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Andrew Billings

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For the professor of broadcasting, see Andrew C. Billings.

Andrew Billings
refer to caption
Billings in the 2017 NFL season.
No. 99 – Cleveland Browns
Position:Defensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1995-03-06) March 6, 1995 (age 29)
Waco, Texas
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:328 lb (149 kg)
Career information
High school:Waco (Waco, Texas)
College:Baylor
NFL draft:2016 / round: 4 / pick: 122
Career history
Roster status:Opt-out
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2019
Total tackles:80
Sacks:3.5
Forced fumbles:0
Fumble recoveries:0
Stats at Pro Football Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Andrew Mitchell Billings (born March 6, 1995) is an American football defensive tackle for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Baylor University.

Early years

Billings attended Waco High School in Waco, Texas. He was rated by Rivals.com as a four-star recruit and committed to Baylor University to play college football.[1][2][3] Billings also competed in powerlifting during high school and broke Mark Henry's Texas record with 2,010 pounds. The record was set with a 805 pound squat, 500 pound bench press, and a 705 pound dead lift.[4][5]

College career

As a true freshman at Baylor in 2013, Billings played in 11 games and made two starts while recording 29 total tackles.[6] As a sophomore in 2014, he started all 13 games and was named All-Big 12 after recording 37 tackles and two sacks.[7]

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

As a top defensive tackle prospect, Billings received an invitation to the NFL combine. He attended the combine and completed all of the required combine drills. Fox Sports listed him as one of their top five biggest winners from the combine and his performance was perceived well overall by scouts for his display of brute strength coupled with exceptional quickness and speed for a man of his size.[8] On March 16, 2016, Billings participated at Baylor's Pro Day along with Corey Coleman, Shawn Oakman, Spencer Drango, Xavien Howard, Grant Campbell, LaQuan McGowan, Jimmy Landes, and seven other teammates.[9] A record 61 team representatives and scouts from all 32 NFL teams attended Baylor's pro day, including general manager Kevin Colbert (Steelers) and head coaches Mike Tomlin (Steelers) and Bill O'Brien (Texans). Billings performed well and chose to run the 40-yard dash (4.96), 20-yard dash (2.89), 10-yard dash (1.76), short shuttle (4.78), and three-cone drill (7.74) and decreased his times from the combine in all of them. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Billings was projected to be a late-first or second round pick. He was ranked the third best defensive tackle prospect in the draft by ESPN, the sixth best defensive tackle by NFLDraftScout.com and NFL analyst Mike Mayock, and was ranked the seventh best defensive lineman by Sports Illustrated[10][11][12][13] He drew major interest and was linked to the Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Minnesota Vikings.[14][15]

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 0+5⁄8 in
(1.84 m) 		311 lb
(141 kg) 		33 in
(0.84 m) 		10 in
(0.25 m)		 4.96 s 4.77 s 7.77 s 27.5 in
(0.70 m)		 9 ft 5 in
(2.87 m)		 31 reps
All values from NFL Combine and Baylor pro day.[16]

Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals selected Billings in the fourth round (122nd overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft.[17] He was the 16th defensive tackle selected in 2016. His fall in the draft was greatly unexpected as no teams gave any indications of it prior to the draft. He was projected as a first rounder in multiple mock drafts by Pro Football Focus and NFL analysts Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr.[18] There were many speculations that ranged from his lack of height and size for his position and a possible knee injury. Bengals' head coach Marvin Lewis said “I think his height maybe was restrictive in some ways for some people at times but we’ve done pretty well these guys.”. Billings stated in regards to his fall in the draft, "This is something I'm going to carry with me my whole life," Billings said. "It's actually a good thing for me." He drew comparisons, by multiple media outlets, to teammate Geno Atkins and his equally unexpected slide in the draft during the 2010 NFL Draft.[19][14]

2016

On May 18, 2016, the Bengals signed Billings to a four-year, $2.87 million contract that included a signing bonus of $535,845.[20]

He competed with Domata Peko, Pat Sims, and DeShawn Williams throughout training camp for the starting nose tackle position. On August 10, 2016, he was carted off the field during the Bengals' practice after suffering a knee injury. On August 15, he underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus and was placed on injured reserve for the entirety of the season.[21] The Cincinnati Bengals later lost another rookie (William Jackson III) for the entire 2016.

2017

Billings competed with Pat Sims, DeShawn Williams, and Josh Tupou throughout training camp for the vacant starting nose tackle position left by the departure of Domata Peko to the Denver Broncos during free agency.[22] Head coach Marvin Lewis named him the backup nose tackle to Pat Sims to begin the regular season.[23]

He made his professional regular season debut in the Cincinnati Bengals' season-opener against the Baltimore Ravens and recorded one solo tackle in their 20-0 loss. On November 24, 2017, Billings earned his first career start against the Tennessee Titans in place of Sims who had injured his calf the previous week.[24] Billings recorded a season-high four combined tackles in the Bengals' 24-20 loss.[25] Throughout the first seven games he played in 59 total defensive snaps and earned 48 defensive snaps against the Titans.[26]

Cleveland Browns

On March 26, 2020, Billings signed with the Cleveland Browns.[27][28] He chose to opt-out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic on August 4, 2020.[29]

References

  1. ^ Rivals.com
  2. ^ Andrew Billings chooses Baylor Bears over Texas Longhorns, TCU Horned Frogs Archived May 7, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Baylor hooks big recruit in Billings
  4. ^ Athletic freak Andrew Billings playing big role for Baylor
  5. ^ Billings gives Baylor defense a big lift
  6. ^ Big ol’ Billings: Rushing the QB or clogging running lanes, Bears DT disrupts offenses
  7. ^ Shawn Oakman, Andrew Billings form ideal alliance for Baylor
  8. ^ "5 biggest winners from the NFL Scouting Combine". foxsports.com. February 29, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  9. ^ Hill, Jerry. "FOOTBALL HOLDS 2016 PRO DAY". baylorbears.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  10. ^ "*Andrew Billings, DS #6 DT, Baylor". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  11. ^ "2016 NFL draft position rankings". si.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  12. ^ Mayock, Mike (April 27, 2016). "Mayock's top 100 draft prospect rankings". NFL.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  13. ^ Legwold, Jeff (April 25, 2016). "Ranking the Draft's Top 100 Players". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  14. ^ a b Harvey, Coley (May 2, 2016). "Andrew Billings' stunning draft fall has the Bengals DT thinking payback". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  15. ^ Chester, Simon A. "After meeting Steelers, Andrew Billings talks football with Steelers Wire". steelerwire.usatoday.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ "NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Andrew Billings". National Football League. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  17. ^ Cosenza, Anthony (April 30, 2016). "Bengals 2016 Draft Results: Cincinnati Bengals select defensive tackle Andrew Billings in Round 4". CincyJungle.com. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  18. ^ McCrystal, Ryan (April 30, 2016). "What Caused Hyped NFL Draft Prospects Andrew Billings, Connor Cook to Fall?". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017.[permanent dead link]
  19. ^ "Bengals get Andrew Billings, a DT with penchant for pancakes, in fourth round". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  20. ^ "Spotrac.com: Andrew Billings contract". spotrac.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  21. ^ Sessler, Marc (April 30, 2016). "Andrew Billings out indefinitely with torn meniscus". NFL.com.
  22. ^ "Ourlads.com: Cincinnati Bengals' depth chart: 09/01/2017". Ourlads.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  23. ^ Marcum, Jason (September 5, 2017). "Bengals release Week 1 depth chart: Joe Mixon RB3; Pat Sims starting at NT". cincyjungle.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  24. ^ Marcum, Jason (November 5, 2017). "Bengals lose Pat Sims to calf injury vs Jaguars". cincyjungle.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  25. ^ "NFL Player stats: Andrew Billings". NFL.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  26. ^ Cameron Zargar. "Andrew Billings seizes the spotlight with Pat Sims hurt". cincyjungle.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017.[permanent dead link]
  27. ^ Gantt, Darin (March 19, 2020). "Browns add defensive tackle Andrew Billings". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
  28. ^ Gribble, Andrew (March 26, 2020). "Browns add size to D-Line with signing of DT Andrew Billings". ClevelandBrowns.com.
  29. ^ "Browns place DT Andrew Billings on Reserve/Opt-Out list". ClevelandBrowns.com. August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
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