Ex-Bi-City players ready for NFL season

Nine former Bi-City football standouts made the opening-day roster for their respective NFL teams.

Here is a look at each one:

Isaiah Crowell (5-foot-11, 190 pounds) had a good rookie season with the Browns last year after signing as an undrafted free agent. The former Carver and Georgia standout played in all 16 games and started four. He rushed for 607 yards and eight touchdowns on 148 carries.

Crowell is expected to start for the Browns today in their season opener against the Jets.

Kelcie McCray (6-foot-2, 202 pounds) is a fourth year safety with the Seahawks. The former Hardaway standout has played in 31 games with the Miami Dolphins, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

McCray was traded to the Seahawks by the Chiefs on Saturday for a fifth-round draft choice.

"It is nice to be wanted," McCray told seahawks.com. "It could have ended up a lot worse. I know a lot of guys, a lot of my friends are without a job right now. So it could be a lot worse."

McCray will be a backup at both safety positions. He is currently listed as third string at strong safety behind Dion Bailey and DeShawn Shead. McCray will also play on special teams.

"First off, he's a good all-around football player," Seattle coach Pete Carroll told seahawks.com,

"He's an excellent special teams guy, a leading special teams player on their team. A guy that can play in the hole and get up on the line of scrimmage. He's got real good skills in coverage and so we're anxious to see where we fit him in."

McCray played in 16 games with the Chiefs last season, 11 on defense. He had 11 tackles, nine solo and two assists. He played 15 games in 2013, 11 with the Bucs and four with the Dolphins.

"He's not coming in there and going to be Kam Chancellor or Earl Thomas," Mark Dominik told the Seattle Times.

Dominik is an ESPN analyst and former general manager of the Buccaneers, who signed McCray in 2013.

"But he is going to be able to fill in and still help the team," Dominik said. "He may not be Noah's Ark, but he's going to be a good player and bring more stability to the back end of that defense."

Rakeem Nunez-Roches (6-2, 307) was drafted in the sixth round of the 2015 draft by the Chiefs. The former Central standout played at Southern Mississippi.

He is listed as the backup at left defensive end to Mike DeVito on the Chiefs' depth chart.

Marcus Smith (6-3, 251) was drafted in the first round last season by the Eagles. He played in eight games. The former Hardaway standout was having a good training camp when he suffered a hamstring injury.

According to bleedinggreennation.com, Smith was still limited in practice earlier this week. The Eagles open against the Falcons on Monday night.

Philip Wheeler (6-2, 245) is a free agent after being released by the 49ers during the preseason. The former Shaw standout is a linebacker, who played the past seven seasons -- four with the Colts, one with the Raiders and the last two with the Dolphins.

He has 60 starts in 108 games played in. He has 464 career tackles with 5.5 sacks.

Jarvis Jones (6-3, 248) is his third season with the Steelers. The former Carver and Georgia standout is a linebacker.

Jones had one tackle in the Steelers' game at New England on Thursday.

Jones started eight of 14 games played in as rookie in 2013. He made 40 tackles with one sack. In his second season, he made three starts in seven games played finished with 18 tackles and two sacks. He missed a good portion of the middle of the season with a broken wrist.

Chris Hubbard (6-4, 295) was re-signed by the Steelers last January to a one-year contract. The former Carver standout is a center and guard.

Hubbard made two starts during the preseason against the Vikings and the Panthers. He is listed as a backup at center and both guard positions. He was made inactive for the Steelers' game at New England on Thursday.

Mario Alford (5-8, 177) was drafted in the seventh round this past spring out of West Virginia. The former Greenville High standout is known best for his speed, running a 4.43 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine.

Gabe Wright (6-3, 305) was taken in the fourth round by the Lions . The former Carver and Auburn standout is listed as a backup defensive tackle to Tyrunn Walker.

Corey Crawford (6-5, 299) signed with Redskins as an undrafted free agent. The former Carver standout was signed to the Redskins' practice squad last Sunday.

Kevin Price, Follow Kevin on Twitter@lesports

This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 8:54 PM with the headline "Ex-Bi-City players ready for NFL season ."