Tag: Foster Moreau

WATCH: Taysom Hill catches 22-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr

WATCH: Taysom Hill catches 22-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr

The New Orleans Saints flipped the script in the first half of Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; quarterback Derek Carr threw multiple touchdown passes after failing to do so even once in their first meeting earlier this season.

And his second touchdown pass was quite a highlight. Carr threw a dart to quarterback/tight end Taysom Hill from 22 yards out, putting the ball where only Hill could get it. Hill jumped over Pro Bowl Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield. Jr. and spun into the end zone for the score.

The Saints made the tight ends a point of emphasis in the passing game, and they responded. Hill, Juwan Johnson, and Foster Moreau combined for 9 receptions, 113 yards, 7 first downs, and a pair of touchdown catches. This is the kind of production we expected from them after Carr worked so well with the group over the summer.

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Saints select Foster Moreau for Ed Block Courage Award

The New Orleans Saints recognized tight end Foster Moreau with the 2023 Ed Block Courage Award after he overcame Hodgkin’s lymphoma:

This is cool: The New Orleans Saints recognized tight end Foster Moreau as their recipient for the 2023 Ed Block Courage Award after he overcame Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This award, the Saints said in a statement, was “created in honor of the former head athletic trainer of the Baltimore Colts to annually recognize one player from every NFL team who best exemplifies a commitment to sportsmanship and courage.”

All 32 teams select a recipient for the award via vote, and Moreau was an easy fit. His perseverance in the face of adversity is inspiring. That he was able to overcome a battle with cancer and quickly return to the field is mighty impressive.

Moreau, 26, is a New Orleans native who starred at Jesuit High School before his four-year run with the LSU Tigers. He was teammates with Saints quarterback Derek Carr on the Raiders and teamed up with him again this season, catching 18 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown.

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Saints activate Jimmy Graham for his first game since Week 7

The New Orleans Saints activated veteran tight end Jimmy Graham for Sunday’s kickoff, the first game he’ll appear in since Week 7:

The New Orleans Saints activated veteran tight end Jimmy Graham for Sunday’s kickoff, the first game he’ll appear in since Week 7’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Can he make an impact against the Detroit Lions?

Graham returned to New Orleans with much fanfare at the start of training camp, but the vision of his reunion hasn’t lived up to the reality. Graham logged more snaps as a run blocker (73) than as a route-runner (61) through his first seven games back in black and gold.

And his role diminished further once Juwan Johnson returned from a calf injury early this season. Graham isn’t as fleet of foot as Johnson nor as effective a blocker as Foster Moreau, and there are few snaps to go around with Taysom Hill mixing in at tight end at times, too.

But injuries to the receiving corps have opened new opportunities for him. Starters Michael Thomas and Rashid Shaheed are both sidelined for Week 13 so the Saints could use Graham as a receiver in the slot or out wide. He’s only been thrown to twice this season but his lone catch gained 8 yards to score a touchdown. Let’s see what he has left in the tank.

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This 2024 NFL mock draft has the Saints adding Georgia playmaker Brock Bowers

This 2024 NFL mock draft has the Saints adding Georgia playmaker Brock Bowers, a gifted receiver who lines up at tight end:

We’re off and running into bowl season as the college football playoff tournament takes shape, and the New Orleans Saints were projected to pick one of the stars of the show in this mock draft: Georgia Bulldogs tight end Brock Bowers. The Saints went into Week 13 slotted in at the No. 12 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

Here’s why Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon says the Saints should add Bowers to their offense:

Slotting Bowers is difficult because he’s not a typical tight end. He’s more of a weapon in the mold of Kyle Pitts coming out, and all that athletic promise and collegiate accomplishment hasn’t yet paid first-round dividends on the No. 4 pick of the 2021 NFL draft. Bowers has a chance to go much higher than this, and the Saints can surely use a versatile, game-breaking target.

There’s no arguing with Bowers’ production. A receiving-first tight end, he’s caught 56, 63, and 51 passes in his three-year career at Georgia for yearly totals of 882, 942, and 661 passing yards. That’s remarkable consistently. He’s scored 31 combined touchdowns as a receiver (26) and runner (5), too, going into Saturday’s SEC Championship Game with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Saints have plenty of names at tight end between Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau (who both signed multiyear contracts this summer) with Jimmy Graham rounding out the group, but Derek Carr hasn’t gotten much out of them. Johnson has caught 18 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown in seven games; Moreau has totaled just 11 receptions for 115 yards and a score; and Graham’s lone catch this season was an 8-yard touchdown.

Talent at the position isn’t a problem. Johnson broke out last year with 42 catches for 508 yards and 7 touchdowns. Moreau peaked with 28 yards per game last season on the Raiders (with Carr throwing to him, mystifyingly) but he’s only beaten that number twice this year. Part-time quarterback Taysom Hill has more receptions (24) and yards (214) than the other tight ends.

It’s the play caller and quarterback. The Saints had to use their tight ends as blockers more heavily than expected early this year, but changes to the offensive line improved protection and freed them up to catch more passes; but Pete Carmichael isn’t scheming them many designed touches and Carr isn’t spreading the ball around. Chris Olave leads the team with 103 targets through 11 games. Alvin Kamara missed the first three games and still ranks third on the team with 61 targets. Carr must do a better job surveying the field, finding his open targets, and throwing them a catchable football. Or else we’ll be stuck here this time next year wondering why Bowers is underperforming, too.

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Pete Carmichael gave the people what they wanted in Saints’ offensive eruption

Play action, pre-snap motion, and red zone creativity. Pete Carmichael gave the people what they wanted in the Saints’ offensive eruption:

Play action, pre-snap motion, and red zone creativity. Pete Carmichael gave the people what they wanted in the New Orleans Saints’ Week 5 offensive eruption, putting the New England Patriots away handily 34-0. Fans and analysts covering the team saw everything they had asked for from Carmichael’s offense on the afternoon.

The Saints ramped up the use of pre-snap motion in Week 5, going from ranking last to a rate that would place well inside the league’s upper half. That added hesitation as the defense was forced to account for a player in motion paid off in a big way to give the offense an advantage they desperately needed.

And play action picked up in the passing game, too; Derek Carr was able to use his forever-underrated athleticism to throw on the move and link up with Michael Thomas on a couple of big gains. Carr has the wheels to make plays as a runner and force defenses to respect him as more of a run threat. Getting him out of the pocket and in space has been an inefficiency for this offense that they’re now course-correcting.

We’d be remiss to not mention Carmichael’s gutsiest play call of the day: a shovel pass to tight end Foster Moreau on second down from the New England 6-yard line that asked him to follow his blockers into the end zone. That’s exactly the sort of innovation and creative use of personnel that’s been missing through the first four weeks of the season.

And the players took notice. Alvin Kamara praised Carmichael after the game, saying that “Pete was good today. It was good to see Pete out there having fun. It was like he took a deep breath and just exhaled.”

Will Carmichael keep it up in the months ahead? Let’s hope so. This was easily the most entertaining game of the Saints’ season so far, and results like this would go a long way towards quieting the discontent about his position on staff. He can’t keep running Sean Payton’s playbook for Drew Brees without Payton or Brees. Whether it’s done by choice or kicking and screaming, the Saints offense must be dragged into the modern era. They have too many talented personnel to settle for less. Sunday’s performance was a big step in the right direction.

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Foster Moreau catches touchdown pass for Saints

Foster Moreau came back from beating cancer and caught a TD pass for New Orleans

A feel-good story that should not be lost in the New Orleans Saints’ romp over the New England Patriots on Sunday at Gillette.

Saints tight end Forster Moreau battled — and beat — cancer in the offseason.

In the fourth quarter, he took a shovel pass from Derek Carr and found the end zone for his first touchdown of the season.

Well Done, Foster Moreau.

Just one player upgraded on second Saints injury report vs. Bucs

Just one player upgraded their practice status on the second Saints injury report for Week 4’s Bucs game. Four projected starters remained sidelined:

Just one player upgraded their practice status on the second New Orleans Saints injury report for Week 4’s game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: tight end Foster Moreau, who participated on a limited basis after being held out Wednesday with an ankle injury.

Right tackle Ryan Ramczyk and tight end Jimmy Graham were given veteran’s rest days on Wednesday as well but both practiced fully on Thursday and were removed from in the injury report altogether.

That means four projected starters remained sidelined, including starting quarterback Derek Carr, though he’s expected to miss this game after injuring his throwing shoulder last week. Still, it’s possible the Saints could throw him into the game after catching up on rest throughout the week.

Here’s what we learned from both the Saints and the Buccaneers on Thursday, with changes to the injury report listed in bold text:

Saints say starting CB Paulson Adebo (hamstring) won’t play vs. Packers

The Saints say starting cornerback Paulson Adebo (hamstring) and veteran tight end Foster Moreau (ankle) won’t play against the Packers on Sunday:

This isn’t great. The New Orleans Saints downgraded starting cornerback Paulson Adebo (hamstring) and veteran tight end Foster Moreau (ankle)  on Saturday, meaning neither of them will play against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Adebo was previously listed as questionable on the injury report after he hurt his hamstring at practice on Friday; Moreau was doubtful to play, only practicing on a limited basis Thursday and otherwise being inactive.

Expect veteran backup Isaac Yiadom to fill in for Adebo opposite Marshon Lattimore in Green Bay. The Saints want to keep second-year pro Alontae Taylor in the slot, as that’s viewed as his long-term position, and he’s still actively learning on the job. Moving him around would not help that development. But they could surprise us and move him back outside (where he played last year, performing at a high level), especially if Ugo Amadi is able to play — though he’s dealing with a knee injury of his own.

Either way, the Saints are going to be short two starting defensive backs. Adebo is injured and Marcus Maye is suspended the next three games. New Orleans needs to be on top of their game against Jordan Love and the high-flying Packers receiving corps Sunday afternoon.

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Saints, Packers rule out multiple players on Week 3 injury report

The Saints and Packers ruled out multiple players on the final Week 3 injury report. Paulson Adebo is questionable with a new hamstring injury:

The New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers published their final injury report on Friday ahead of Week 3’s matchup at Lambeau Field, with multiple players pre-emptively ruled out. It’s a long season, and it makes sense to practice caution early on when possible.

Still, there are some situations worth monitoring. The Saints added cornerback Paulson Adebo to the injury report with a hamstring injury suffered in Friday’s practice, and he’ll be questionable for Sunday. That’s also the case for Packers star corner Jaire Alexander due to a back injury.

Here’s what we learned on Friday, with changes from Thursday’s report and game statuses listed in bold text:

Jamaal Williams, Foster Moreau among many Saints changing jersey numbers

Jamaal Williams and Foster Moreau are among many New Orleans Saints changing jersey numbers in the wake of last week’s roster cuts:

A small crowd of New Orleans Saints players are changing jersey numbers in the wake of roster cuts last week, which freed up a lot of coveted numbers — and some big names like running back Jamaal Williams and tight end Foster Moreau are among those making moves. So is rookie quarterback Jake Haener.

Here are all nine players who have switched numbers before the regular season kicks off: