Tag: breakout

2023 midseason awards: Saints MVP, Comeback Player of the Year (so far)

2023 Saints midseason awards: Our picks for Team MVP, Most Improved, and Comeback Player of the Year (so far):

The New Orleans Saints are on bye this week, so it’s a good opportunity to take a look back at the first half of their season — well, the first 10 games. Honestly we’re past the midpoint on their schedule, but there are still seven games left to play (plus the postseason, hopefully), and the bye week is a great time to practice a little retrospection.

With that in mind, here are our staff picks for the Saints’ 2023 midseason awards:

  • Most Valuable Player
  • Breakout Player of the Year
  • Most Improved Player
  • Comeback Player of the Year
  • Rookie of the Year.

Packers WR Romeo Doubs building up breakout potential to start preseason

Packers WR Romeo Doubs has been a standout to start the preseason, supporting his status as a true breakout candidate in 2023.

Through two preseason games, Green Bay Packers receiver Romeo Doubs has done nothing to hurt his status as a top breakout candidate for Matt LaFleur’s team in 2023. In fact, Doubs has provided even more evidence of his breakout potential through two games.

The sample size is, of course, small. Doubs has played all of 19 snaps in games against the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots.

But the numbers are worth considering as the regular season approaches. Doubs has caught all four of his targets, including three contested targets, and Jordan Love has a perfect 158.3 passer rating when targeting him.

Love’s stats through two preseason games:

— 4 targets
— 4 catches
— 3/3 contested catches
— 1 TD, 3 first downs
— 18.3 yards/catch
— 3.84 yards/route run
— 158.3 passer rating when targeted

Doubs caught two more passes over three series during Saturday’s preseason showdown with the Patriots. LaFleur described both as “big-time catches,” including an impressive snag in traffic to convert 3rd-and-7.

Here are all four of Doubs’ targets and catches this preseason:

PFF predicts breakout season in 2023 for these 3 Packers

Pro Football Focus envisions breakout seasons from Christian Watson, Josh Myers and Devonte Wyatt in 2023.

Pro Football Focus believes a trio of Green Bay Packers players on are about to craft a breakout season in 2023.

Wide receiver Christian Watson, center Josh Myers and defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt all made PFF’s “All-Breakout Team” for 2023.

Here’s a quick look at what PFF said, our take on the picks and what a breakout season would mean for the three players:

Peter Schrager makes bold choice for Chiefs’ breakout wide receiver

Good Morning Football’s Peter Schrager is buying the hype behind #Chiefs’ second-year wide receiver Justyn Ross.

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Kansas City Chiefs WR Justyn Ross has an unstoppable train of hype surrounding him this offseason. It’s so prevalent within Chiefs Kingdom, that his name is now picking up steam at the national media level.

Good Morning Football’s Peter Schrager recently revealed his top-5 breakout wide receiver candidates for the 2023 NFL season. Ross came in at No. 5 on his list.

“Number five is Justyn Ross,” Schrager said. “I’ve got practice footage of No. 8 Justyn Ross making a play. Ross was an undrafted free agent out of the University of Clemson a couple of years ago. He had the injury and yet everyone has spoken about Justyn Ross for two years in Kansas City circles. Like, ‘Just wait until we get Ross on the field.’ This was the one play you saw last week and it was from the Chiefs’ (Twitter) account and you were like, ‘Ah! He’s coming! It’s Justyn Ross time.'”

The aforementioned practice footage shows Ross beating second-year CB Nazeeh Johnson on a deep route in team drills. There seems to be a good blend of internal excitement from the team and hype for the fans with Ross — who spent last season on injured reserve following surgery to repair a foot injury after signing with K.C. as an undrafted free agent.

There’s some legitimate concern about his ability to stay healthy and on the field long-term. However, should he stay on the field, opportunity is an area that Schrager thinks could benefit Ross.

“When you look at this roster at the wide receiver position, they lost JuJu (Smith-Schuster), they lost (Mecole) Hardman. In years past they lost other players,” Schrager said. “Who is going to step up? (Marquez) Valdes-Scantling was the guy against the Bengals. (Kadarius) Toney was awesome in the Super Bowl. (Justin) Watson, we know his name. You’ve got the second-round pick (Rashee) Rice. You got (Skyy) Moore last year. Richie James from the Giants. Justyn Ross just might be a guy to watch.”

At the same time, he recognized just how bold this claim is. Ross is a virtual unknown in the NFL, which would make a breakout all the more exciting.

“He’s never played in an NFL regular season game,” Schrager said. “He was not drafted. When you talk about breakout players, guys who are not getting buzz nationally, but may be getting buzz locally. And (they) could be a player like, ‘Where did this guy come from?’ Justyn Ross.”

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PFF picks Rashid Shaheed as an early Saints breakout candidate for 2023

Pro Football Focus picked Rashid Shaheed as an early Saints breakout candidate for 2023. The former undrafted free agent has a big encore ahead of him:

It didn’t take long for Rashid Shaheed to earn his place in the New Orleans Saints receiving corps — once his coaches let him get out on the field, anyway. Rasheed played at least 43% of the team’s snaps starting in Week 11 last season and seemed to make impressive catches more of a routine. He was the team’s biggest source of big plays, and those efforts in 2022 are enough to have Pro Football Focus analyst Sam Monson picking Shaheed as an early breakout candidate for 2023:

“Andy Dalton played quite well this season, but a true high-end quarterback would unlock something special in Rashid Shaheed based on the play we saw from him this season.

Shaheed led the Saints in yards per route run this season (2.59) and had 12 explosive plays from just 34 targets and four carries.”

Shaheed is one of six receivers under contract for 2023 along with Chris Olave, Tre’Quan Smith, Kirk Merritt, and Kawaan Baker, plus Michael Thomas, who is likely to be released with a post-June 1 salary cap designation this offseason. That leaves little competition for him over the summer and a big role to play in the team’s aerial attack this fall. He doesn’t exactly stand out from the pack at a listed 6-foot-flat and 181 pounds, but he hasn’t let those size limitations keep him from making plays.

And that’s bad news for New Orleans’ opponents if Shaheed can build off of his 2022 success. He wasn’t just an effective weapon on shot plays. He converted a first down on 18 of his 28 receptions as a rookie and caught 82.4% of the passes thrown his way. By the end of the season he had earned his quarterback’s trust as a surehanded possession receiver on critical downs. Let’s see if his encore performance can live up to the hype.

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What would a breakout season for Chiefs LB Willie Gay Jr. look like in 2021?

#Chiefs LB Willie Gay Jr. could be poised for a breakout season, but what exactly will that look like?

Kansas City Chiefs fans have long sought improvements at the linebacker position even before Derrick Johnson left the franchise in 2018.

For whatever reason, finding consistency at the position has been a struggle for Kansas City over recent years. When the team added LB Willie Gay Jr. in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft, there was a lot of optimism that the tides had shifted for the team. He had a standout offseason despite minimal on-field opportunities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rookie ultimately wouldn’t beat out Damien Wilson, the incumbent starter at the SAM linebacker spot in base and the BUCK linebacker spot in sub-packages. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the coaching staff would give the veteran the benefit of the doubt after the team’s first Super Bowl win in 50 seasons. But this upcoming season, it’s a whole different story for Gay.

All signs point to the second-year linebacker getting an opportunity to start alongside Anthony Hitchens in base and sub-packages. Despite late-season injuries, Gay finished his rookie season strong, contributing on defense and special teams. He recorded 39 total tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, three passes defended and one forced fumble on the year.

What would a breakout season actually look like for the Chiefs’ young linebacker? First, he’ll need more opportunity in the way of snaps. Despite appearing in all 16 regular-season games in 2020, starting in eight of them, Gay only played 25% of the Chiefs’ total defensive snaps on the year. Compare that against Wilson, who played nearly 50% of the defensive snaps for Kansas City in 2020 and nearly 65% during the Super Bowl-winning 2019 season.

Beyond the snaps, obviously, the production needs to match for Gay’s year to be considered a breakout. Would matching Wilson’s best season in Kansas City qualify as a breakout? Probably not. Would a 100-tackle season get the job done? It’d be a start considering only 42 players in the NFL had 100 or more combined tackles last season. A good baseline might be what Chargers rookie Kenneth Murray was able to accomplish in 2020.

Last season, Murray posted 107 combined tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack and three passes defended. He did so while starting all 16 games for Los Angeles. If Gay can match or exceed those numbers in his second year, he’ll be looking good.

Gay also needs to pass the eye test if he’s to notch what is considered a breakout season. One of the most glaring deficiencies in Kansas City has been a lack of speed and coverage ability at the linebacker position. He needs to play fast, make big hits and cover ground in the passing game if he’s to pass the eye test.

We know that Gay’s goal for this offseason is to improve little by little each and every day. Unlike his rookie season, he’s mastered the playbook and knows his assignments. Now he can really focus on improving his technique, which will go a long way toward helping his breakout in 2021.

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Chiefs CB Charvarius Ward lands on Touchdown Wire’s All-Breakout team

Ward is due to breakout during the 2020 season according to Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar.

Kansas City Chiefs CB Charvarius Ward had a miniature breakout season in 2019, his first season as a starter. He’ll have more attention than ever before as a starter in 2020, with counterpart Bashaud Breeland suspended for the first four games to start the season. Ward will be asked to step up and shut down the best receivers on every team.

Our friend Doug Farrar at Touchdown Wire believes that Ward is capable of accomplishing that. In a recent article naming defensive breakout candidates for the 2020 season, Farrar identified Ward as someone on the Chiefs’ defense due for a breakout. Here’s what he had to say about Ward:

“In late August of 2018, the Cowboys traded Ward, an undrafted rookie out of Middle Tennessee State, for offensive lineman Parker Ehinger. Ehinger never played a snap for Dallas before moving on to Baltimore in 2019, where he played 54 snaps in 2019. Meanwhile, Ward found a rotational role in Bob Sutton’s underwhelming Chiefs defense in 2018 before finding religion under Steve Spagnuolo in 2019. Last season, Ward allowed just 48 catches on 100 targets for 796 yards, 249 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, two interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 73.6. A long, angular, feisty defender, Ward had a couple of rocky games last season, but was on point for the most part, and he’s a developing cornerback with “island” potential.”

One thing that Farrar fails to mention in his analysis, Ward can finally see and not in a metaphorical sense either. Ward had offseason LASIK surgery following Super Bowl LIV. He previously experienced both far-sightedness and near-sightedness. He had headaches and occasionally went cross-eyed. To say it was problematic and impacted his game might be an understatement, but he refused to use that as an excuse. But now his vision is as close to perfect as it has ever been.

“I finally can see,” Ward told Kansas City Star reporter Sam Mellinger in July. “First time being able to really see good.”

Now that Ward has the eyesight to complement his natural abilities his reaction time might improve. He might be able to turn a few of those 10 passes defended from the 2019 season into interceptions. His goal as he told Mellinger is to “intercept everything.”

He has the ability and opportunity to turn 2020 into his best season yet, he just has to go out there and get it done.

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Transfer linebacker Brenton Cox Jr. a breakout candidate in 2020

The Athletic ranked the top-10 breakout candidates for the 2020 football season and OLB transfer from UGA Brenton Cox Jr. was listed @ No. 3

In a list from The Athletic ranking the top-10 breakout candidates for the 2020 football season, Florida outside linebacker and Georgia transfer Brenton Cox Jr. was listed as the No. 3 player.

Cox Jr., a former five-star recruit, appeared in 13 games for UGA in 2018 before transferring to UF halfway through the 2019 season. He’s yet to make an appearance in the orange and blue, but he’s expected to contribute in 2020.

The Athletic article, which ranked former blue-chips who have yet to make a significant impact at the college level, said that Cox Jr. should stand out immediately on Florida’s defense.

Here’s the full segment about him.

Recruiting ranking: No. 23 overall, Class of 2018

Here’s another member of Georgia’s No. 1 ranked 2018 recruiting class who’s finally poised for a breakthrough. Cox left the program last August following a spring marijuana arrest and multiple clashes with the Bulldogs’ coaching staff in his first year in the program. The five-star had flashed his potential by the end of his freshman season there, starting in the Sugar Bowl loss to Texas and recording six stops. But his stint there lasted just 13 games. Cox put his name in the transfer portal at the start of preseason camp. One week later, he joined their rival.

Cox was not granted a waiver for immediate eligibility last fall. Florida coach Dan Mullen says he’d still like some transparency on why that was denied. He’s proud of how Cox handled his redshirt season on the scout team.

“He did nothing but work,” Mullen told reporters.

The Gators’ staff has high hopes for Cox and has been impressed by the 6-foot-4, 247-pound pass rusher’s versatility. He could fit right in as Jonathan Greenard’s replacement at the Buck position and can also line up in a few other spots. Florida has depth and talent up front, but Cox offers serious athleticism and upside. He should stand out right away. Between Cox, running back Lorenzo Lingard and receiver Justin Shorter, the Gators have added three transfers to the roster who were once top-100 prospects. We’ll see if a change in scenery is just what they needed to bounce back.

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Locked on Longhorns: Bijan Robinson and Big 12 Scheduling

The Locked on Longhorns podcast features a discussion about the upcoming Big 12 scheduling plus is Bijan Robinson poised to breakout in 2020?

After weeks of speculation the Big 12 Conference finally announced they would be going with a 10-game model. It would feature nine conference games with just one nonconference matchup at the home stadium of the corresponding Big 12 school. Who will Texas play? How will the schedule likely play out? Plus we provide an update on the Texas-Oklahoma game and Big 12 Championship. Athletic director Chris Del Conte provided an update stating the LSU game will be made up in the future.

The Longhorns finished the 2020 recruiting cycle with yet another top 10 class according to 247Sports composite rankings. Their top prospect Bijan Robinson ranked among the top 15 recruits in the nation. He was recently highlighted as a potential breakout candidate for the Longhorns. One person who was monumental in his recruitment was running backs coach Stan Drayton. Can he turn Robinson into a household name? 247Sports also put together their top 20 underrated defenses in the league with Texas making the list.

Arizona transfer linebacker Tony Fields II is set to visit Texas as he narrows down his list. According to Anwar Richardson of Rivals, Fields is looking at Texas, West Virginia and Minnesota. The Longhorns are also making a strong push to secure a commitment from four-star running back L.J. Johnson who is trending towards Texas A&M at this point in the process. Plus we discuss Sam Ehlinger as he has caught the eye of the decision makers for the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

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ESPN’s Top 2019 Texas recruit poised for a breakout: Jordan Whittington

In a recent article, ESPN named second-year wide receiver Jordan Whittington as their top recruit to breakout for the Texas Longhorns.

When it comes to a breakout season in 2020 for the Texas Longhorns they have plenty of options. When you narrow that down to top 2019 recruits poised for a breakout, it significantly narrows that list and removes a player like linebacker Joseph Ossai. The list for 2019 could include wide receiver Jake Smith who finished tied for second on the team in receiving touchdowns. Another name for the future could be another top Arizona product in tight end Brayden Liebrock.

On the defensive side of the ball you could throw in Chris Adimora. He is likely taking over the nickel cornerback role in 2020 due to the level of his play expected and the fact that incumbent started Anthony Cook has left the program. We listed him as one of the guys who could take that role in a recent article on the next man up at nickel.

ESPN recently wrote about which top recruits from 2019 would have a breakout in their second year. For the Longhorns that player is running back turned wide receiver, Jordan Whittington.

Writer Tom VanHaaren says about Whittington:

Whittington was a four-star prospect in 2019 who originally came to Texas as a running back. He converted to wide receiver, but re-aggravated a groin injury and missed all but one game of the season.

Whittington is back to 100 percent now and is in position to help the Texas offense in a big way. He is versatile and gives the Longhorns another option as an H receiver to go along with Jake Smith. With those two on the inside and Whittington having big-play ability, he should be able to make a big impact this season.

Given the lack of experience at the position outside of newcomer Tarik Black and Brennan Eagles, they will need someone in that position group to take the next step. As of late, ESPN has been pinpointing to Whittington as a key cog in the offense for 2020. He was also named their breakout star earlier this offseason.