Hawkeyes in the NFL: Cut Down Day

JonDMiller

JonDMiller

Publisher/Founder
The final cuts are the toughest...and today was final cut down day in the NFL..on the whole, it was a good day for former Hawkeyes.

Jeff Tarpinian appears to have made it to the Patriots 53-man roster despite barely playing in the preseason. I am surprised to see this, given how nicked up he has been this summer...pleasantly surprised. He was the lone undrafted rookie free agent invited to the Patriots camp, by the way. Let's hope it sticks.

Ryan Donahue is the punter that Detroit went with, and they cut veteran Nick Harris. Donahue was better than Harris this past month, but not by much. Harris also has been the team's holder on kicks, which made me think he would get the nod. But the NFL is a business, and the Lions saved a lot of money by going with Donahue who will make just over $400,00 at the rookie minimum, while Harris was due $1.4mil. However, Lions tab undrafted rookie Ryan Donahue as punter | Detroit Free Press | freep.com says it was about performance. Harris had been the Lions punter since the 2003 season. Donahue was also an undrafted free agent.

Allen Reisner is another undrafted free agent that made a 53-man roster, with the Minnesota Vikings. Seth Olsen also made the roster, as did Christian Ballard. That's four former Hawkeyes on the Vikings roster, or 7.5% of the team.

Adrian Clayborn, Julian Vandervelde, Karl Klug, Ricky Stanzi and Tyler Sash made it through the roster cuts as well...that means all six Hawkeyes taken in April's 2011 draft made the intitial 53-man rosters of the teams that took them along with three more undrafted free agents.

That's NINE Hawkeyes making NFL rosters from last year's team...one the one hand, that is AWESOME and likely historic for the program.

Mitch King survived the final cut day and he will make the Saints 53 man roster.

AJ Edds made the Dolphins roster after missing last season with an injury.
Brandon Myers sticks with the Raiders for another year

Matt Kroul (Jets) and Brett Greenwood (Pittsburgh) are notable former Hawkeyes that were cut by their teams.

Tony Moeaki was placed on Injured Reserve by Kansas City after tearing his ACL this week.
 
As a Vikings fan, I was already pleased with the direction Leslie Frazier was taking the team. Now, as a hawkeye-homer, I'm thrilled! And Frazier really showed that he has his head on straight when he cut that RB from ISU. (I kid, I kid.)
 
Wow 9. Thats impressive, to say the least. Whats the tops country wide, I wonder. I also think had Greenwood been somewhere else he would have been picked up. I think teams like the Bronco's could benefit from his skills, but Pitt is always pretty deep. I think if he had gotten in somewhere, he would have earned his money, even if it was in a year or so .
 
KF makes NFL players. Plain and simple. Saw a bunch of them on the field yesterday. Might not always add up to wins in college. But if your goal is to prepare players for the future, nobody does it better.
 
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Two other Hawks who unfortunately didn't make the cut are Kenny Iwebema with the Cardinals and Colin Cole with the Seahawks.

I hope some other team picks them up. I know both have been fighting injuries this offseason.
 
thanks for the update. I love how the former hawks not only make the rosters, but truly stand out on their respective teams. How did we fair compared to the rest of the ncaa?
 
On ISU week one interesting note is that Tyler Sash made the Giants while David Sims was cut.

Remember leading up to last year the debate over who was the better safety? I guess the Giants just gave their answer.
 
lilrabbi said:
As a Vikings fan, I was already pleased with the direction Leslie Frazier was taking the team. Now, as a hawkeye-homer, I'm thrilled! And Frazier really showed that he has his head on straight when he cut that RB from ISU. (I kid, I kid.)
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This is pure torture for me! I hate the Vikings with a burning passion but now find myself rooting for the former Hawks to play well. What a dilemma! I'm so confused :confused:.
 
hawkinaclownhouse said:
On ISU week one interesting note is that Tyler Sash made the Giants while David Sims was cut.

Remember leading up to last year the debate over who was the better safety? I guess the Giants just gave their answer.
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David Sims is Ed Reed mixed with Jesus.
So what does that make TMFS?!? ;-D
 
thanks for posting this info, Jon. i'm interested in this kind of stuff but haven't the time or patience to go track it down. It's settled. Iowa = NFL incubator.
 
pdxhawk said:
thanks for posting this info, Jon. i'm interested in this kind of stuff but haven't the time or patience to go track it down. It's settled. Iowa = NFL incubator.
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I have google alerts on like 30 players that come in and I check them a few times a week..makes it easier to track down
 
Madison is still listed on their roster, I think he made it, and might even start week one.
 
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