13 Canadians make Week 1 NFL roster
For the third straight season, exactly 13 Canadians have made a Week 1 NFL roster.
Fewer begin the 2017 season as starters, though: Five, as opposed to seven in each of the past two years.
In all, 24 Canadians appeared on a 90-man NFL roster entering training camp this year.
Starters
RG, Kansas City Chiefs
Fourth year in NFL Hometown: Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que. Scored a huge second contract in March, worth $42.4-million over five years. Spent most of July learning anaesthesia at a Montreal hospital, en route to next year becoming the first NFLer in 63 years to earn his M.D. while playing. Rated only the No. 29 guard by ProFootballFocus in ’16, “LDT” has improved markedly each year.
DE, Dallas Cowboys
Sixth year in NFL
Hometown: Windsor, Ont. Entering Year 3 of a five-year, $45-million contract, Crawford missed most of training camp with a nasty right ankle sprain. Owner/ GM Jerry Jones said Tuesday that Crawford will play Sunday night. He remains a D-end this year, after two more effective years as a tackle (2014-15). Dallas is desperate for more edge pressure in 2017.
DE, Baltimore Ravens
Fourth year in NFL Hometown: Mississauga, Ont. Snake-bitten with ACL and torn-biceps injuries in Years 1 and 2, Urban earned extensive playing time as backup last year. Now he’s starting. He had a monster preseason in limited time, recording a sack, three tackles-for-loss, two forced fumbles and seven tackles in only 75 snaps. Seems destined for a breakout year. LOUIS-PHILIPPE (L.P.) LADOUCEUR LS, Dallas Cowboys
13th year
Hometown: Montreal Incredibly, in 12 NFL seasons Ladouceur has yet to snap a bad ball. That’s in 1,731 attempts since the Cowboys hired him in 2005. Nothing but clean, fast, hard, reliably placed snaps. On 833 punts, 374 field-goal attempts and 524 extra points. Even at age 36, there’s no reason to believe Ladouceur won’t bat 1.000 again in 2017.
P, Seattle Seahawks
12th year in NFL
Hometown: Regina
He’s 35 years old now, but still punting effectively for the Seahawks. Last year only four NFL punters had fewer touchbacks than Ryan’s three. And he ranked 14th in pinning the opposition 26 times inside the 20. His distance average isn’t what it used to be (tied for 24th with a 44-yard average) but Ryan is as reliable as they come.
Backups
TE, Seattle Seahawks
Fifth year in NFL
Hometown: Lasalle, Ont.
One of only 12 players remaining from the 2014 Super Bowl champs, Willson is still Seattle’s No. 2 tight end, behind Jimmy Graham. Willson signed a one-year prove-it contract in the spring. With a lesser WR corps, Russell Wilson likely will look for his TEs more.
DE-DT, Houston Texans
Third year in NFL
Hometown: Vancouver
The son of CFL Hall of Famer Grover Covington benefitted by J.J. Watt’s 2016 absence, proving effective both as a pass rusher — often from Watt’s five-technique position — and against the run. SBNation predicts Covington will be Houston’s breakout player in ’17.
OG-C, New York Giants
Third year in NFL
Hometown: Weyburn, Sask.
The former CFL all-star seems to be inching ever closer to a starting assignment. A knee injury kept him out of most of his rookie season, and last year he was the primary interiorOL backup. Jones got first-string reps late last month, and Giants coaches like him a lot.
DT, New Orleans Saints
Second year in NFL Hometown: Winnipeg
As a backup last year trying to quickly digest the markedly different lineman duties in U.S. football, Onyemata did not record a sack. This year, with DT Nick Fairley out, the Saints need the former University of Manitoba behemoth to step up and reliably deliver pressure.
OT, Atlanta Falcons
Fifth year in NFL
Hometown: Tillsonburg, Ont. Started 43 games at LG or RT for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns from 2012-16. Had been a free agent until signing with the Falcons deep into training camp. It appears the Falcons see him as a backup swing tackle.
KR-WR, Detroit Lions
Fourth year in NFL
Born: in Winnipeg but grew up entirely in U.S.
Injured a hamstring in Detroit’s second preseason game, but with Detroit’s kick-return jobs apparently still up in the air, Jones made the weekend’s 53-man cuts. The Lions kept five wide receivers. Jones has only 15 career catches.
ANTONY (TONY) AUCLAIR
TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
NFL rookie
Hometown: Notre-Dame-des-Pins, Que. The 24-year-old is a surprise roster survivor, but the Bucs have been high on the undrafted Auclair since his impressive performance at a college all-star game in January. In preseason games the Laval U product caught three passes and proved effective on special teams.
NT-DT, Jacksonville Jaguars
NFL rookie
Hometown: Ottawa
Ex-UCLA star signed as a priority undrafted free agent with the Houston Texans, and turned heads with solid play. But the Texans have a deep D-line and waived him Saturday. The Jags claimed Ankou off waivers, likely to be a backup to nose tackle Abry Jones.