Although a leg problem cost Drew Estrada the entire preseason camp and a shot at making the Houston Texans' regular-season roster, the former Dartmouth jack-of-all-trades receiver who spent last year as a grad transfer at Baylor has been signed to the team's practice squad. From a CBSSports site (LINK):
Estrada sustained a leg injury in early August and didn't appear in any preseason games. However, he apparently did enough during the Texans' offseason program to land with the team's practice squad after missing out on the 53-man roster.
Former Dartmouth defensive end Niko Lalos, who was a late cut by the New Orleans Saints, was not in the first wave of that team's practice squad signings.
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Here's an updated list of Ivy Leaguers in the NFL after rosters were reduced to 53. (Keep in mind the rosters can and will change before the season begins.)
BROWN
DL Michael Hoecht – Rams
QB EJ Perry – Jaguars practice squad
DARTMOUTH
WR Drew Estrada – Texans practice squad
HARVARD
FB Kyle Juszczyk – 49ers
LS Tyler Ott – Seahawks
TE Cameron Brate – Buccaneers
PENN
WR Justin Watson – Chiefs
OG Greg Van Roten – Bills
PRINCETON
TE Jesper Horsted – Raiders
FB John Lovett – Dolphins (injured reserve)
YALE
OL Dieter Eiselen – Bears
S Rodney Thomas – Colts
LB Foye Oluokun – Jaguars
TE – Jaeden Graham – Eagles (injured reserve)
TE – JJ Howland – Buccaneers practice squad
As for Dartmouth's nonconference opponents this fall, no one from Valparaiso or New Hampshire is on a roster this year but running back Julius Chestnut of Sacred Heart made the Titans roster and former teammate Josh Sokol is on the Vikings practice squad.
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From a story out of Virginia (LINK):
Left guard John Paul Flores, a graduate transfer from Dartmouth, said he’s been able to develop cohesion with freshman left tackle McKale Boley since they’re playing next to each other and have a class on grounds together on Mondays and Wednesdays. It’s a religious studies course, Flores said, and another freshman lineman, Dawson Alters is in the class as well.
“It’s a good time to build chemistry on and off the field,” Flores said.
The Cavaliers open Saturday with a home game against Richmond.
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Catching up on a few other grad transfers who have received less notice . . .
Robbie Mangas is listed as starting tight end on the Buffalo Bulls' depth chart HERE. Isaiah Johnson is on the second line of the depth chart at boundary corner for Syracuse (HERE).
Word out of Pittsburgh is that Derek Kyler is the Panther's fourth quarterback.
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Corner CJ Lyons, who transferred from Dartmouth to RPI after one season in Hanover, has been named a preseason first team DIII AIl-American as a super senior. Find a mention HERE and his RPI bio HERE.
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Ask anyone around the Dartmouth program and they'll tell you strength coach Spencer Brown is a huge factor in the Big Green's successful run. Here he is mic'd up in a video from the Dartmouth football office:
Check this Mic’d up and other videos on our TikTok⬇️https://t.co/2X8OnbuBsE https://t.co/28I0eEJQca
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) September 1, 2022
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The morning's news features two big picture stories about where major college sports have gone.
From the Associated Press comes a story headlined New rules make star college football players millionaires. The story includes a photo of Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud in the driver's seat of his 2019 Mercedes G-Wagon G63. (LINK)
The story notes that you'll find him in the Mercedes unless he's "swapped it out" for "a Bentley or a Porsche, which his name, image and likeness deal with Sarchione Auto Gallery allows him to do every 45 days."
And SI has a piece about the NCAA finally establishing two "windows" for the out-of-control transfer portal, lasting a total of 60 days. (LINK)
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EXTRA POINT
Robo, what we call our robotic vacuum cleaner, is hard at work as I write this. In a few minutes it will finish vacuuming in the living room and start making its way back to its home station two rooms away. We've had the thing for more than two years and I still find myself watching in amazement as it seemingly arbitrarily bumps along the perimeter of the downstairs until it finally arrives at its base to recharge itself in preparation for doing it all over again tomorrow morning and the next day and the day after.
Here's the thing. Sometimes when it seems lost (it never is, and always makes it home) I find myself feeling a little sorry for Robo and carry it to within 4-5 feet of its base, where I put it down so the poor thing doesn't have to work so hard to find its way home.
When I first heard the term anthropomorphism in junior high school I couldn't have imagined one day I'd be guilty of it with a . . . vacuum cleaner!
