Tag: additions

Ranking the Saints’ five best offseason additions: No. 1, Klint Kubiak

Klint Kubiak ranks as the New Orleans Saints’ best offseason addition because his ceiling for impact is higher than any other pickup:

There is no pickup who has the ability to change the trajectory of the New Orleans Saints more than new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. Dennis Allen made the necessary move of firing Pete Carmichael and replaced him with Kubiak.

Kubiak brings a more modern offense to New Orleans. That’s how Kubiak became the only coach on the list. Let’s look at how he claimed the top spot.

The scheme alone should make it easier for Saints personnel. It won’t be difficult for Kubiak’s offense to feature more pre-snap motion. The 49ers and Dolphins used more motion than any other team. Kubiak comes from that same tree, so expect to see this in New Orleans. In 2023, pre-snap motion often resulted in increased yards per play on both running and passing plays.

As an offensive coordinator, he touches every single aspect of the offense. Derek Carr will benefit from being in a system that is known to be friendly to quarterbacks. This benefit trickles down to the wide receivers. Hopefully we see more Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed in space.

Speaking of space, Alvin Kamara in space is a must. The Saints stopped using him that way the last couple of years which, in turn, hampered his effectiveness. The Kubiak system is notorious for how productive their running backs are. Kamara has shown his talent in the past, and this offense can put his ability back on the forefront.

The Saints defense was strong enough last year to be a playoff team, but the offense was lackluster. If Kubiak can bring the best out of these players, the Saints should be competing for a playoff spot in 2024.

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Ranking the Saints’ five best offseason additions: No. 2, Taliese Fuaga

Taliese Fuaga fits well into the New Orleans Saints’ new scheme and has the potential to be a cornerstone at a premier position:

The New Orleans Saints picked up their biggest addition to the offense of the offseason in the first round of the NFL draft by selecting Taliese Fuaga. Yes, that is a double entendre.

The Saints needed to address offensive tackle coming into the draft. When the Las Vegas Raiders selected Brock Bowers, that took the temptation of picking a playmaker down a few notches. Who knows if it forced the Saints hand or not, but it did set them up to make the right pick.

Fuaga comes out of Oregon State with a good blend of athleticism and power. This allows him to make a strong initial move and also react to counter moves from defensive ends. His mean streak on the field is best showcased when he’s able to move and deliver contact with a full head of steam.

The rookie out steps into a scheme he’s familiar with from his collegiate career. Oregon State running a wide zone-heavy run scheme will help Fuaga get acclimated to Klint Kubiak’s scheme quicker. He’s been moved to left tackle after being a career right tackle in college. Reports have been positive thus far, but it’s difficult to truly judge a rookie offensive lineman before the pads are strapped on at training camp.

If he can deliver upon his promise, New Orleans just drafted a cornerstone at a premier position in the NFL.

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Ranking the Saints’ five best offseason additions: No. 3, Chase Young

Chase Young ranks third in our list of the Saints’ biggest offseason additions. He can transform the defense if he even gets close to his ceiling:

Chase Young is entering a pivotal season in his career with the New Orleans Saints. He signed a one-year deal with them this offseason, and his sky-high ceiling earned him the third spot on our list of the five best additions of the offseason.

Deciding between Young and linebacker Willie Gay Jr. was the most difficult part of this exercise. Ultimately, Young got the nod over Gay because of his ability to transform the Saints defense. The Saints defensive line has struggled to rush the passer in the past two seasons despite continuously investing at defensive end in the draft.

New Orleans changed their route and dipped into the free agency pool this year. He is a former Defensive Rookie of the Year who was projected to be a sack machine. He never quite reached that expectation, but showing flashes of being productive rusher. He matched his career-high 7.5 sacks last season, but his total was front loaded at the beginning of the season.

If Young can remain productive all season, he has the ability to hit double-digit sacks. The last Saints player to do that was Cameron Jordan in 2021.

The Saints lean towards big, physical defensive ends who don’t usually get to the quarterback quickly. Young breaks that mold and adds a quickness to the trenches. His speed transforms the defense by giving the team an ability to rush four down lineman more often and more effectively. This allows you to deploy more men in coverage on pass play.

He’s in a prove-it year, so it can go either way for Young. We’ll lean towards the positive projection for the sake of the list. At his best, Young has the potential to give New Orleans an impact player on each level of the defense with other new pickups helping out at the second level and on the back end.

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Packers training camp preview: Who are the newcomers to 90-man roster?

Highlighting all the newcomers coming to Green Bay Packers training camp in 2023.

The Green Bay Packers added 36 new players to the 90-man roster since the end of the 2022 season.

Who are all these newcomers coming to training camp? The Packers made 13 draft picks, signed or claimed seven veterans or first-year players, signed or claimed 15 undrafted free agents and was assigned one international player.

To help preview training camp, here’s a quick introduction to the newcomers to Green Bay this summer, listed by uniform number:

Vikings earn favorable grade from PFF after flurry of moves in free agency

The #Vikings got a high grade from PFF after their work in the first week of free agency despite coming out with a negative mark in PFF WAR

The quants at Pro Football Focus gave the Minnesota Vikings an A- grade for their fast-paced start to the 2023 free agency period despite the team’s negative PFF War mark following their additions and subtractions.

Minnesota has focused mostly on upgrading their defense to this point in the offseason, signing defensive linemen Marcus Davenport and Dean Lowry as well as cornerback Byron Murphy. All three of these proven playmakers should serve the Vikings well as they look to push for playoff contention beyond the divisional round.

On offense, Minnesota’s intentions have been clear; they intend to re-sign as many members of their 2022 roster as possible. Three of the five players that they have retained were members of their prolific offense last season, and the only addition they’ve made on that side of the ball has been tight end Josh Oliver, who will play mostly as a blocker on running downs. The only attrition to their offense came when the team released wide receiver Adam Thielen due to salary cap constraints.

All in all, despite their favorable grade, PFF estimates that the Vikings have come out with a net PFF WAR of -1.206 following their moves in the first week of free agency, which puts Minnesota squarely on the wrong side of the equation in that category. The raw numbers mean that, by PFF’s metrics, the Vikings have lost more talent than they’ve gained, though a multitude of factors could make this number irrelevant when play resumes in the regular season.

For now, fans in the North Star State will have to wait to see who the team might target in the second week of free agency, and consider which prospects in the upcoming draft might help the team immediately in 2023.

Chiefs announce 12 changes to 2023 coaching staff

The #Chiefs have announced 12 changes to their coaching staff for 2023 including four new additions.

The Kansas City Chiefs have announced several changes, including new additions and promotions to their coaching staff for the 2023 NFL season.

“Every offseason in the National Football League brings change, and for the first time in a while we had some movement on the coaching staff,” Chiefs HC Andy Reid said. “Obviously, we lost a couple of really talented coaches in Coach Bieniemy and Coach Lewis, and I’m happy for both of those guys getting new opportunities to show what they can do in this league. On the strength and conditioning side of things, I’d like to congratulate Coach Rubin on an outstanding career and wish him the best in retirement. As for our changes this year, I’m excited to see what these coaches can do in their new roles. They are all talented individuals with unique skillsets. All of them have the ability to bring something different to the table to benefit our team and specifically our players.”

The Chiefs welcome four new members to their coaching staff while a significant amount of the changes include shuffling roles around among coaches that were here this past season.

Here’s a look at all of the changes for 2023:

Ranking Packers’ veteran additions by potential impact in 2022

Which veteran addition will make the biggest impact for the Packers during the 2022 season? We rank the top 4.

The Green Bay Packers hit the free-agency jackpot last June when general manager Brian Gutekunst signed linebacker De’Vondre Campbell to a one-year deal. Incredibly, Campbell produced an All-Pro season as the playmaker in the middle of the Packers defense in 2021.

Is there a veteran addition comparable to Campbell from this offseason? Probably not. A player like Campbell is a rare find. But the Packers should still get plenty of impact from a handful of new veterans in 2022.

Here’s a ranking of the veteran additions by potential impact this season:

SEC announces two more non-division football matchups for each school

The Southeastern Conference announced on Friday its schedule of two additional non-division matchups for each of its member schools.

The Southeastern Conference announced on Friday its schedule of two additional non-division matchups for each of its member schools.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey had the following to say about the scheduling decisions.

“We made every effort to create a schedule that is as competitive as possible and builds on the existing eight Conference games that had already been scheduled for 2020. This schedule is a one-year anomaly that we have developed under unique circumstances presented by the impact of COVID-19.”

Florida Gators fans now have games against the Arkansas Razorbacks in Gainesville and the Texas A&M Aggies in College Station to look forward to in addition to the LSU Tigers and Ole Miss Rebels, who had previously been scheduled. UF’s meetings with the latter two teams are set for back-to-back matchups on Oct. 10 and 17, respectively, while the dates for the latest inclusions have yet to be announced.

In a typical non-coronavirus season, SEC member schools play the other six teams in their division along with two non-divisional opponents and four out-of-conference games each year. The revised schedule pits each school against four non-divisional opponents in addition to the other six teams in its division — as opposed to two — with the second pair making up for two of the four lost non-conference matches.

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