Category: Saints

Touchdown Wire’s 2022 NFL season predictions

Doug Farrar, Laurie Fitzpatrick, and Luke Easterling fill out Touchdown Wire’s predictions for the 2022 NFL season.

Everybody does predictions before the start of every season in every sport, and of course, we who blather on about the NFL are no exception. Last year, Doug Farrar, Laurie Fitzpatrick, and Mark Schofield filled out the Touchdown Wire predictions sheet, and while the predictions made sense, we all whiffed on a few things — most notably, the Super Bowl teams.

Now, with Mark off to pastures anew (see you ’round, old friend), we’ve enlisted Luke Easterling, the shot-caller for both Bucs Wire and Draft Wire, and an estimable football mind in his own right. Luke and Doug also host the weekly “4-Down Territory” video, which you should definitely check out.

With all that said, let’s get to the predictions. Here’s how we see the 2022 NFL season shaking out — from division winners to Super Bowl champion to a plethora of individual awards.

The biggest question for every NFL team in the 2022 season

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar asks — and tries to answer — the most pressing questions for every NFL team as the 2022 season begins.

No matter how great any team is, every team has its share of questions to answer when a new season begins. The 1968 Baltimore Colts looked unbeatable until they met the New York Jets in Super Bowl III, and Jets running back Matt Snell exploited the weak right side of Baltimore’s defensive front over and over on the way to one of the greatest upsets in sports history. The 2007 New England Patriots were unbeatable until they lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII because their interior offensive line couldn’t handle the Giants’ NASCAR pressure packages.

No matter how great your team is, one little thing can turn everything upside down.

Conversely, teams that may look hopeless are actually building credibly to the future, and that will show up on the field more than anybody might think. And then there are the NFL’s stragglers — the teams for whom there is little present hope, and the primary question is, “How do we transcend our multiple weaknesses to be at least competitive?”

Each of the NFL’s 32 teams have questions to answer coming into the 2022 season, which of course is right around the corner. So here, for your consideration, are the most pressing questions every NFL team will — and must — answer in the new season.

Saints DB Marcus Maye arrested after alleged road rage incident

The New Orleans Saints secondary is having a rough go this week, with news that safety Marcus Maye was arrested.

New Orleans Saints defensive back Marcus Maye was arrested earlier this week following an alleged road-rage incident in Louisiana, per reports. The Saints signed the former New York Jets safety to a three-year, $22.5 million contract this offseason to replace Marcus Williams, who signed a five-year, $70 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens.

From Nick Underhill of New Orleans Football:

Maye’s attorney released a subsequent statement.

https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1565399570942664705?s=20&t=wxzg69j8uf4bsviWQPZPKw

The news comes a day after the Saints traded defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Saints release EDGE Taco Charlton… on Taco Tuesday

Taco Tuesday is a great day for just about everybody, except former Saints EDGE Taco Charlton, who was released on… well, Taco Tuesday.

Roster cuts are never funny. Players who are released from NFL teams, as hundreds were today as the league gets its rosters to mandated 53-man final decisions, are losing their jobs… and in some cases, their careers.

However, there are times when coincidences are too obvious to notice. One of the players released by the New Orleans Saints today was veteran edge-rusher Taco Charlton. Selected with the 28th overall pick in the 2018 draft out of Michigan, Charlton never quite lived up to his draft position, maxing out in his rookie season with 21 pressures, and in 2019 with five sacks. Charlton played with the Dolphins in 2019, with the Chiefs in 2020, and with the Steelers in 2021. So, he’s been around a bit.

The Saints signed Charlton in April, and he did flash a few times, with a sack against the Packers in Week 2 of the preseason, five total pressures, and three stops. But it evidently wasn’t enough for head coach Dennis Allen and his staff.

The worst part for Charlton? Perhaps that he was released on Taco Tuesday, which is normally a great day for all those who observe. Hopefully, if another team picks Charlton up, it happens a week from today.

Film Room: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is a huge part of Eagles’ defensive overhaul

The Eagles’ trade for Saints DB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is a major part of a massive defensive overhaul. Here’s why Gardner-Johnson will make all the difference.

Last season, the Philadelphia Eagles ranked 25th in Defensive DVOA, Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted efficiency metrics. More than the travails of quarterback Jalen Hurts and anything that was happening with Philly’s offense, it was the defense, led by Jonathan Gannon, which tripped the Eagles up in 2021.

General manager Howie Roseman, who’s always been aggressive to a fault, did everything he could in the subsequent offseason to improve things. Roseman and his staff, including head coach Nick Sirianni, added edge-rusher Hasson Reddick, cornerback James Bradberry, linebacker Kyzir White among the pool of current NFL players, and took Georgia defensive tackle/small planet Jordan Davis and Davis’ college teammate, Nakobe Dean, early in the draft.

On Tuesday, Roseman continued to add to that haul with the trade for former New Orleans Saints defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson traded to the Philadelphia Eagles

So, if that defense doesn’t show a lot more force in 2022, Roseman certainly isn’t to blame.

Regarding Gardner-Johnson more specifically, we at Touchdown Wire ranked him as the NFL’s second-best slot defender for the 2022 season. Tyrann Mathieu, who was his Saints teammate for approximately five minutes, ranked first. While it would have been fun to see CGJ and the Honey Badger wreaking havoc in Dennis Allen’s awesome defense, Gardner-Johnson is set to be a massive factor in what Roseman and everybody else in the Eagles’ organization believes to be the kind of defensive overhaul that can pay immediate dividends at a championship level.

Let’s get into why that’s the case.

Trevor Penning out ‘indefinitely’ with torn foot ligament

Saints rookie offensive tackle Trevor Penning is out indefinitely with a torn ligament in his foot, which will require surgery.

New Orleans Saints rookie offensive tackle Trevor Penning is out “indefinitely” with a torn ligament in his foot. The injury will require surgery.

Penning suffered the injury in the Saints’ preseason finale, a victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. He played ten snaps before suffering the injury, and required a cart to get to the locker room. Initially, it was reported that it was a case of turf toe, but according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, he has a torn ligament in his foot which will require surgery:

The Saints drafted Penning in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft, out of Northern Iowa. While in college, at the Senior Bowl, and in his first NFL training camp, Penning displayed a penchant for relying on a mean streak. However, as he found out earlier in the preseason, there is more to playing tackle in the NFL.

Saints fans now have to wait a little longer to see that mean streak in a regular-season game.

Michael Thomas sits out practice with a hamstring injury

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas is dealing with a hamstring injury.

New Orleans Saints fans who were excited about the return of wide receiver Michael Thomas got a little bit of a scare Sunday when the receiver did not participate in practice. According to head coach Dennis Allen, Thomas is “dealing with a little bit of a hamstring” injury.

Nick Underhill, who covers the Saints, was the first to report the injury:

Thomas missed the entire 2021 season after undergoing surgery on a lingering ankle injury he suffered during the 2020 season. He played just seven games during the 2020 campaign, making five starts. That season, Thomas caught 40 passes for 438 yards, and did not reach the end zone.

That brought to a close four-straight years with over 100 receptions, and five-straight seasons with over 1,000 yards receiving. Thomas broke into the NFL in 2016, when he caught 92 passes for 1,137 yards and nine touchdowns. His career year came back in 2019, when he caught 149 passes for 1,725 yards and nine touchdowns, and was awarded the AP Offensive Player of the Year. Thomas became the first wide receiver to secure the award since Jerry Rice in 1993.

 

Saints punter Blake Gillikin gets ‘random’ drug test after 81-yard punt

Saints punter Blake Gillikin got a “random” drug test from the NFL after one of the most amazing punts you will ever see.

The NFL would like us to believe that punters are people, too. So, why is there such disrespect from the league when punters do great things? Second-year New Orleans Saints punter Blake Gillikin certainly feels the disrespect. Against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday, Gillikin put forth one of the greatest punts you’ll ever see — this 81-yard bomb in the third quarter, turning the field from the New Orleans 19-yard line all the way to the opposing end zone for a touchback.

The punt had a couple yards of roll at the end, but that was a freaking Howitzer.

How did the NFL respond? By questioning the veracity of Gillikin’s methodology, and giving him a “random” drug test.

Punt at your own risk, indeed. Last season, the Penn State alum had 83 punts, averaging 47.7 yards per punt (which ranked seventh in the NFL), and his longest was 63 yards.

So, why the disrespect now? The punter slander must stop.

Watch: Saints OL Cesar Ruiz tackles his own running back

Packers LB Isaiah McDuffie couldn’t tackle Saints running back Tony Jones Jr. without New Orleans OL Cesar Ruiz’s help.

There are times as a defender when you really want to tackle an opposing running back, but things just don’t work out the way you would prefer. This happened to the Green Bay Packers’ defense on Friday night against the New Orleans Saints. Running back Tony Jones Jr. (No. 34) was rumbling down the left side of the field, and there were several Packers defenders who had a serious problem bringing Jones down.

Leave it to Green Bay linebacker Isaiah McDuffie to get it done by any means necessary. McDuffie (No. 58) was out of position to make the tackle, as interior offensive lineman Cesar Ruiz (No. 51) was in McDuffie’s way.

So, as our own Laurie Fitzpatrick points out, McDuffie came up with the veteran move of pushing Ruiz into Jones, and that’s a tackle no matter what you think.

We’re not sure how to score that. Does Ruiz get an assist along with McDuffie? And what will film day be like in the Saints’ facility. Ruiz is a very good player, so we’re guessing the static he gets for this will be good-natured.

Packers WR Romeo Doubs turned last week’s interception into this week’s touchdown

Green Bay Packers receiver Romeo Doubs isn’t just standing out — he’s also learning from his rare rookie mistakes.

Green Bay Packers rookie receiver Romeo Doubs has already been the star of his team’s training camp, and he caught three passes on seven targets for 45 yards and a touchdown last week in his preseason debut against the San Francisco 49ers.

One play from that game that Doubs would like back was quarterback Jordan Love’s second interception of the day. As we pointed out, the interceptions really weren’t Love’s fault,

Against the Saints on Friday night, Doubs posterized cornerback Brian Allen, going up where Allen couldn’t defend Love’s pass.

Mr. Bukowski is correct. Let’s review that interception against the 49ers, where we see that cornerback Samuel Womack simply had more “want-to” to the ball for his first pick of two on the day.

The touchdown against the Saints was more of a stutter/fade, as opposed to the straight out-route concept, but the point stands, and it’s clear that Doubs is learning quickly to sand over his rough spots.

As our own Mark Schofield has pointed out, this (among other things) will make Doubs a real problem for the Packers’ opponents this season.