".

And yes, i agree with your list....except that Wilson and Conley will be 2a and 2b.

[Dunerdr]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Pre-Conley hype? A shit ton of people....the company line (pre-Conley hype train) was that Avant would be the #2 "until Conley was ready".

And yes, i agree with your list....except that Wilson and Conley will be 2a and 2b.

This may be the smartest thing you said the whole thread.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Good thing the Chiefs have more than one guy who knows the offense. WR coach, OC, HC, Maclin....I guess guys who've been here for Andy Reid's tenure don't count? Hemingway is in his 3rd season, both Wilson and DAT have a season under their belt. Hammond has been in this offense long enough. Who exactly needs another coach? Just Conley?

You're trying to justify his spot as a coach. If coaching is required, then hire another coach or coach better.

And he won't #4. He'll be #5 at best....#5 should be a developmental guy....

Hemmingway sucks. I'd rather have Avant over him anyway. At least he can catch.

DAT wasn't given hardly any of the playbook last year and neither was Wilson, who played all of a handful of games.

Avant is insurance. Cheap insurance. and he'll be gone in 2016.

[BossChief]

The Chiefs, who were 7-5 at the time, still had a need at the position. So they tabbed Avant to fill it, because they knew exactly what he was about.

“He’s a good person, number one, and then he works his game like no other,” Reid said. “It is just practice, practice, practice, practice with him. You grow to appreciate how he does his job.”

It did not take Avant’s new teammates long to see what Reid meant.


During one of Avant’s first meetings with the rest of the receivers and position coach David Culley, Wilson spotted a fresh notebook in front of Avant.

Culley, Avant’s longtime position coach in Philly, was going over the upcoming opponent, the Denver Broncos. Wilson, 22, noted Avant — a nine-year pro, mind you — taking copious notes.

“It was his first day here, and you have some leeway learning some things, because they give you a second or two (to pick it up),” Wilson said. “But he was there … and I look over at his book, and he had notes like he’d been here three or four days already. I was just looking like, he’s that detailed?”

Avant also made an impression with attention to detail on the practice field, too. His teammates soon noticed that he quickly and aggressively went about building a rapport with Smith.

“After every play, he’s going ‘This is what I saw, this is how I’m running it, is this how you want me to run it?’ ” rookie quarterback Aaron Murray said. “You’re like ‘Man, this guy, he’s (about) business.’ ”

Smith said it’s clear that Avant understands the importance of communication between a quarterback and receiver.

“He is very detailed, absolutely,” Smith said. “He definitely goes out of his way to make sure that we are on the same page, that he is telling me his train of thought, no question on any given play and making sure that we are thinking the same thing.”

Avant’s attention to detail isn’t simply confined to his mind. When it comes to route running, few are more deceptive.

“I think some younger guys come up to him and ask him how to run a certain route,” backup quarterback Chase Daniel said. “He’s so slippery out there, he’s quick in his route running. I think it’s one of the best things he brings.

“He sometimes fakes us out practice,” Daniel added with a laugh.

It’s all part of the Avant package, Pederson said.

“Bottom line, he’s a perfectionist,” Pederson said. “And hopefully it’s rubbing off on some of our young guys.”

☆☆☆

First-year receiver Frankie Hammond, 24, said that even prior to Avant’s arrival, the receivers already had an idea what he could do.

“We would just go back and watch film from Philly and be like ‘That guy did it the right way,’ ” Hammond said. “So when that guy came, we already had knowledge of what type of guy he was.”

All of which makes it easier to listen to him when he speaks.

“You want to take every bit of knowledge he has, because he’s been in Coach Reid’s offense for so long, so many years,” Hammond said. “So anything I can grab from him — which I am doing — I’m soaking it all in because everything he does, he does it right. He does it the right way.”

Hammond added that Avant has been good about explaining chalkboard concepts from a player’s perspective, when asked, and Wilson said the same applies when they get on the field.

“If he sees something I did or I see something he does I like, I’ll just ask him about it and he’ll sit there and break it down and tell me,” Wilson said. “Or if we’ve got a play coming up that he knows, he’ll just come to me and say ‘Remember, when you get to this point, (the corner) does this or does that.’”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl...#storylink=cpy

[O.city]

Your 4 5 6 type wrs are going to have to play special teams as well, that's where hemming ways value comes in

[BossChief]

However, Avant has added to an already-supportive room.

“I want to make the people around me better than I came here, (especially) the young guys,” Avant said. “That’s what Brian Dawkins and (Brian) Westbrook did for me when I was a rookie.”

In the same way Avant has adopted some of Dawkins’ habits — he regularly hits the cold tub and sauna to help preserve his body like Dawkins did — it seems some of his ways might be rubbing off on the Chiefs’ youngsters, too.

“Yeah man, now my notebook — it’s not exactly like his — but I’m learning how to take notes,” Wilson said. “Just little reminders that I know, I still jot them down to keep my brain refreshed. That’s something he reminds me of.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl...#storylink=cpy

[ModSocks]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Hemmingway sucks. I'd rather have Avant over him anyway. At least he can catch.

DAT wasn't given hardly any of the playbook last year and neither was Wilson, who played all of a handful of games.

Avant is insurance. Cheap insurance. and he'll be gone in 2016.

Hemingway is a special teams player though. That's pretty much all he is, and he's good at it.

[BossChief]

Avant’s physicality as a blocker has also come in handy, thus far. He sprung Jamaal Charles for an 18-yard touchdown catch against Arizona with a crunching block on a defensive back.

“He gives us the bigger-bodied guy we can use as a blocker,” Pederson said. “We ask our receivers to block receivers and linebackers, and he’ll do it, because bottom line, he wants to win, and he’s an unselfish player.”

That last trait, Pederson says, is at the heart of a professional — there’s that word again — approach to the game that has served him well, thus far, with the Chiefs. in

“I think it’s (having) the mindset that you’ve never arrived,” Avant said. “The next thing is loving what you do — I’ve been blessed to play this game nine years, and most people don’t play the game nine years. I’m going to do everything I can to keep playing.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl...#storylink=cpy

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

If the Chiefs need another WR coach, hire a WR coach, don't waste a valuable roster spot on a 32 year old vet.

this


just make Avant and Daniel coaches so we can move on.

[ModSocks]

Fluff articles are fluffy.

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Heminway is special teams player though. That's pretty much all he is, and he's good at it.

Exactly.

We are going to be keeping 5WRs and a special teamer in Hemmingway.

[RunKC]

Daniel and Avant are in their last years with the team.

Only way I can see Daniel coming back is if Murray completely bottoms out. I think they are expecting Murray to be ready for the #2 role in 2016.

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Who? Rodgers?

Ummm....no one....Avant....half this board thought or still thinks Avant will be our #2.

Wow the offense is ****ed if that scrub is our #2