NFL final cuts: Here’s how players with Grand Strand ties fared as teams trimmed rosters

Three area players secured spots on NFL rosters this weekend, while two others landed on practice squads following the final round of cuts.

Josh Norman, a cornerback out of Coastal Carolina, is on the Washington Redskins’ roster, Clayton Geathers, a safety product of Carvers Bay High, is with the Indianapolis Colts, and Hunter Renfrow, a receiver out of Socastee High and Clemson, made the Oakland Raiders’ roster.

North Myrtle Beach product, Temarrick Hemingway, a tight end, landed on the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad, while Coastal Carolina alumnus Anthony Chesley, a cornerback, was added to the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad.

Denzel Rice (Buffalo Bills), a cornerback out of Coastal Carolina, Ryan Yurachek (Dallas Cowboys), a fullback and Carolina Forest alumnus, and De’Angelo Henderson (Minnesota Vikings), a running prospect from CCU, were cut and have not landed on practice squads.

▪ Hemingway signed with the Panthers in May after he was released by the Broncos.

Hemingway, 26, who is 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, was a sixth-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 2016 out of South Carolina State, played in eight games as a rookie and was injured in 2017.

After the Rams released him in 2018, he joined the Broncos practice squad and was later promoted and played in five games. He has yet to record a catch in a regular season game after posting 93 catches for 1,056 yards and seven touchdowns at S.C. State.

▪ Yurachek played tight end at Marshall University and caught 143 passes for 1,354 yards and 26 TDs in college. Yurachek (6 feet, 240 pounds) has been converted to a fullback at the pro level.

The 22-year-old was signed as an undrafted rookie in 2018 by New Orleans but was released and spent last season on the Oakland Raiders practice squad before being released in late May.

▪ Rice was signed to the Bills’ practice squad on Nov. 13 and promoted to the 53-man roster on Dec. 4.

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound cornerback from Winston-Salem, N.C., played at CCU from 2011-2014. He entered the NFL in 2015 as an undrafted free agent with Philadelphia and appeared in four games with the Eagles in 2015 and three with Houston in 2016, logging nine tackles.

He was waived by the Texans before the 2017 season and spent time in the second half of the season on the Indianapolis Colts practice squad, and was on the Cleveland Browns active roster for the first eight games last season.

▪ Renfrow was selected by the Raiders in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft in April out of Clemson, where he recorded 186 career receptions for 2,133 yards and 15 touchdowns.

▪ A pair of players are key pieces of their NFL teams’ defensive backfields.

Norman, from Greenwood, enters his eighth NFL season and fourth with the Redskins. Geathers enters his fifth season as a safety with the Colts after playing at Central Florida.

▪ After being cut by the New York Jets on July 23, Henderson was signed by the Vikings less than 24 hours later on July 24. He has received very limited playing time in his two NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos and Jets after being drafted in the sixth round of the 2017 NFL Draft by Denver.

Henderson, who is 5-foot-7 and 208 pounds, rushed seven times for 13 yards and caught two passes for 36 yards as a rookie with the Broncos, highlighted by a 29-yard touchdown catch. He also returned two kickoffs for a total of 59 yards. The 26-year-old rushed two times for 19 yards with the Jets.

This story was originally published September 2, 2019 at 2:57 PM.