Saints announces practice squad additions

The New Orleans Saints have agreed to terms with the following players on practice squad contracts it was announced by Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis: LB Joe Bachie, LB Anthony Chickillo, LB Andrew Dowell, WR Bennie Fowler III, TE Garrett Griffin, CB Kemon Hall, WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey, DL Margus Hunt, WR Juwan Johnson, RB Tony Jones Jr., OL John Leglue, TE Tommy Stevens, OL Calvin Throckmorton, G/C Cameron Tom and DB Keith Washington II.

• Bachie, 6-2, 231, was signed by New Orleans after the 2020 NFL Draft out of Michigan State. Bachie was a four-year letterman and two-time team captain for the Spartans. The Berea, Ohio native was a three-year starting middle linebacker, playing in 40 career games with 34 starts, recording 285 tackles, 27.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks, five interceptions, 11 passes defensed, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. As a senior in 2019, he was a third-team All-Big Ten (media) selection, as he ranked fifth on the team with 71 tackles in eight games, all starts, adding 8.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, four passes defensed and one interception and was named a semifinalist for the Butkus Award and quarterfinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy
• Chickillo, 6-3, 255, was signed by New Orleans in the offseason and participated in training camp after originally being selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft out of the University of Miami (Fla.) and spending his first five seasons in Pittsburgh. In 2019, he played in 11 games for the Steelers and notched 11 tackles (five solo), one split sack and six special teams stops. The Tampa, Fla. native has appeared in 65 regular season games with nine starts, while also being a core contributor on special teams for Pittsburgh. He has recorded 67 tackles (40 solo), 7.5 sacks for loss of 59.5 yards, three passes defensed, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, 28 special teams stops, a coverage forced fumble, two special teams fumble recoveries and a recovery of a blocked punt for a touchdown.
• Dowell, 6-1, 225, was originally signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State in 2019 and after going to training camp with the Cowboys, spent the final five weeks of the regular season and preseason week one on the Black and Gold practice squad. The Lakewood, Ohio native was a four-year letterwinner and three-year starter at linebacker for the Spartans, posting 260 tackles, including 15 for losses with 5.5 sacks, 16 breakups, three fumble was recoveries, two forced fumbles and an interception.
• Fowler, 6-1, 218, was originally signed by Denver as an undrafted free agent in 2014 out of Michigan State. Fowler has appeared in 63 regular season contests and started 12 games for Denver (2015-17) and the New York Giants (2018-19), posting career totals of 95 receptions for 1,090 yards with six touchdowns, signing with New Orleans in the 2020 offseason.
• Griffin, 6-4, 242, was originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of the Air Force Academy in 2016. He made a four-yard reception in the 2017 regular season finale and recorded two receptions for 12 yards, including a five-yard touchdown in the 2018 NFC Championship game before spending his last campaign on Injured Reserve.
• Hall, 5-11, 190, was originally signed as a college free agent by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2019 out of North Texas, posting eight tackles in the preseason. After stints on both the Chargers and Vikings practice squad, the Calhoun City, Miss. native signed with New Orleans midway through 2020 training camp.
• Humphrey, 6-4, 225, originally signed with New Orleans as an undrafted free agent 2019 out of Texas, making four grabs for 103 yards and one touchdown in the 2019 preseason. He played in five regular season games with one start and one postseason contest as a rookie in 2019. In three seasons for the Longhorns, he played in 36 games with 18 starts and finished his college career with 125 catches for 1,622 yards and ten touchdowns.
• Hunt, 6-8, 295, was signed by New Orleans in the 2020 offseason and participated in training camp. Originally selected by the Bengals in the second round (53^rd overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft out of Southern Methodist, the Karksi-Nuia, Estonia native has appeared in 91 career games with 25 starts, totaling 101 tackles (68 solo), 7.5 sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and seven passes defensed for the Bengals and Colts. In 2019, he appeared in all 16 games with five starts on the interior for the Colts, posting 17 tackles (14 solo).
• Johnson, 6-4, 231, was signed by New Orleans following the 2020 NFL Draft out of Oregon, where he played in 2019 as a graduate transfer after spending his first three seasons at Penn State. In four college seasons,he played in 47 games and recorded 111 receptions for 1,590 yards and six touchdowns. In 2019, he played in the final ten games for the Ducks after missing the first four with a calf injury and recorded 30 receptions for 467 yards (15.6 avg.) and six touchdowns, finishing second on team with eight grabs over 20 yards.
• Jones, 5-11, 224, signed with New Orleans as an undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame in 2020, for whom he was a four-year letterman. In 2019 he started 12 games on the season, rushing for 857 yards and six touchdowns as he became the tenth player in school history with five or more 100-yard rushing games in one season.
• Leglue, 6-7, 310 had been a mainstay on the Tulane football team’s offensive line, seeing action in 49 games. The Alexandria native earned the starting nod in the final 37 games of his career. Leglue also played a key role in paving the way for back-to-back 1,000-yard running backs. After earning a Master’s of Business Administration from Tulane this spring, Leglue spent the 2019 preseason with the Denver Broncos. After spending the first 15 weeks of the regular season on the Saints practice squad, he joined Green Bay’s active roster for their regular season postseason finale and the postseason, as well as participating in 2020 training camp with the Packers.
• Stevens, 6-foot-5, 235 was New Orleans’ seventh-round draft choice (240th overall) who spent his graduate transfer season at Mississippi State after graduating from Penn State in December, 2018 with a degree in telecommunications. In his lone season at Mississippi State, the Indianapolis, In. native started all nine games he appeared in while completing 60.2 percent (97‐of‐161) of his passes for 1,155 yards and 11 touchdowns with only five interceptions (136.9 rating). Stevens also added 381 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 83 attempts. In his three seasons at Penn State, Stevens appeared in 20 games for the Nittany Lions primarily as a rushing and receiving threat, carrying 76 times for 506 yards and eight touchdowns while catching 14 passes for 62 yards and ten touchdowns. Stevens had converted to tight end in training camp.
• Throckmorton, 6-5, 309, was originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon in 2020. He made 52 consecutive starts (right tackle-41, left tackle-5, right guard-3, center-3) for the Ducks and allowed just one sack over his final 3,224 snaps (45 contests).
• Tom, 6-4, 309, was originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of Southern Mississippi in 2017 and has played in 11 regular season games and two postseason contests with one start at right guard for New Orleans.
• Washington, 6-1, 180, was signed by New Orleans following the 2020 NFL Draft out of West Virginia. The Prattville, Ala. native played two seasons for the Mountaineers after spending the 2017 campaign at Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.) Community College and 2015-16 at Michigan. In three FBS seasons, he played in 31 games with 17 starts and posted 66 tackles (52 solo), 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, six interceptions, 18 passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery…In 2019, he started all ten games he appeared in for the Mountaineers and posted 23 stops (17 solo), three picks, nine passes defensed and one fumble recovery.

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