Tag: Darren Rizzi

Falcons blow out Giants, eliminating Saints from playoff contention

The New Orleans Saints no longer have any possible route to the playoffs after the Falcons defeated the Giants. But that doesn’t mean they have nothing to play for:

The New Orleans Saints started the season on a hot streak. Dennis Allen’s decision to add Klint Kubiak felt like the missing piece for the Saints’ success. But fast forward to Week 16 and New Orleans has been eliminated from the playoff picture.

The Saints needed the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers to lose, followed by New Orleans winning against the Green Bay Packers.

Instead, the Falcons demolished the New York Giants with a 34-7 win in Michael Penix Jr.’s debut, and in turn, eliminated the Saints from playoff contention. The outcome of the Buccaneers vs. Dallas Cowboys game is now irrelevant. The NFC South is officially a two-team race.

This is the fourth consecutive year the Saints have missed the playoffs. New Orleans has still yet to make the playoffs since Drew Brees retired. Instead, the Saints have been a bad team in a bad division.

With the playoffs officially off the table, what do the Saints have to play for? Darren Rizzi is still building his case to be the team’s head coach in 2025. A win against the Packers would be the best victory by this team in a couple of years and would certainly bolster Rizzi’s resume. Young players on the roster with a lot to prove like Spencer Rattler, Kendre Miller, Bryan Bresee and Kool-Aid McKinstry want a win on Monday night, too.

Don’t expect the Saints to quit and go home just because the playoffs are out of reach, but the last few years of results haven’t lined up with what general manager Mickey Loomis sold fans and ownership when he hired Allen. This team needs bigger changes.

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Saints planning for ‘a committee approach’ with Alvin Kamara on the mend

The New Orleans Saints are planning to use ‘a committee approach’ with Alvin Kamara on the mend, but expect a lot of Kendre Miller:

The New Orleans Saints are going into Week 16 without their top two rushing options. Taysom Hill is out for the season, and Alvin Kamara will miss at least this week with a groin injury.

So, how will the Saints approach the run game against the Green Bay Packers? Darren Rizzi told reporters this week to expect a “committee approach.”

New addition Clyde Edwards-Helaire wasn’t mentioned, and he will probably need more than a few days to pick up the playbook. For now he’s on the practice squad.

Kendre Miller leading the team in carries feels like the most likely scenario on Monday, but you’ll see Jamaal Williams and Jordan Mims as well.

“Between Kendre, Jamaal and Jordan Mims, you’ll see all of those guys, at some point, in the offensive backfield,” Rizzi added.

Miller has been Kamara’s running mate and second in the pecking order since returning from injury. His quick ascension over Williams would make one believe the young rusher will be the leader in the committee approach.

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Rookie Saints draft pick suffered injury setback

New Orleans Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi said Saturday that rookie wide receiver Bub Means suffered an injury setback, likely ending his season:

This isn’t the news Bub Means was hoping for. On Saturday, New Orleans Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi told reporters that Means had suffered a setback in practice and would likely revert to injured reserve, ending his season.

Means suffered an ankle injury earlier this season that put him on IR for several weeks; when he was cleared to return to practice, he was only able to work on a limited basis for a few days before sitting out again. Now his year is likely over with his 21-day practice window coming to a close.

It’s a disappointing turn, but these things happen in the NFL. Means is a young player and it’s important he get his body right and prepare for what should be a long career. The rookie from Pittsburgh totaled 9 receptions for 118 yards and a touchdown this season, appearing in seven games.
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Opinion: Saints should follow Falcons’ example and cut ties with Derek Carr

The Atlanta Falcons are expected to move on from Kirk Cousins, and the New Orleans Saints should consider following suit with Derek Carr:

The Atlanta Falcons are expected to release quarterback Kirk Cousins sometime between now and March after less than one full season starting on the team. This is because of a string of poor starts for the veteran quarterback, and ultimately a lack of true upside, which could hinder the team long-term if they were to retain his contract.

Many of the reasons the Falcons are moving on from Cousins sound like the same issues the New Orleans Saints are facing with Derek Carr. Large contracts with multiple years remaining that could hinder further team development, both have a .500 winning percentage this season when under center, both have a low upside compared to other options on the team, and both have been barely skating by in performances this season.

While the Saints do not have a first-round pick quarterback from the most recent draft class to turn to, they do have a high upside option in Spencer Rattler, as well as what could end up being a top ten draft pick in the 2025 NFL draft. To be clear, I am not a huge proponent of this quarterback draft class, but there are a few strong options that could develop into above average starters. The Saints have been stuck in their ways of trying to compete with an older roster for awhile now, and extending their veteran talents on enormous contracts. Now, most of those contracts look poor in hindsight outside Alvin Kamara and Demario Davis, and the Saints are still well below .500 on the season.

My belief is the Saints need to use their 2025 offseason to get Derek Carr off the roster, considering there is a potential out in his contract where the Saints would only be dealing with the one season of dead cap hit worth approximately $50 million, and build for the future instead. However, there is the option of making Derek Carr one of their June 1st designations where they would only go $10 million into the red instead of $50 million, which would be a significantly preferrable option. Odds are you are going to be dealing with a dead cap hit from other players anyways, including Ryan Ramczyk who is likely to retire at the current juncture.

Drafting a quarterback in 2025 and having them compete for the starting role with Spencer Rattler would likely be a good way to see what you have, and then build around one or the other for the future as the cap hits of the veterans clear up over time. This isn’t even a matter of “kicking the can down the road” anymore, it’s about finding financial flexibility to add youth to your roster and start finding ways to phase out some of the veterans who may want to leave or retire in the coming two to three seasons. Who knows what road the Saints will actually take, but if they are looking for a new head coach in 2025, giving them the chance to build from nearly scratch seems like a better offer than the current roster provides.

Saints enter a low-risk, high-reward matchup vs. Packers

Expectations are low against the Packers, but some Saints have a lot to gain in Week 16. Spencer Rattler and Darren Rizzi could make waves:

The back half of the New Orleans Saints’ season became an evaluation period from the moment Dennis Allen was fired. The two people under the microscope the most are Darren Rizzi and Spencer Rattler. As the Saints enter a night game at Lambeau Field, this is a low risk, high reward game for both men.

There aren’t any expectations for the Saints to beat the Green Bay Packers. Because of that, the pressure on both Rizzi and Rattler is low.

The expected result alleviates a lot of pressure off Rizzi’s shoulders. You still want to see the Saints show some good traits, but you’re not looking at the final score as critically. If the Saints are able to pull off the upset, this will be a huge feather in the cap of Rizzi as he builds his case to shed the interim tag.

At this point, every game is high reward, low risk for Rattler. It’s unlikely for Rattler to be benched in favor of Jake Haener. All the Rattler needs to show is potential. If he can show enough potential, there is a shot he can be the starter next season for the new head coach.

Rattler’s weapons continue to dwindle. Alvin Kamara is likely out of the equation this week, which creates an opportunity for Kendre Miller to assert himself. Rattler will be attempting to do more with less, and the more he does, the more impressive it’ll be.

In general, we’re probably not judging the quarterback or head coach too harshly on Monday unless things go really bad.

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Darren Rizzi sees a ‘reenergized’ Cameron Jordan amid late-season hot sreak

Cameron Jordan’s production has soared in the past few weeks, and Darren Rizzi believes some changes have reenergized the defensive end:

One player that has stepped up his play in recent weeks is Cameron Jordan. Jordan didn’t have a good season last year and started this season slow as well. The defensive end even began to be phased out of the rotation.

Jordan has awoken over the last five weeks. He’s getting to the quarterback and making impact plays again. Darren Rizzi described Jordan as being “reenergized” during this hot streak.

But what changed? Why is one of the leaders of the New Orleans Saints suddenly improving and feeling reenergized in the middle of the season?

The Saints changed philosophically when they changed head coaches. Rizzi moved position coaches around, too, putting longtime pass-rush specialist Brian Young in a more prominent role working with the entire defensive line, instead of Todd Grantham.

Jordan received one of the biggest direct impacts from the changes. Instead of being phased out of the rotation, Jordan has returned to being a critical piece. Pro Football Focus charting has credited him with 26 pressures this season and 15 of them have come in the five games since Rizzi took over and charged Young with livening up the defensive line, including Jordan.

Rizzi points to playing time and style of play as reasons for this improvement from Jordan: “I think the fact he has more opportunity to play, number one. We made the change and tried to simplify things up front these last five games.”

Rizzi also mentioned the way the Saints are practicing as a benefit to Jordan as well. There have been many changes in New Orleans since Rizzi has taken over and many of them have benefitted Jordan.

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Darren Rizzi ‘really impressed’ by Spencer Rattler’s final drive vs. Commanders

Saints coach Darren Rizzi was “really impressed” with how well Spencer Rattler handled the two-minute drive to close out Week 15’s game with the Commanders:

When Spencer Rattler stepped in for Jake Haener against the Washington Commanders, he led four consecutive scoring drives. Darren Rizzi’s explanation for inserting Rattler into the game was the New Orleans Saints needed a spark. Mission accomplished.

One of the more impressive things about Rattler’s game is how he performed in crunch time. Rattler returns to the starting lineup until Derek Carr is healthy enough to play, if that happens in 2024. The rookie will need to take some of the positives from end of Week 15 and carry them throughout the game.

Rizzi walked away from the final drive of the game impressed by some of the intangibles the rookie quarterback displayed.

Rizzi highlighted some of the impressive parts of Rattler’s final drive, including “the way he operated that that final drive, the way we managed the drive, managed the clock, understood the situation,” as well as that, “We got the ball clocked there to allow us to have one final play in regulation.”

What impressed Rizzi the most was Rattler handled the situation with great poise despite being in just his fourth professional game.

We’ve seen one rookie this year not handle a late fourth quarter drive with such calmness and efficiency. This is a good starting point and shows Rattler can handle himself when the pressure is on.

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Darren Rizzi says Saints were high on Clyde Edwards-Helaire in 2020 draft

The New Orleans Saints have had their eye on Clyde Edwards-Helaire for a while, and they finally had the chance to bring him in:

The New Orleans Saints jumped at the opportunity to add Clyde Edwards-Helaire to the practice squad, head coach Darren Rizzi says their interest goes back years.

In speaking to the press about their recent running back addition, Rizzi spoke of the Saints’ thoughts on him coming out of college and says the signing had nothing to do with Alvin Kamara’s injury.

“I loved him when he was back at LSU,” Rizzi said. “Studied him a lot coming out. He was high on our draft boards. Just always kind of kept an eye on him. We had the opportunity, when they waived him, to get him on the practice squad. I know it looks like very coincidental with Alvin, it really had nothing to do with that. We just wanted to get the player in the building.”

Edwards-Helaire was a local legend in college, playing a large role in the dream 2019 season for the LSU Tigers. He had 1,867 yards and 17 touchdowns from scrimmage that year, getting the job done in every phase.

New Orleans never really had a chance to draft the small running back. The Kansas City Chiefs took him at the end of the first round. Those are very big expectations for a back and Edwards-Helaire never really met them.

He battled injuries and inconsistencies for the Chiefs, but did have some flashes of what he showed in college. Perhaps a new environment and offense could lead to him finally breaking out.

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Changes at defensive line coach paying off for Saints’ stars

The move to Brian Young as Saints defensive line coach has produced an uptick in Bryan Bresee, Cameron Jordan and Chase Young’s performance:

The changes at head coach and defensive line coach have been the most impactful changes of the New Orleans Saints’ season.

Switching from Dennis Allen to Darren Rizzi gave the team a needed shift in mentality and energy. One of the biggest moves Rizzi made was making the shift from Todd Grantham to Brian Young as the defensive line coach.

Since Young has taken over, the stars of the unit have blossomed in the pass rush. 10 sacks are in reach for Bryan Bresee. Cameron Jordan is making plays again. Chase Young is putting together consistent performances.

We look at the last two games, but you can trace the bump in consistency to the moment Brian Young took over, and Jordan and Chase Young have been the biggest benefactors.

Chase Young had sacks in back to back games after the coaching switch, only time this year. He later delivered a multi-sack game as well. Jordan’s first sack of the season came in Brian Young’s first game as defensive line coach.

While this may all feel coincidental, Jordan credited the coaching change for the Saints’ strong performance on the defensive line. This came on the heels of sacking Jayden Daniels eight times.

It’s not a coincidence. The Saints just have the right man leading the unit.

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Why didn’t Saints dress out veteran DL after activating him from injury?

Why wasn’t Tanoh Kpassagnon available against the Washington Commanders after being activated from the PUP list? Darren Rizzi has answers:

The New Orleans Saints defensive line had an outstanding day against the Washington Commanders in Week 15, putting together an 8-sack performance with 25 pressures as well. With that said, they did so without the aid of Tanoh Kpassagnon, who is recovering from his torn Achilles and has been making strides in practice, getting ever closer to playing once again.

However, despite practicing fully leading up to this game, he was not active, and interim head coach Darren Rizzi shared some context as to why, telling reporters afterwards that it was more about the game plan than Kpassagnon’s health. He says the veteran defensive lineman is ready to play.

Clearly the gameplan was correctly set up, as the pass rush was enormously successful. Getting depth back along the defensive line is always a bonus however, especially a veteran who knows what he’s doing. Kpassagnon has 3.0 sacks in 3 games against the Green Bay Packers (the next Saints opponent), so we will see if he gets included for the Week 16 game instead.

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