Tag: 2020 NFL Draft

Former Saints draft pick spreading his wings with the Eagles

Zack Baun is spreading his wings with the Eagles. It’s hard to call the NFC Defensive Player of the Week a draft bust when the Saints didn’t know how to use him:

Credit where it’s due: Zack Baun is flying high with the Philadelphia Eagles. The former New Orleans Saints draft pick switched teams in free agency, and that decision has paid off. Baun just won recognition as the NFC Defensiive Player of the Week for the first time in his career.

Baun was integral to the Eagles’ dismantling of the NFC East-rival Dallas Cowboys; he totaled 8 tackles (3 solo, with a tackle for loss) plus two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in their 34-6 win. So why wasn’t he putting up those kind of numbers in New Orleans?

For one thing, the Saints didn’t have much of a plan in mind when they traded up to draft Baun back in 2020. To move up from No. 88 to No. 74 (and getting back a seventh rounder in the process), the Saints traded their third rounder in 2021, which wound up falling at No. 91. And once they acquired Baun they didn’t know what to do with him. He weighed in at 6-foot-2 and 238 pounds, which was too light for Dennis Allen to stomach at defensive end, where Baun lined up in college. The coaching staff and scouting department were not in lockstep.

They spent the next few years trying to teach him to drop back in coverage and work in space, but Allen and his coaching staff never developed much confidence in him. After trading up to draft him the Saints picked another  linebacker in both 2021 (Pete Werner, at No. 60) and 2022 (D’Marco  Jackson, at No. 161). He never got a chance in New Orleans, playing almost twice as many snaps on special teams (1,293) as on defense (660) through his 62-game Saints career.

Now the Saints are scrambling for answers at linebacker. Demario Davis isn’t getting younger and the injury bug bit him earlier this year. Pete Werner signed a contract extension this summer but hasn’t proven he can stay on the field either. The Saints already decided Baun couldn’t be part of their solution, but the Eagles have figured out how to get the most out of him. Now we have to wait and see how New Orleans moves next.

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Raiders to deploy couple former 1st round EDGE in place of injured Maxx Crosby

Raiders to deploy couple former 1st round EDGE in place of injured Maxx Crosby

Let’s be honest, there’s no replacing what Maxx Crosby brings to the Raiders defense. But the Raiders have to try because Crosby is not expected to play Sunday when the Browns come to town. He is listed as Doubtful for the game and head coach Antonio Pierce said Friday that Crosby would be OUT.

It will be a group project trying to replace Crosby. And that group will include two former first round picks.

Saturday the team activated K’Lavon Chaisson from the practice squad. Chaisson was the 20th overall pick by the Jaguars in 2020 and was signed to the Raiders practice squad a couple weeks ago, following the loss of Malcolm Koonce to a knee injury.

Chaisson will join Raiders another former first round pick in Tyree Wilson who was the Raiders pick at seventh overall in the 2023 draft.

Others who will try and pick up the slack will be Janarius Robinson and Charles Snowden.

Raiders sign former 1st round EDGE to replace injured former 1st round EDGE

How do you replace a former top pick edge rusher? Why, with another former top pick edge rusher, of course.

Last Thursday, the Raiders lost starting edge rusher Malcolm Koonce to a knee injury. Six snaps into the game on Sunday, they lost former seventh overall pick Tyree Wilson to a knee injury. Thus leaving the position not only weaker, but lacking depth.

The Koonce injury was a huge blow. But they were hoping for the depth to step up and lessen that blow until Koonce could return. The Wilson injury meant something needed to happen.

“It got thin real quick,” Pierce said of the defensive end depth. “Telesco’s working on that as we speak.”

Well, Telesco’s work has yielded a result as the Raiders have signed former first round pick (20th overall) K’Lavon Chaissan to their practice squad.

Chaisson was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the 20th overall pick in the 2020 draft out of LSU.

Over four season in Jacksonville, he had just five career sacks. They didn’t pick up his fifth year option and he left as a free agent. He signed with the Panthers this offseason and was released last week, ahead of the season opener.

Along with the Chaisson addition, the Raiders have also added CB Kyu Blu Kelly to the practice squad. Kelly was a 5th round pick by the Ravens in the 2023 draft out of Stanford. He didn’t make the roster out of camp and spent time on three different teams last season — the Packers, Seahawks, and Commanders.

All Pro receiver Raiders should have drafted gets record new deal

All Pro receiver Raiders should have drafted gets record new deal

Today the Cowboys backed up the Brinks truck for CeeDee Lamb. The All Pro receiver just got a record signing bonus while becoming the second highest paid non-QB in NFL history

Lamb is coming off an All Pro season and his third Pro Bowl season. He caught 135 passes for 1749 yards last season and has improved his receiving numbers each of his seasons in the NFL.

When Lamb came out of Oklahoma in 2020, he was easily the best receiver in that draft. The team with the highest draft position and a need at wide receiver was the Raiders. For that reason, I had him as the pick by the Raiders in my mock draft that year. But Jon Gruden was smarter. He took Alabama’s Henry Ruggs III at 12 overall. Yeah, Mike Mayock was the GM, but we all know Gruden was calling the shots on those top picks.

Now, we know the cautionary tale that Ruggs’s life became. He’s in prison for killing a woman and her dog while driving drunk. But this isn’t about Ruggs. This is about Lamb. And how much of a no-brainer pick he was at the time and has proven to be ever since.

To be fair, the Broncos also overthought this. They chose Ruggs’s Alabama teammate Jerry Jeudy three picks later at 15 overall. Leaving Lamb to fall right into the laps of the Cowboys at 17 overall. A gift from the overthinking brainiacs ahead of them in the draft.

Justin Jefferson made it clear on day one what his goals were as a Viking

Justin Jefferson wasn’t a highly touted wide receiver prospect in the 2020 NFL Draft. His goals though would make him an all-timer.

Justin Jefferson wasn’t a highly touted wide receiver prospect in the 2020 NFL Draft. He was seen as a first-round talent but wasn’t seen as the top receiver in the group. Fast-forward four years, and he is not only the best wide receiver in the group but also the best wide receiver in the NFL as a whole.

The general manager who drafted him was Rick Spielman, and according to the former Vikings front office leader, Jefferson wasn’t shy about his goals. In a video posted by The 33rd Team, Spielman discussed what the then-rookie wide receiver told him when he was drafted in 2020.

“When he came in, the one thing he talked about was ‘I want to be known as one of, if not the, best receivers to ever play in the NFL. . .I want to have that gold jacket.”

Spielman mentioned that he had only seen the type of talent Jefferson had twice before: Barry Sanders and Adrian Peterson. Both are considered among the best ever to play their position, and Jefferson is on track to be in the same discourse when his career is over.

Greg McElroy calls Notre Dame’s secondary best in college football

Do you believe this to be true?

Notre Dame is spoiled with some future NFL talent in its secondary. [autotag]Benjamin Morrison[/autotag] widely is projected to be picked early in the first round of the 2025 draft, and [autotag]Xavier Watts[/autotag] currently figures to be picked on the second day. All of this and more is why ESPN’s Greg McElroy thinks the Irish have the best secondary in the country.

Speaking on the ESPN College Football YouTube channel, McElroy justified his feelings this way:

“They have, I think, one of the best corners in the country. Maybe the No. 2, maybe the No. 3, depending on what the pecking order looks like in Benjamin Morrison. You have one of the best safeties in the country in Xavier Watts, who brought home the Bronko Nagurski (Trophy) last year. Best defensive player in college football. That’s what some people would say. I don’t know if I would put him at the top, frankly, as the best defensive player in college football, but from an opportunistic standpoint, seven interceptions that did not allow a touchdown in coverage last year. Two pretty good spots to start.

You also have the addition of [autotag]Rod Heard[/autotag], which I think was massive coming over from Northwestern. And I think he is a guy that people don’t know right now, but should factor in there at the safety spot as another guy that can potentially impact the game.

So if you look at what they have at both corner spots, one of the best tandems in the sport, one of the best safety tandems in the sport, assuming that Rod Heard is as advertised. I think they’re in a great spot. Couple that with the great front seven, Notre Dame brings home the title for the best defensive secondary.”

If you want to see McElroy’s complete list, you can watch the video here:

So needless to say, the secondary will be a unit to watch for the Irish in 2024. Let’s hope the reality matches the preseason expectations.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Saints have more Washington 2020 draft picks than the Commanders do

There are more players from Washington’s 2020 draft class in New Orleans than on the Commanders’ roster. But they outnumber the Saints’ own 2020 draft picks, too:

Don’t look now, but the New Orleans Saints have rostered more players from the Washington Commanders’ 2020 draft class than Washington themselves. There isn’t a single player that the Commanders picked in 2020 remaining in Washington. Two of them landed with the Saints this offseason: defensive end Chase Young (a first-round pick) and linebacker Khaleke Kudson (a fifth rounder). The Times-Picayune | Advocate’s Matthew Paras, a former Washington beat writer, first shared this observation.

But here’s the twist. There are more players from Washington’s 2020 draft class now suiting up for the Saints than New Orleans’ own 2020 draft haul. The Saints went into the 2020 draft talking up a quality-over-quantity approach, trading up three times and coming away with just four players: right guard Cesar Ruiz, linebacker Zack Baun, tight end Adam Trautman, and quarterback-turned-tight end Tommy Stevens.

That plan blew up in their face. The Saints cut Stevens early in the season after initially stashing him on their practice squad. They traded Trautman during the 2023 draft (to the Denver Broncos, reuniting him with Sean Payton). Baun left in free agency last month to sign a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. The only player remaining from that four-man band is Ruiz, who signed a contract extension last September.

So the Saints have two players from Washington’s 2020 draft class and just one of their own. That’s not the best of resources by either team. Regime change has already come for the Commanders (plus a change in ownership), and it might be on the way for New Orleans if the Saints miss the playoffs for the fourth year in a row and the third season with Dennis Allen as head coach. Hopefully they can turn things around, one way or another.

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Commanders sign a former a Dan Quinn cornerback

Is Igbinoghene a depth signing or can the former first-round pick be more for the Commanders?

It won’t bring much praise or excitement but the Commanders did sign a player at a position of need.

Sunday, the Commanders signed cornerback Noah Igbinoghene on a one-year deal.

Igbinoghene will come with not much fanfare, but he is known by the Commanders’ new head coach, Dan Quinn.

Igbinoghene played for the Cowboys on Quinn’s 2023 defense. He played in five games, did not make a start and saw action on only 25 defensive snaps and 77 special teams snaps.

In the 2023 season, Igbinoghene scored his first NFL touchdown against the NY Giants. Here it is.

The Miami Dolphins selected Igbinoghene 30th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Auburn. In his three seasons with the Dolphins (2020-22), Igbinoghene didn’t perform up to expectations, making only five starts. The Dolphins then traded him to the Cowboys during the 2023 NFL preseason.

Igbinoghene (5-11, 197) will turn age 25 in November and becomes the fourth former Dallas Cowboy to follow Quinn from Dallas to Washington. He joins Tyler Biadasz (C), Dorance Armstrong (DE) and Dante Fowler Jr. (DE).

Running a 4.48 40-yard dash and displaying a 37-inch vertical jump, Igbinoghene certainly possesses the physical ability of NFL corners, but his production thus far suggests this is a depth signing unless Igbinoghene can resurrect his career.

 

Commanders sign linebacker Keandre Jones

Jones, 26, played collegiately at Ohio State and Maryland.

On the same day the NFL revealed the 2024 salary cap would jump $30 million from last season, the Washington Commanders signed a linebacker.

The team announced it had signed free-agent linebacker Keandre Jones. Jones, 26, is a native of Olney, Md., and played high school football at Good Counsel. He committed to Ohio State out of high school, where he spent three seasons before transferring to Maryland for his final season in 2019.

Jones was a college teammate of Terry McLaurin, Chase Young and the late Dwayne Haskins at Ohio State.

Jones signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent after the 2020 NFL draft. The Bears waived him during final cuts that summer, and he signed with the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad.

Jones played three seasons for the Bengals, appearing in eight games and making four tackles. He was waived during final cuts last summer and did not play in 2023.

The Commanders need help at linebacker. While Jones is viewed as more of a depth signing for Washington, he could push for a role on special teams. The Commanders are thin at the position, and new head coach Dan Quinn will value linebackers more than the previous regime.

Washington has around $87 million in salary cap space ahead of the free agency next month.

Commanders Casey Toohill making his case

Casey Toohill will be a free agent in 2024.

In three NFL seasons, Casey Toohill had accumulated only two quarterback sacks.

But Toohill has already registered three sacks in 2023.

The former Stanford Cardinal was drafted in the 7th round (233 overall) by the Eagles in the 2020 NFL draft.

Toohill signed his four-year deal in July, but then the Eagles released Toohill in October of 2020. The very next day, Washington claimed Toohill off of waivers. In on 8 Washington games, he contributed two assisted tackles and a QB hit.

The 6-foot-5, 254 defensive end registered two quarterback sacks and 12 quarterback hits over the next two seasons 2021-22 with Washington.

In this his fourth NFL season, Toohill is making the most of his opportunities. Appearing in each of the six games this season, Toohill has already registered three QB sacks, seven solo tackles, one assisted tackle, two tackles for a loss and four QB hits.

This past Sunday in Atlanta, Toohill collected his first two-sack NFL game.

Toohill is a free agent at the conclusion of the 2023 season. Might the Commander’s brass actually be wise to go ahead and resign Toohill to a veteran-friendly contract for something like three years?”