Tag: Conor Orr

Defense has Vikings in top 5 of NFL analyst’s latest power rankings

Thanks to a sweltering defense led by defensive coordinator Brian Flores, the Minnesota Vikings have entered the top 5 of new power rankings

It’s not a stretch to say not many — maybe no one — saw a 3-0 start to the season coming for the Minnesota Vikings. Many could have predicted an opening-week victory over the New York Giants. But if you had told someone that the Vikings would go on to defeat the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans back-to-back, they likely would have laughed at you.

The Vikings’ hot start to the season has a lot to do with another unexpected aspect of the season: high-quality play from quarterback Sam Darnold. Darnold has come in and taken to head coach Kevin O’Connell’s offense quickly and, in turn, has experienced some of the most success he’s seen in his career.

How well the defense is performing shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has worked wonders with this team’s defense and has them becoming the bane of offensive coordinator’s existence. While their performance may not be surprising, just how good they’re playing shouldn’t be taken for granted.

That defensive performance has the Vikings breaking into the top 5 of the latest power rankings from Sports Illustrated’s NFL analyst Conor Orr. Orr has a glowing review of Flores and what he’s doing with the 2024 Minnesota Vikings defense, saying:

What has been masterful about Brian Flores’s defensive performances to me is that, like some of the other Bill Belichick disciples who have left New England only to commit the same sins—loading up on former Patriots, paying them big money and trying to run the same defense—Flores has loaded up on former Dolphins and Patriots. However, he has taken those players and plugged them into a whirlwind defensively that is zigging while the rest of the NFL is sitting in Cover 2 and praying for no big plays (sorry gang, Andy Dalton is back and that’s not gonna happen). While it’s harder to maintain a great offense than a great defense, and at some point the referees and the league will step in to goose scoring, we need to take note of how wonderful and maddening this defense has been over the course of three games.

Two former Dolphins — edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel and linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill — were instrumental in the Vikings’ upset victory over the Texans on Saturday. Van Ginkel, the Vikings’ leading tackler on the day, was all over the field for the Vikings’ defense, making tackles at every level, including getting one sack on Texans’ quarterback C.J. Stroud.

Grugier-Hill stepped in on short notice to fill in for an injured Ivan Pace, Jr. and made several key plays for the defense. In the first quarter, Grugier-Hill came down with a huge interception after defensive tackle Harrison Phillips tipped the Stroud pass, ending Stroud’s NFL-leading consecutive passes without an interception streak.

It was a dominating performance all around, and that has been the case all season long for the Vikings, as it was to close out the season in 2023. The Vikings defense kept Minnesota in a number of games that they probably had no right being in, and kept the team in the playoff race for far longer than they should have been given the injuries and offensive struggles they experienced.

Now that the offense has at least somewhat caught up to the defense, the Vikings could be a dangerous team from now on.

Sports Illustrated offers high praise for Vikings LB

Another media outlet has recognized Minnesota Vikings linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. as the team’s most underrated player. This time it’s SI.

Just over a month ago, the team at PFF took a look at the NFL and named each team’s most underrated player. For the Minnesota Vikings, they landed on linebacker Ivan Pace Jr.

They’re not alone in thinking Pace is the most underrated player on the Vikings roster. This time, it’s Sports Illustrated senior writer Conor Orr. Orr looked at each team in the league and broke it up by conference. For the NFC, when he got to the Vikings, the choice was clear. Pace’s story is phenomenal, and he’s an exceptional player who has only just begun to scratch the surface of the player he can be. In Orr’s own words:

There is raw talent and there is supernatural instinct, the latter of which Pace seems to major in. Despite coming into the season at the bottom of the pecking order in a notoriously amoebic Brian Flores defense, Pace ended up not only being as good a blitzer as he was in college but a true off-ball linebacker who could handle just about any situation. Pace was up on the line of scrimmage for about 10% of his rookie-year snaps, which can help Minnesota diversify a tough unit even more in 2024. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him as part of the next generation of foundational leaders for this unit, which is being turned over under the Kwesi Adofo-Mensah regime.

Pace was a nice surprise story for the 2023 Vikings after entering the league as an undrafted free agent. In 2024, the team and Brian Flores will need Pace to expand upon that success. Flores’ scheme plays to Pace’s strengths, and Flores will be counting on that to continue building a defense that was much improved in 2023 but still has a lot of room to grow.

Sports Illustrated predicts another losing record for the Saints in 2023

After nailing their Saints record prediction in 2022, Sports Illustrated forecasts another losing record for New Orleans in 2023:

That’s not ideal: after nailing their New Orleans Saints record prediction in 2022, Sports Illustrated forecasts another losing record for the Saints in 2023. SI’s Conor Orr is skeptical about Derek Carr’s ability to elevate a Saints offense that he believes is short on playmakers.

Combine that perceived lack of firepower with an aging defense leaning on too many cornerstones on the wrong side of 30, and Orr is predicting the Saints to repeat with the same 7-10 record that they experienced last year. Here’s his explanation:

“Most of New Orleans’s first five games feel perilous. Traveling to Carolina and New England may look like easy games to tick off in the win column, but this is a very veteran unit. A lot of the Saints’ early opponents are younger, faster and match up well with what the Saints do best defensively. I think if they are able to capably adopt a Jon Gruden–lite offense, Derek Carr can spread the ball around to his talented wide receiver corps, but their offseason behavior, like kicking the tires on Jimmy Graham again, suggest they are still hungry for playmakers. Carr had Davante Adams a year ago and the Raiders still struggled mightily.”

It’s worth noting that Orr correctly guessed the Saints’ finish last season. In particular, he pointed to a seven-week stretch in the middle of New Orleans’ schedule as a hazardous zone that could sink their season, and the Saints went 2-5. One of their few wins at that time was a shutout against the Las Vegas Raiders, quarterbacked by — you guessed it — Carr, their new starter.

And a 7-10 finish wouldn’t be good enough to get the Saints into the playoffs in Orr’s simulation. He has the Atlanta Falcons winning the division with an 8-9 record, just like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did last year (who are currently capsizing to a 2-15 catastrophe in his preseason picks), pointing to their influx of talent and the second-year growth of young quarterback Desmond Ridder as causes for optimism. The Carolina Panthers have been a trendy pick but Orr predicts them to trail the Saints with a 7-10 tally and worse record in the division.

So maybe Orr is guessing correctly yet again. Or maybe he isn’t giving the Saints enough credit for surrounding Carr with weapons. Their offense was a disaster last year, but they’ve taken pains to bring him help like running backs Jamaal Williams and Kendre Miller, tight end Foster Moreau (and Graham, who figures to play a bit part at best), and young receivers like A.T. Perry. At the same time, there’s clearly room for more pass-catchers on the depth chart. Adding an accomplished veteran to the mix would be worthwhile. But it might be too late in the offseason to pull off that kind of acquisition.

What would a 7-10 record mean for New Orleans? It would have to be the end of the line for Dennis Allen. The Saints hired him as their head coach citing his ability to keep their talented core together and remain a regular playoff contender. That’s a tough sell for someone who had a career record of 8-28 with the Raiders when they hired him. After another 7-10 season he’d have an all-time record of 22-48. Four head coaches have worked 70 games in the NFL before being dismissed. One one of them, Bill McPeak (21-46-3), won fewer games than Allen would have upon reaching his 70th game.

Through two years he would have two losing records, zero playoff berths, and the losses of veteran starters like Marcus Williams, Terron Armstead, David Onyemata, and Marcus Davenport to show for it. Allen doesn’t need to win a Super Bowl to keep his job, but the Saints can’t run it back with him a third time if these are the results he’s getting.

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Conor Orr predicts Russell Wilson won’t start majority of Broncos’ games in 2023

Conor Orr has predicted that Russell Wilson won’t start a majority of Broncos games this season.

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Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated recently published a list of 100 bold predictions for the 2023 season and his prediction for the Denver Broncos might raise some eyebrows.

Orr has predicted that quarterback Russell Wilson will not start the majority of Broncos’ games under center in 2023. That’s right, Orr is predicting a majority of Denver’s games (at least nine) will feature a starting QB not named Russell Wilson.

Here is Orr’s reasoning:

Why? Sean Payton is particular. He’s the head chef, and, while the quarterback is an integral part of making up his game plan, if you’re not running the plays as designed, he’s going to find someone who will. Jarrett Stidham, fresh off a solid end-of-season run with the Raiders, looks to be a kind of Payton muse while the coach formulates the real, long-term solution that he likely spent this entire offseason plotting.

Payton did say earlier this offseason that the team views Stidham as a promising young quarterback who could develop into a starter in the NFL.

Orr also predicted that Denver running back Samaje Perine will have a big season in fantasy football, particularly in PPR formats. Take note, fantasy football managers.

To view all of Orr’s predictions for the 2023 season, click here.

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Where do the Commanders fit in SI’s 100 predictions for the 2023 season?

What are some bold predictions for the Commanders in 2023?

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So, if you had to make 100 predictions, 100 days prior to the start of the 2023 NFL season, what do you think you would predict?

Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated took to the task last week and listed his top 100 predictions for the 2023 NFL season.

Before we get to the Commanders, here are five of Orr’s predictions. 1) Bengals and 49ers in the Super Bowl, 2) Offensive Rookie of the Year will be Anthony Richardson,  3) Colts’ Shane Steichen will win the Coach of the Year award, 4) Christian McCaffrey will surpass 20 rushing touchdowns, 5) Kyler Murray will play fewer than seven games this season, and it will be his last year in Arizona.

Where did the Commanders fit into his 100 NFL predictions for 2023? Well, mostly not favorably, with a couple of exceptions. So, in the interest of Commanders fans, here is what Orr predicted for the Commanders in 2023.

Orr stated initially, he thought of predicting “two teams that I absolutely don’t want to see there” (Super Bowl), so he suggested the Commanders and the Browns.

At No. 32, Orr predicts, “Chase Young will not finish the season as a member of the Commanders“.  He pointed to Young not doing anything since his rookie season and how the Commanders did not offer him the fifth-year option. He then takes a jab at the organization, stating, “Leaving the Commanders is a bit like getting out of the dentist’s office. Your whole perception on life changes.”

Some good news for the Commanders comes in at No. 60 when he predicts, “Commanders rookie Emmanuel Forbes will have multiple pick-sixes.” He explains his prediction:

Forbes is so fast off the line of scrimmage and despite his slender frame will be ideal at picking off bubble screens and other quick throws. The No. 16 pick has explosive speed (4.35 in the 40 at the combine) and—bonus prediction—on one of those pick-sixes he will become the fastest ballcarrier of the year in terms of miles per hour (tracked by NFL Next Gen Stats).

Orr gives the Commanders offense some good vibes at No. 95 when he predicts, “Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. will rush for more than 1,100 yards and seven touchdowns.”

Robinson, who was a third-round pick in 2022, played in 12 games after recovering from a gunshot wound before the start of his rookie season. He managed 797 yards and three total touchdowns.