*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Sep 29, 1997: -- Andre Johnson Waived; Ward on IR --
ESPN is reporting this afternoon that the Dolphins have placed
linebacker Ronnie Ward on injured reserve and have waived offensive
tackle Andre Johnson.
Ward was drafted by the Dolphins in the 3rd round of this
year's draft and had been playing fairly well in a backup and special
teams roll until he broke his leg last week in practice. He will
probably be healed in 6 to 8 weeks, but the Dolphins are already
carrying 2 seriously injured players on the active roster and
apparently want to make room for someone else.
Andre Johnson was claimed by the Dolphins off waivers from
the Washington Redskins in August. Johnson was a former first round
draft pick of the Redskins, but had never developed well for them. JJ
claimed Johnson off waivers to try and shore up an offensive line that
was having trouble developing as run blockers.
These moves free up 2 spaces on the Dolphins' roster.
Possible moves to fill the 2 open spaces include signing linebacker
Mike Crawford, fullback Ray Nealy and/or offensive lineman Randy
Wheeler off of the practice squad. The team may also use one of the
spots to allow Clayton Holmes to return to the roster.
My Comments:
I guess that Ronnie Ward is not that important to the
Dolphins' plans this year if they are willing to part with him for the
remainder of the season. Remember that a player who is placed on
injured reserve can't return for the rest of the season.
Andre Johnson was supposed to be moved to guard for the
Dolphins, but apparently he couldn't learn the position fast enough
for JJ. Johnson is one of those guys who has enormous potential, but
who could never quite put it together in the NFL.
My best guess for who will fill the empty roster spots would
be Mike Crawford and Clayton Holmes, although I hear that Randy
Wheeler has been getting a lot of repetitions in practice.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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