Maurice Ffrench promoted to active roster of Chargers

Former Pitt receiver Maurice Ffrench has bounced around the AFC West with stops in Kansas City and Los Angeles since concluding his college career in 2019, and on Saturday, his patience paid off, as he was promoted to the active roster of the Los Angeles Chargers ahead of their interconference tilt with the Philadelphia Eagles, which is set for Sunday.

Ffrench spent the first season of his NFL career as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad after going undrafted in 2020. However, his stint with the team came to a close when he was released from the practice squad on Sept. 13, 2021. That led to a new opportunity with the division rival Los Angeles Chargers two days later, as they signed him to their practice squad, reuniting him with former Pitt assistant coach and current Chargers receivers coach Chris Beatty.

During his time at Pitt, Ffrench was a standout as a receiver and a return man, earning All-ACC honors in 2019 after accruing 850 receiving yards and four touchdown receptions as well as 166 yards on punt returns. The year before, Ffrench was named an All-American as a junior after accruing 547 yards and two touchdowns on kick returns as well as 515 yards and six touchdowns on receptions.

Given his background, Ffrench could be turned to as a return man by the Chargers. The team currently ranks among the bottom three teams in the league in average kickoff return yardage, with 17.7 per return. During his All-American campaign in 2018, Ffrench averaged 27.4 yards per kick return on 20 returns. And the following year, with a lighter special-teams workload, he averaged 18.8 yards on five returns.