Getty Head coach Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions signed running back Devine Ozigbo after waiving wide receiver Avery Davis on August 9.
Signed and waived in the span of less than a week. Such is life in the NFL.
The Detroit Lions announced on Twitter they waived wide receiver Avery Davis on August 9, just four days after signing him to their 90-man roster. To replace him, the Lions signed running back Devine Ozigbo.
#Lions have signed RB Devine Ozigbo and waived WR Avery Davis.
Entering his fifth season in the NFL, Ozigbo has spent time with four other organizations. He has posted 29 rushing yards on 14 carries and 75 receiving yards with 14 catches in 25 regular season games.
How RB Devine Ozigbo Potentially Fits With the Lions
With the additions of free agent signing David Montgomery and first-round pick Jahmyr Gibbs, the Lions have a lot of depth already in the offensive backfield.
But Ozigbo can do a variety of different things.
He has more targets than carries in his NFL career. With the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2020, he had 9 receptions versus 1 carry. Ozigbo could potentially compete with Justin Jackson and Craig Reynolds for snaps on third down during the preseason.
Ozigbo also has special teams experience. He played a career-high 120 special teams snaps as a rookie in 2019.
The 26-year-old, who is listed at 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, began his career as an undrafted free agent for the New Orleans Saints in 2019. But the Saints waived Ozigbo, who then joined the Jaguars for his rookie season.
In two seasons with the Jaguars, Ozigbo registered 28 rushing yards and caught 12 passes for 65 yards.
Ozigbo has had two separate stints with the Saints and Jaguars. He also spent part of the 2022 offseason with the New England Patriots.
Last season, he bounced back and forth between the practice squad and active roster for the Denver Broncos. He rushed for 4 yards and caught 1 pass for 3 yards in four games.
For the Broncos, Ozigbo played 11 offensive snaps versus 47 snaps on special teams.
In college, Ozigbo posted 1,285 yards from scrimmage while averaging 7 yards per carry as a senior at Nebraska. He recorded 2,196 rushing yards, averaged 5.2 yards per attempt and caught 49 passes for 488 receiving yards during his college career from 2015-18.
Lions Move on From WR Avery Davis After a Few Days
To make room for Ozigbo, Detroit waived Davis, who spent about four days with the team. The Lions announced signing Davis before practice on August 5.
Davis is an undrafted rookie from Notre Dame who is trying to overcome a pair of ACL injuries to continue his football career. He suffered his first torn ACL late in the college season during 2021 and then tore the other one in practice in August 2022.
Davis recorded two 300-yard seasons during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He also served as a team captain. During 2021, he had 27 receptions for 386 yards and 4 touchdowns in eight games.
Presumably, the Lions signed Davis to give the team extra depth at wide receiver. Depth at that position has been a popular concern for Detroit this offseason in large part because second-year receiver Jameson Williams will miss the first six games of the season due to a gambling-related suspension.
But the Lions must feel comfortable with their receiving depth right now to cut Davis and add to a position that already has quite a bit of talent.