Category: Saints

2023 NFL Draft: Consensus grades from best to worst for all 32 teams

The wisdom of crowds isn’t always the ideal, but here’s how 29 different analysts rated every NFL team’s draft, from best to worst.

Finding oneself beholden to the wisdom of crowds isn’t always the wisest move, but there is some tangential value in looking at how multiple analysts view the drafts of NFL teams. Worst-case, you get a sense of how we’re all wrong at the same time. Best case, there’s an aggregate response that can be accurate and telling.

Recently, football analyst René Bugner did us all the favor of compiling the post-draft grades for 2023 from 29 different sources (including yours truly, for better or worse), and did the math for each team from a grade-point perspective.

So, with those roll-offs and curves, we have a general sense of how those who analyze these things for a living (again, for better or worse) have put each NFL team in its respective place.

Here, then, are the post-draft GPAs for all 32 NFL teams. I’m including analysis for every team from my original grades at Touchdown Wire.

2023 NFL Draft: Final grades for all 32 NFL teams

12 things to know about the 2023 NFL schedule

Here’s 12 things to know about the 2023 NFL schedule — everything from how it starts, to how to watch, to how it ends.

The NFL announced its 18-week, 272-game regular-season schedule for 2023, which kicks off on Thursday night, September 7, in Kansas City and concludes with 16 division games in Week 18 – two on Saturday, January 6, and 14 on Sunday, January 7.

The 2023 NFL schedule, powered by AWS, will feature each team playing 17 regular-season games and three preseason games for the third consecutive year. The 17th game will feature teams from opposing conferences that finished in the same standing within their respective divisions the previous season. The AFC will be the home conference for the 17th game in 2023. For how opponents were determined for the 2023 season, click here.

The NFL uses the power of Amazon Web Services (AWS) to power its schedule-making process. There are approximately a quadrillion possible schedule combinations each NFL season and over 26,000 factors to take into consideration such as stadium availability, travel requirements, primetime games, competitive fairness and division rivalries. The NFL uses AWS to run high performance computing workloads to find the best possible schedule each year. For more information, click here.

Here’s 12 things you need to know about the 2023 schedule, courtesy of the NFL.

The 2023 NFL schedule, week by week

Here is the complete 2023 NFL schedule from Week 1 through Week 18.

The NFL announced its 18-week, 272-game regular-season schedule for 2023, which kicks off on Thursday night, September 7, in Kansas City and concludes with 16 division games in Week 18 – two on Saturday, January 6, and 14 on Sunday, January 7.

The 2023 NFL schedule, powered by AWS, will feature each team playing 17 regular-season games and three preseason games for the third consecutive year. The 17th game will feature teams from opposing conferences that finished in the same standing within their respective divisions the previous season. The AFC will be the home conference for the 17th game in 2023. For how opponents were determined for the 2023 season, click here.

The NFL uses the power of Amazon Web Services (AWS) to power its schedule-making process. There are approximately a quadrillion possible schedule combinations each NFL season and over 26,000 factors to take into consideration such as stadium availability, travel requirements, primetime games, competitive fairness and division rivalries. The NFL uses AWS to run high performance computing workloads to find the best possible schedule each year. For more information, click here.

The NFL’s 104th season begins with the league’s annual primetime kickoff game, as the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs host the Detroit Lions at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday, September 7 (8:20 PM ET, NBC). The Lions finished the 2022 regular season with wins in eight of their final 10 games while the Chiefs won each of the final eight games last season, including the playoffs.

Week 1 continues Sunday, September 10, with a double-doubleheader featuring four Sunday afternoon games in every market. On CBS at 4:25 PM ET, two 2022 playoff teams meet as Miami visits the Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas travels to Denver in an AFC West showdown and Philadelphia visits New England in a rematch of Super Bowls XXXIX and LII. On FOX at 4:25 PM ET, the two teams with the most regular-season wins in NFL history – Green Bay and Chicago – meet at Soldier Field to renew their rivalry while the Los Angeles Rams travel to Seattle in a rematch of their thrilling Week 18 overtime contest that helped the Seahawks secure a 2022 playoff berth.

Later that day, NBC’s Sunday Night Football begins with the Dallas Cowboys visiting the New York Giants (8:20 PM ET), in a matchup between NFC East divisional rivals and 2022 playoff teams. NBC will televise one game each Sunday night in Weeks 1-15 and Week 17. On Saturday in Week 16, NBC will feature Cincinnati at Pittsburgh (4:30 PM ET) while Peacock will exclusively stream Buffalo at the Los Angeles Chargers at 8:00 PM ET.

Kickoff Weekend concludes on Monday, September 11, with ESPN/ABC’s Monday Night Football, featuring Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets hosting Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills (8:15 PM ET) in an AFC East showdown. YouTube is the presenting sponsor of Kickoff Weekend, marking the first time a League partner will brand the opening weekend of the season, inclusive of Thursday night, the weekend games, and Monday night.

ESPN will televise 16 games this season (one game each Monday night in Weeks 1-15 and Saturday night in Week 17) and will be simulcast on ABC in Weeks 1, 11 and 17, including the Super Bowl LVII rematch between Philadelphia and Kansas City on Monday, November 20. In Weeks 2, 3 and 14, there will be two Monday night games on ESPN and ABC. In Weeks 2 and 3, the two Monday night games broadcast at 7:15 PM ET and 8:15 PM ET. In Week 14, the two Monday night games will both kickoff at 8:15 ET, as Tennessee visits Miami (ESPN) and the New York Giants host Green Bay (ABC). In Week 16, ABC will broadcast the conclusion of the NFL’s Christmas Day triple-header between Baltimore and San Francisco (8:15 PM ET). There will be no Monday night game on the final regular-season weekend (Week 18) to provide more flexibility for the scheduling of the opening weekend of the NFL playoffs.

Additionally, ESPN/ABC will air two games with playoff implications on the Saturday of Week 18, January 6, at 4:30 PM ET and 8:15 PM ET. These games will be selected following the conclusion of Week 17.

Thursday Night Football will air exclusively on Prime Video, kicking off its slate in Week 2 as the Philadelphia Eagles host the Minnesota Vikings (8:15 PM ET). Prime Video will broadcast 15 Thursday Night Football games between Weeks 2-17 (excluding Thanksgiving night) and exclusively stream the first-ever NFL Black Friday game when the New York Jets host the Miami Dolphins in Week 12 (3:00 PM ET).

NFL Network will exclusively televise eight games – four international games, three games in Week 15 on Saturday, December 16 and the New England Patriots visiting the Denver Broncos on Sunday, December 24 (8:15 PM ET).

The NFL schedule features five international regular-season games – three in the UK and two in Germany, marking the first-ever regular-season NFL games to be hosted in Frankfurt. As part of the League’s expansion of the regular season to 17 games, it was determined that, beginning with the 2022 season, up to four of the teams from the conference whose teams were eligible for a ninth regular-season home game would instead be designated to play a neutral-site international game each year.

The international slate features games in three consecutive weeks, beginning in London at Wembley Stadium in Week 4 with a matchup between Jacksonville and Atlanta (9:30 AM ET, ESPN+). The London action shifts to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium the next two weeks, as Jacksonville and Buffalo meet in Week 5 (9:30 AM ET, NFL Network) and Tennessee and Baltimore face off in Week 6 (9:30 AM ET, NFL Network). The Jaguars are scheduled to become the first NFL team to play two regular-season games outside of the United States in the same season.

As part of the League’s commitment to playing regular-season games in Germany, the NFL will play two games in 2023 at Frankfurt Stadium – home of Eintracht Frankfurt, having played the inaugural Germany game last season in Munich. In Week 9, Kansas City takes on Miami (9:30 AM ET, NFL Network) and in Week 10, Indianapolis meets New England (9:30 AM ET, NFL Network) to wrap up the 2023 international games.

The Madden Thanksgiving Celebration will feature a tripleheader on Thursday, November 23, with three divisional matchups. The first game will feature a pair of NFC North foes, as the Packers travel to Detroit to face the Lions (12:30 PM ET, FOX). The late afternoon game will match two NFC East rivals, as the Washington Commanders visit the Dallas Cowboys (4:30 PM ET, CBS). The Thanksgiving Day festivities conclude with an NFC West divisional matchup as the 49ers travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks on NBC (8:20 PM ET).

Week 16 begins with Thursday Night Football on December 21, followed by two games on NBC and Peacock on Saturday, December 23. The slate continues on Sunday, December 24 with 10 games and concludes on Monday, December 25, with the second-ever Christmas tripleheader. The Christmas Day tripleheader features Las Vegas at Kansas City at 1:00 PM ET (CBS), the New York Giants at Philadelphia at 4:30 PM ET (FOX) and Baltimore at San Francisco at 8:15 PM ET (ABC).

The regular season will conclude with Week 18 on Saturday, January 6, and Sunday, January 7. For the 14th consecutive year, all 16 games scheduled for the final week of the season are division contests, enhancing the potential for more games with playoff ramifications.

The NFL’s 32 teams will each play 17 games over 18 weeks. Byes will begin in Week 6 and end in Week 14.

Here is the 2023 NFL schedule, week by week.

Every NFL team’s 2023 schedule, week by week

Here’s the full 2023 schedules for every NFL team, in team-by-team alphabetical order.

With the release of the 2023 schedule at 8:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, May 11, we now know the slate for every week of the season, and how it’ll line up for every NFL team.

To see the full schedule for your favorite team, as well as the schedules for your favorite team’s divisional opponents, not to mention your least favorite teams, just scroll on down for the official release graphics and videos from the teams themselves!

A few notes from the league:

  • Twenty-three games will be Super Bowl rematches, including each of the past two Super Bowls: Philadelphia at Kansas City (Week 11, Super Bowl LVII) and the Los Angeles Rams at Cincinnati (Week 3, Super Bowl LVI).
  • Fourteen 2023 games are rematches from the 2022 playoffs, including Super Bowl LVII, both Championship Games (San Francisco at Philadelphia in Week 13; Cincinnati at Kansas City in Week 17) and all four Divisional playoff games (Kansas City at Jacksonville in Week 2; Buffalo at Cincinnati in Week 9, the New York Giants against Philadelphia in Weeks 16 and 18; Dallas at San Francisco in Week 5).
  • The two most recent winners of the Most Valuable Player award, Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers, are scheduled to face off for the first time in their careers when the Kansas City Chiefs visit the New York Jets on Sunday Night Football in Week 4 (8:20 PM ET, NBC). Should both players start, Mahomes (two-time MVP) and Rodgers (four-time MVP) would become the seventh different pair of quarterbacks to meet in a regular-season game after both players had won multiple NFL Most Valuable Player awards.
  • The top-two picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud, are scheduled to meet in Week 8 when the Carolina Panthers host the Houston Texans (1:00 PM ET, FOX). Should both players start, it would mark the fifth game in NFL history between rookie starting quarterbacks selected with first and second overall picks in the NFL Draft.

Without further ado, here’s the full schedule for all 32 NFL teams.

How TE Foster Moreau can help the Saints’ offense with his amazing recovery story

Saints TE Foster Moreau’s return to the NFL after his Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis is a great story, but Moreau is also a very good player.

During a routine physical performed performed in March by the New Orleans Saints’ medical team during a free-agent visit, former Las Vegas Raiders tight end Forster Moreau was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system, which is part of the body’s germ-fighting immune system.

Moreau disclosed the diagnosis on his Twitter account.

On Wednesday, Moreau’s story took a wonderful turn.

Moreau will reunite with Derek Carr, his former Raiders quarterback, who signed a four-year, $150 million contract with $100 million guaranteed with New Orleans in early March. Obviously, Darren Waller was Carr’s primary explosive target with the Raiders, but Moreau provided his own specific value, catching 33 passes on 49 targets for 420 yards and two touchdowns in the 2022 season. Through his NFL career, the 2019 fourth-round pick out of LSU has totaled 91 catches on 128 targets for 1,107 yards and 12 touchdowns.

While he’s not in the same downfield threat category as Waller, Moreau became a valuable outlet target for Carr with his ability to get open quickly off the snap, and maximize yards-after-catch opportunities. 241 of his 420 yards last season came after the catch, and that’s what he brings to the Saints.

Moreau also brings contested-catch ability to the table, and there’s perhaps no better example than this 21-yard Week 17 catch against the 409ers. Not nnly did Moreau successfully keep Nick Bosa at bay off the snap, but he then released into his route, and fought off cornerback Deommodor Lenior as Lenoir caught up to him.

Basically, if you want an in-line tight end who can get open, body defenders out of the way, and make some amazing catches at the end, Moreau is a clear asset. The Chargers would be able to tell you all about that.

So, while Moreau’s return to the NFL is absolutely a feel-good story, he also has what it takes to add to the Saints’ passing game, and Derek Carr gets a clutch receiver he trusts.

Which makes it a win-win-win.

2023 NFL Draft: The best draft steal for every NFL team

Every NFL draft has its selection of steals — those players who could surprise despite their low selections — and here’s one for every NFL team.

One of the many reasons the Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII was the job that general manager Brett Veach did outside of the first round of the 2022 draft. Three defensive backs (Bryan Cook in the second round, Joshua Williams in the fourth, and Jaylen Watson in the seventh) were difference-makers all season, and seventh-round running back Isiah Pacheco became the team’s bellcow back down the stretch. Also, second-round receiver Skyy Moore joined Pacheco with touchdowns in that Super Bowl victory over the Eagles.

First-round hits are nice, but it’s almost worse to miss in the first round than it is better to win there from an opportunity cost perspective. If you want to refresh your roster at a championship level, you had better get those picks right on the second and third day. Veach and his staff did that, and it was the difference that made all the difference in the end.

Moving to the 2023 NFL draft, we’ve selected one second- or third-day pick for every NFL team who could have a similar impact on their NFL roaters sooner than mater. Each of these players have reasons for their relatively low picks in line with their tape, stats, and talent, but these are the kinds of finds that can turn a team around over time.

2023 NFL Draft: Final grades for all 32 NFL teams

Draft grades! You love them, you hate them! And here’s Doug Farrar’s draft grades to add to the cacophony!

What is the point of grading a draft right after it happens? We have no idea what the prospects will do at the NFL level, so it seems that the primary reason for draft grades is clicks.

Which is not altogether inaccurate, to be brutally honest. I can only speak to my process, but when I’m grading a draft right after the fact, it’s all about taking the work I did pre-draft and projecting that analysis to the NFL with the understanding of NFL homes for every player. Grades are evaluations in the moment. Ideally, you’re weighing prospect strength with positional value and draft capital expended. It’s more than a letter and some snark for clicks.

That’s what I did here in grading the 2023 NFL draft for all 32 teams. I could be completely wrong regarding how these players do at the next level, but that’s not really the point. The point is more about how the teams did with the resources they had, the capital they spent, what they got in return, and what they might have left behind.

That’s the mindset I took into the grades you see here. And here’s some of the evaluation I have done to get to this point.

Position lists and scouting reports for the 2023 draft

Top 50 players

Secret Superstars of the 2023 draft

New Orleans Saints select Bryan Bresee with the 29th pick. Grade: A

After losing several defensive linemen in free agency, the Saints did a great job of making up the difference with Clemson’s Bryan Bresee.

(Ken Ruinard-USA TODAY Sports)

Saints head coach Dennis Allen saw his defense lose some valued defensive linemen in free agency, so Bresee is a smart pick here, as long as he can transcend a slightly worrisome injury history. As Allen tends to prefer, Bresee can play all over the line, and he is a disruptor above all, with a knack for the kinds of quick pressure that is job one in the NFL these days.

Height: 6′ 5⅝” (94th percentile) Weight: 298 (30th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.86 (93rd)
10-Yard Split: 1.71 (72nd)
Bench Press: 22 reps (15th)
Vertical Jump: 29″ (46th)
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A

Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32½” (25th)
Hand Size: 10¼” (73rd)

Bio: A star at Damascus High School in Damascus, Maryland, Bresee was ranked the top high school prospect in the country by 247Sports and chose Clemson over a ton of other offers. Over three seasons with the Tigers, Bresee had eight sacks, 13 quarterback hits, 39 quarterback hurries, 34 tackles, 35 stops, and one forced fumble. He had 583 snaps in the B-gaps, 190 in the A-gaps, 69 over the tackles, and 68 outside the tackles.

Stat to Know: Bresee’s pressure rate of 12% ranked third in this class among interior defensive linemen, behind only Jalen Carter and Calijah Kancey.

Strengths: Bresee’s ability to create quick pressure on the quarterback is something that NFL teams value. It speaks to his explosiveness off the snap, and how he can just wreck a backfield by knifing through blocks.

These traits also apply to his potential as a run defender — when Bresee has it on lock right from the snap, there are times when blockers can’t even get their hands up before he’s zoomed by them.

Weaknesses: This is true of a lot of collegiate defensive linemen and edge defenders who haven’t yet learned to integrate advanced techniques with their athletic potential, but Bresee doesn’t always have a plan if you stone him at the line of scrimmage. Too often, he’ll wrestle instead of disengaging. Tennessee right tackle Darnell Wright, another player with first-round talent, got Bresee on this play for that exact reason.

Bresee could also do with a bit more functional upper-body strength; his hell-for-leather style doesn’t work as well when he’s getting buried by blockers who gain the leverage advantage.

Conclusion: Right now, Bresee would fit like a proverbial glove in any front in need of one-gap disruptors who go 100 miles per hour on every play, and can do so from any gap. Where he’s a bit of a project, and where the upside is really exciting, is how much he’ll be able to advance his hand work and pure power with next-level coaching and weight work. Were we to stamp all of that with a seal of approval, Bresee might have a few All-Pro nods in his future.

NFL Comparison: Darnell Dockett. Selected in the third round of the 2004 draft by the Cardinals out of Florida State, Dockett was a more powerful man than Bresee at 6-foot-3 and 293 pounds, but the quickness to the backfield from multiple gaps tracks pretty well. And if Bresee can add to his technique palette when he hits the NFL, those similarities could play even more obviously.

Saints sign RB Jamaal Williams to three-year, $12 million deal. Grade: A-

The Saints signed former Lions RB Jamaal Williams to a steal of a deal, as long as they can pry gaps open for him. Otherwise, it could be iffy.

Getting a running back who’s coming off a 17-touchdown season, as the New Orleans Saints have done with the signing of former Detroit Lions back Jamaal Williams, would seem to be a total slam-dunk. And it is in a lot of ways, but there are come questions about Williams’ running style that would complicate things were the deal not so team-friendly — three years, $12 million, with just $8 million guaranteed.

It’s not that Williams is a bad running back — he’s obviously not, and that’s not really the point. The point is that if the Saints want him to be their workhorse guy — and they may have no choice if Alvin Kamara serves any kind of suspension based on charges of conspiracy to commit battery and battery resulting in substantial bodily harm — New Orleans’ offensive line will have to be expert in opening gaps for Williams. If that’s the case, he’s great. But Williams, even at 6-foot-0 and 224 pounds, is not a guy who’s going to rule the game after contact. Last season, he forced just 30 missed tackles on 262 attempts — for context, Josh Jacobs of the Las Vegas Raiders led the league with 90 missed tackles forced — and Williams’ average of 2.78 yards after contact per carry is similarly average to below-average.

The Saints ranked 12th in Football Outsiders’ Adjusted Line Yards metrics, which tie offensive line and running back performance together, while the Lions ranked seventh, so that works in Williams’ favor. What you don’t want is Williams getting cinched up behind a line that can’t create.

Williams does have the vision and acceleration to take advantage of those gaps when they’re open, and as long as that continues to be the case, the Saints got themselves quite the bargain here.

Derek Carr: Who Dat new quarterback in New Orleans?

Derek Carr has signed with the New Orleans Saints, and Laurie Fitzpatrick dives into the tape to detail what that means.

The first quarterback domino fell before the NFL’s 2023 league year when the New Orleans Saints signed former Raiders quarterback Derek Carr to a four-year, $150 million contract with $100 million guaranteed.

This was actually a great move by New Orleans, not because Carr is a fantastic quarterback but he’s certainly better than Jameis Winston, and he instantly becomes the best quarterback in a weak NFC South.

There weren’t a ton of other, or better options out there. The argument is valid that Carr hasn’t won a playoff game, and he also couldn’t win with Davante Adams, but in reality, Carr has had six head coaches in his nine-year tenure. and three in his last two years. His first three years with the same head coach, he appeared in three pro bowls (2015-2017)…

…and guess which team the coach that drafted him (Dennis Allen) is with now — yep, you guessed it, the New Orleans Saints.

Can Carr be the quarterback he was drafted to be? A few things need to happen for that to manifest, so let’s dive into his current situation and what has to happen for him to turn his career around.