Tag: competition

Newly-signed Saints LB Willie Gay will compete for a starting job in 2024

Willie Gay was signed to be more than the Saints’ third linebacker. Look for him to compete with Pete Werner for a starting job next to Demario Davis:

When Willie Gay signed with the New Orleans Saints, he spoke about not being judged from a limited snap count in his final season with the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a clear indication that he believed he would come in and compete for a starting job. Players always feel that way, but head coach Dennis Allen affirmed that on Tuesday morning when speaking with reporters at the NFC coaches breakfast during league ownership meetings in Orlando, Fla.

Don’t expect it to be Demario Davis being pushed out of the lineup; he’s shown his 35 years here and there but is consistently playing at a high level. It’s Pete Werner who fell off last season, particularly against the pass. He was picked on in games against the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams.

Still, those struggles shouldn’t have been enough for Werner to lose his job after having a strong first two seasons in the league but adding competition is a good response from Allen. Werner struggled in space, and his athleticism was exploited. Athleticism is Gay’s trademark. That attribute doesn’t guarantee him to be the better player, but it is something to watch.

Gay may end up being the Saints’ strongside linebacker. With the lack of depth at the position, that is the likely outcome if he loses the competition. We could also see a rotation at weakside linebacker with Werner and Gay or Werner could lose his starting job altogether. The true story is the Saints saw enough of a decline in Werner’s performance to bring in competition. We’ll see where it goes from here when training camp kicks off in August.

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30-year old Saints rookie Lou Hedley has won the Saints punter competition

30-year old rookie Lou Hedley has won the Saints punter competition

Now isn’t that something: the New Orleans Saints will be going in a new direction at punter this season, with 30-year-old rookie Lou Hedley named the starter ahead of third-year pro Blake Gillikin. NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill first reported that Hedley won the job, adding that the Saints are seeking to trade Gillikin if possible.

Hedley might be the most interesting man in the NFL. The former scaffolder hails from Australia and has pursued other ventures before trying his hand at pro football, including owning a tattoo shop in Indonesia. He sold his stake in the business to fund a move to America, where he eventually joined the Miami Hurricanes and put NFL scouts on notice.

He’ll soon be punting on Sundays. The Saints also made a change at kicker by going with Blake Grupe (another rookie) and trading Wil Lutz to the Denver Broncos, where he’s reunited with Sean Payton. Dennis Allen is putting his own specialists in place in a pivotal year for his coaching career.

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Chiefs DT Danny Shelton appreciates competition on defensive line

Kansas City Chiefs DT Danny Shelton appreciates the competition on the defensive line in practice. | from: @EdEastonJr

The battles for the Kansas City Chiefs’ final roster spots will be displayed this weekend as the team suits up for their last preseason game. The absence of all-pro defensive lineman Chris Jones has forced the defense to use various combinations up front, and the preseason finale could answer many questions moving forward.

Chiefs defensive tackle Danny Shelton was a former first-round selection who has bounced around the league since 2015. He played on the New England Patriots’ 2018 Super Bowl championship team and understood the importance of a motivated defensive unit. He spoke with reporters following Monday’s practice about the energy of the Chiefs’ defensive line.

“I just felt great being out there. Running with the guys. You know, we had a great group of guys, young guys, everybody’s competitive,” Shelton said. “I was telling Coach Cullen during training camp, I was impressed with just how everybody came prepared during training camp and just upped the competition level. So being out there, it was fun to compete with everybody.”

Shelton was on the Chiefs practice squad last season and hopes to be on the main roster this year. He wants to contribute on the field for a Super Bowl title.

Veteran OL signings are due to competition, not health-related, says Dennis Allen

The Saints signed multiple linemen, which Dennis Allen says is more about increased quality of competition than the health of Cesar Ruiz and Andrus Peat:

Many fans spent their summer imploring the New Orleans Saints to reinforce the depth chart along the offensive line, and they got their wish on Tuesday: The team announced that veteran guards Trai Turner and Max Garcia would be joining them for training camp.

Turner is a five-time Pro Bowler, while Garcia has logged thousands of snaps in the NFL with the Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals. They’ll be pushing backups Nick Saldiveri, Calvin Throckmorton, Lewis Kidd and Mark Evans II for snaps in the rotation behind starting guards Andrus Peat and Cesar Ruiz. That’s a lot of players competing for what may be just two or three spots on the 53-man roster in September, and these heightened stakes are exactly what head coach Dennis Allen sought.

“Again, I mean I sound like a broken record, we’re looking for anything we can add to our football team and make us better,” Allen said with a grin while fielding questions during his pre-training camp press conference, acknowledging that increased competition has been a priority. “We feel like having a lot of competition within the team kind of brings out the best in everybody. Depth, competition, those are all things that we’re looking for.”

When asked whether the recent injury issues for Peat and Ruiz played a part in the search for better interior line depth, Allen responded, “This is not a health-related signing. This is a signing where we felt like there is a veteran player that we can bring in, put into the mix, and then let’s see how the competition plays out.”

Injuries limited Peat to just 11 games last year, and he’s never played a full season in the NFL. After not missing a snap in 2021, Ruiz missed the final three weeks in 2022 after suffering a foot injury that required surgery. Both guards are expected to fully participate in training camp practices, but it doesn’t hurt to have more depth with real pro experience backing them up in case they get banged up again.

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8 players likely to make Saints’ 53-man roster

These eight players are likely to make the New Orleans Saints’ 53-man roster, but a strong training camp performance can seal the deal:

We’re days away from the start of New Orleans Saints training camp, and though dozens of players are locks to make the roster, there are still plenty of others who need a strong performance in practice to seal the deal for themselves.

Things are going to be different when it comes to roster cuts this year. In the past, the NFL has required a gradual series of cuts to the 90-man roster; this time, all teams must reduce their depth charts down from 90 players to just 53 in one day on Aug. 29. Here are eight players who positioned themselves well over the summer:

Chargers 2023 roster review: Kicker Cameron Dicker

Cameron Dicker will have to compete against Dustin Hopkins, but a fantastic 2022 season should put wind in his sail.

The 2023 season is just a month away, and with weeks of dead time during the quietest part of the NFL offseason, Chargers Wire is endeavoring to document each of Los Angeles’ players before the start of the team’s training camp.

Any player whose surname rhymes with their position on the gridiron is sure to be a hit with fans, and Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker is no exception.

Signed to the active roster in the middle of the season in 2022 after an injury to Dustin Hopkins, Dicker was a staple on the special teams.

Dicker had one of the best rookie seasons by a kicker in NFL history, earning AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for December and January and two Special Teams Player of the Week honors.

Additionally, he was an All-Rookie selection by the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA) after making 21-of-22 field goals (95.5%). The 95.5 field goal percentage was the best by a rookie kicker since the 1970 NFL-AFL Merger among players with at least 15 field goal attempts.

Dicker faces competition from Hopkins entering the new campaign, so nothing will be guaranteed for Dicker until he secures his spot on the Chargers’ depth chart.

Contract(2023): $870,000 base salary, no prorated bonus, $870,000 cap hit.

Acquired: The Chargers signed Dicker to a contract in November last season after he signed with Rams as an undrafted free agent following the 2022 NFL draft. He spent time with the Ravens and Eagles as a rookie before catching on with the Bolts.

Quote: Austin Ekeler’s reaction to Cameron Dicker’s walk-off kick against the Falcons in 2022:

“Thank God. I was just like, ‘OK, yes, we got ourselves back in the situation, like thank you.’ We’ve been through so many kickers, had like three game winners from all of them now I feel like. I’m hoping they can all stay healthy. Like let’s get this kicker thing situated but whoever is up, as long as you keep making them, that’s we want. They came through and Dicker did his job today, so we appreciate him for that.”

Highlight: 

Saints waive Alex Quevedo, thin out training camp kicker competition

The Saints waived second-year kicker Alex Quevedo, thin out the training camp competition brewing between Wil Lutz and Blake Grupe, via @DillySanders:

Earlier on Wednesday when the New Orleans Saints announced the signings of two new offensive players, they also announced that they were waiving former Central Oklahoma kicker Alex Quevedo. Quevedo was signed back in January to a reserve/future deal after trying out for the team last summer. The 90-man roster is now at full capacity and any additional pickups will require a corresponding move.

With Quevedo off the team, the Saints now only have two kickers left on the roster in Wil Lutz and Blake Grupe. Lutz has been the primary kicker since 2016. He had been a very reliable kicker for most of his career, but after coming back from an injury that kept him out for his entire 2021 season, he had a career worst year in 2022. Lutz completed just 74.2% of his kicks last season, he’d previously not gone below 82%. Now, it’s not time to kick him off the team just yet but having some alternatives on the roster makes sense to test the waters and push Lutz a little bit more.

Grupe, the former Notre Dame and Arkansas State kicker, made 211 out of 217 point-after attempts in his college career. He was less efficient on actual field goals, a career 74.3% kicker, but it will be interesting to see how he performs in camp. Lutz will still be the team’s kicker in 2023 in all likelihood unless Grupe can make a very impressive effort over the summer.

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Rookie Saints RB Kendre Miller eager to put pressure on Alvin Kamara

Kendre Miller isn’t letting up. The rookie Saints running back is eager to put pressure on Alvin Kamara in training camp just like he did Zach Evans at TCU:

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Competition is nothing new to Kendre Miller. He arrived at TCU as a three-star recruit from Mount Enterprise, a small Texas town of a couple hundred people sitting more than an hour’s drive away from Shreveport. Initially expected to back up Zach Evans, the five-star prospect who impressed everyone in the big city in Houston, Miller instead matched Evans stride for stride and after two years together Evans bowed out to enter the transfer portal.

Now the stakes are even higher. Having won the starting job at TCU, Miller now has sights set on winning the top spot with the New Orleans Saints. That’s easier said than done, but he’s confident he can supplant Alvin Kamara sooner rather than later.

“How they use (Kamara) is kind of unique, and watching film every day, we watch a bunch of clips of him,” Miller told John DeShazier for the team’s website. “How they use him in the pass game, that’s pretty cool. I feel like I can step in and pretty much do the same thing.”

Miller knows he’ll need to develop as an asset on passing downs to take Kamara’s spot — he says the Saints coaches have him putting in time with the Jugs machine and doing drills catching rapid-fire tennis balls, and he’s eager to work on refining his footwork once doctors give him the go-ahead. A meniscus injury knocked him out of TCU’s national championship bid, and the Saints aren’t taking any chances by rushing him back to action.

So this will certainly be a competition to watch closely in training camp. The Saints invested a lot of resources in upgrading their running backs depth chart this offseason by drafting Miller in the third round and signing Jamaal Williams to a sizable free agent contract. Kamara won’t be available for the start of camp while attending court dates in Las Vegas, and any league discipline that follows legal proceedings will only sideline him for more time and give Miller more opportunities.

There’s a real possibility that Kamara returns to a reduced role with Miller and Williams established as an already-solid one-two punch. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Words are one thing. Actions are another. Let’s see if Miller can back it up over the summer.

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NFL executive explains why Dolphins-Chiefs game was ideal choice for Germany

An NFL spokesman said the competitive nature of the #Chiefs – #Dolphins matchup factored into the decision to have it played in Germany. | from @TheJohnDillon

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Many Kansas City Chiefs fans looked forward to an Arrowhead Stadium homecoming for Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill in 2023. Their hopes were dashed when the NFL schedule release revealed the league’s decision to send both teams to Germany to play the league’s first international game in Frankfurt.

On a conference call held last week regarding scheduling decisions, the NFL’s vice president of broadcasting, Onnie Bose, made it clear that the competitive nature expected out of the matchup tipped the league’s scale in favor of sending the game to Germany.

“The strength of the Chiefs’ schedule, and how many strong teams are coming into Kansas City this year, it’s a testament and a real benefit to our international teams and the NFL Network that a game like that, as meaningful and as competitive as we expect it to be, can go and be the first game that we play in Frankfurt,” He explained. “It was part of just the opportunity to play that game, that will draw a good audience into that 9:30 A.M. window was there.

“We always have options, there [were] a few other teams that could’ve gone in there, and sure, the Tyreek Hill storyline is something, and we get that, but I think the opportunity to play a meaningful competitive game internationally is really valuable to us.”

Clearly, the league expects the Chiefs’ matchup against Miami to be a barnburner. As much as fans may have hoped to see Hill eat crow in Kansas City, the NFL is more focused on international appeal than offseason storylines in their decision-making relative to the 2023 schedule.

Still, the Chiefs can make Hill look silly on an international stage in the highly anticipated tilt. There is sure to be plenty of trash-talking between Hill and his former teammates ahead of the matchup. The team also should be expected to have extra motivation to win over fans in Germany, where they have been given marketing rights.

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4 Saints who could lose their starting jobs in 2023

Between new roster additions and second-year leaps from highly-drafted rookies, there are some Saints players who could lose their starting jobs in 2023:

The New Orleans Saints starting lineup is going to look different in 2023, and some players returning from the 2022 squad are going to be pushed down the depth chart. That’s not a bad thing for a 7-10 team, even if it means a reduced role for some fan-favorites on offense and defense.

Here’s a quick look at four areas that could see the most change over the summer (and no, we aren’t taking the low-hanging fruit by acknowledging Derek Carr is the unquestioned starter ahead of Jameis Winston):