Tag: Isaac Yiadom

Saints promote CB Cameron Dantzler, reunite with WR Marquez Callaway

The Saints promoted CB Cameron Dantzler from their practice squad, opening a slot to reunite with WR Marquez Callaway:

The New Orleans Saints are working to account for several key injuries this week. After putting wide receiver Michael Thomas on injured reserve, the Saints signed WR Marquez Callaway to their practice squad — reuniting with the former starter who filled in for Thomas during the last three years.

But they had to open a spot on the practice squad for him. With a slot vacant on the 53-man roster and cornerback Marshon Lattimore dealing with an ankle sprain, the Saints promoted Cameron Dantzler. Dantzler appeared in two games earlier this season exclusively on special teams, but he’s an experienced pro who can help round out the depth chart.

So now the Saints have Paulson Adebo, Alontae Taylor, Isaac Yiadom and Dantzler available on the 53-man roster with Lattimore on the mend. Veteran safeties Ugo Amadi and Lonnie Johnson Jr. can also cover the slot and line up at corner in a pinch. We’ll have to wait and see what the plan is on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.

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Dennis Allen: Michael Thomas, Marshon Lattimore may ‘take some time’ with injuries

Saints head coach Dennis Allen said that WR Michael Thomas and CB Marshon Lattimore may ‘take some time’ recovering from injuries:

New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen addressed injuries to star players Michael Thomas and Marshon Lattimore on Monday, and it doesn’t sound like either of them will be available for Sunday’s game with the Atlanta Falcons. Thomas and Lattimore exited the Saints’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings with knee and ankle injuries before the bye week.

“I think Michael Thomas and Lattimore, these are injuries that are going to take some time. But I think other than that we’re in a pretty good spot,” Allen said. When asked about possibly placing either player on injured reserve, he responded, “I don’t know, we’ll see.”

Allen declined to specify who will be filling in for either of them, acknowledging that veteran backup Isaac Yiadom was an option to start in Lattimore’s place. The Saints could also rotate Alontae Taylor there out of the slot or ask Paulson Adebo to play on the other side of the field. They have options.

That’s also true offensively. A.T. Perry made a few plays against Minnesota while stepping in for Thomas, but the Saints have brought in experienced pros Keith Kirkwood and Marquez Callaway in recent days, too. Allen’s keeping his cards tight to his vest on this front. Hopefully Thomas and Lattimore can heal up and get back on the field sooner rather than later.

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Dennis Allen shares updates on multiple Saints injuries

Dennis Allen shared updates on multiple injured Saints players after Sunday’s loss, including Derek Carr, Michael Thomas, and Marshon Lattimore:

We received a mix of good news and bad news on New Orleans Saints players who were injured in Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings; head coach Dennis Allen shared updates on everyone’s status after the team returned to New Orleans and completed further medical evaluations at the team facility on Monday.

Here’s what we learned about Derek Carr, Michael Thomas, and Marshon Lattimore:

Report: Saints CB Marshon Lattimore suffered ankle sprain vs. Vikings

Report: Saints CB Marshon Lattimore suffered ankle sprain vs. Vikings

More information is rolling in on the multiple New Orleans Saints players who left Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings due to injury. Cornerback Marshon Lattimore exited the game on a trainer’s cart after his lower leg was pinned underneath other players while he tried to help out on a tackle; and NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill reports that Lattimore will undergo imaging on his ankle sprain to determine the severity of the injury.

The good news is that the Saints are going into their bye week, which will give Lattimore and other injured players time to rest up before their next game. The bad news is that any time he misses during games will be felt. His backup Isaac Yiadom has played admirably on limited snaps this season but when he’s on top of his game there are few corners around the league with Lattimore’s abilities. Hopefully this isn’t a very serious injury and he’ll be able to return for the back half of the 2023 schedule.

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Paulson Adebo returns to the Saints’ starting lineup vs. Patriots

Cornerback Paulson Adebo is returning to the Saints’ starting lineup for Sunday’s game with the Patriots:

The New Orleans Saints hope to get a big boost in their secondary with cornerback Paulson Adebo returning to the starting lineup (you can check the Week 5 inactives report here).

Adebo missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, and though Isaac Yiadom played very well in his absences — outside of two touchdown passes thrown against his coverage, which were admittedly very well-placed balls — the coaching staff still has a lot of confidence in Adebo’s abilities. Defensive coordinator Joe Wood squashed any speculation about the second cornerback spot this week with a public vote of confidence for Adebo.

Still, Adebo needs to back that up with high-level performance on the field. One area he must work on is penalties. He’s become a magnet for coverage fouls, leading the team with three infractions despite having played in just two games. Adebo was flagged twice for defensive holding and again for defensive pass interference. He must play with cleaner hands and avoid hurting his team by giving away free yardage.

But Adebo starting over Yiadom doesn’t say anything negative about his backup’s performance. Yiadom has forced quarterbacks to throw into tight windows in his two-game stint as a starter while getting his hands on a lot of footballs (tying for the league lead with 5 passes broken up). The Saints run deeper than many other teams in the secondary, and having playmakers stacked up behind Marshon Lattimore like these two (not to mention Alontae Taylor, who is improving each week in the slot) is an embarrassment of riches. They haven’t had much to hang their hats on this season, but you can’t fault the cornerback play.

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The NFL’s top-3 leaders in passes defensed all play for the Saints

The NFL’s top-three leaders in passes defensed all play for the Saints. New Orleans boasts a deep secondary:

The NFL’s top-three leaders in passes defensed all play for the New Orleans Saints. Head coach Dennis Allen boasts a deep secondary, having invested a lot of time in drafting and developing talent behind Marshon Lattimore. They’re going into Week 4 with more pass breakups than anyone.

Here’s how the top-five shakes out in passes defensed:

  • 7 – Alontae Taylor
  • 6 – Marshon Lattimore
  • 5 – Isaac Yiadom, Denzel Ward
  • 4 – Nine players including Stephon Gilmore, Darius Slay, and Patrick Peterson

It’s a big step up from last season when Taylor led the Saints with 11 pass breakups (ranking 24th around the league). Tyrann Mathieu had the second-most passes defensed (8) and Paulson Adebo was third (7). A big part of their success this year has been Taylor and Lattimore playing at a high level, but a change on the coaching staff also warrants praise. New secondary coach Marcus Robertson has done a great job preparing his players for these opportunities to make a play on the ball, particularly backups like Yiadom who found themselves thrust into a starting role.

As a team, the Saints have already intercepted four passes in three games after picking off just seven of them in 17 games a year ago; they’ve broken up 26 of those passes thrown against them compared to 67 last season, a difference of 8.7 against 3.9 breakups per game. Hopefully that trend continues while the offensive coaching staff continues to figure things out.

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WATCH: Isaac Yiadom, Marcus Maye team up for tip-drill interception vs. Titans

WATCH: Saints defensive backs Isaac Yiadom, Marcus Maye team up for tip-drill interception vs. Titans

You can’t say the New Orleans Saints defense didn’t show up for their Week 1 matchup with the Tennessee Titans. Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill tempted fate with a deep shot to open the second half — which the Saints intercepted with a little bit of teamwork in the secondary.

Free safety Marcus Maye wound up with the football at the goal line, which was deflected by the cornerback; but not who you’re thinking. Marshon Lattimore left the game for a play after a hard fall during the previous snap, with backup cornerback Lonnie Johnson Jr. stepping in for him. Maybe Tennessee hoped to take advantage of the reserve being in the game. That gamble didn’t pay off.

Johnson batted the pass away at New Orleans’ own 1-yard line, which fell right into Maye’s lap. He was able to turn about and move upfield to the Saints’ 5-yard line before being brought down. It was the second interception of the afternoon for New Orleans. Credit to Johnson for rising to the occasion and Maye for making a heads-up play.

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Instant takeaways from the Saints-Chargers preseason game

Payton Turner continues his strong preseason with a forced fumble. Forcing turnovers was a trend and 1 of the biggest takeaways from Week 2 | @southexclusives

The New Orleans Saints came out of their preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers with another victory. Their record now stands at 2-0 in the preseason. The game came down to the wire yet again with the defense making the play to win the game, as was the case a week ago.

As we know, the record not the most important part of the preseason. These exhibition games are more about evaluating performances. That’s exactly what we’re here to do. The defense had a strong game limiting touchdowns and the offense hit their stride in the second and third quarter.

Here are the biggest Saints takeaways from the game:

 

WATCH: Saints DB Isaac Yiadom hides in plain sight for easy interception

WATCH: Saints DB Isaac Yiadom hides in plain sight for easy interception off of Chargers QB | @DillySanders

The defenses were the bright spots often as the New Orleans Saints took on the Los Angeles Chargers matchup for the second week of the preseason.

The Saints logged their second takeaway of the game as cornerback Isaac Yiadom read the eyes of quarterback Easton Stick while Stick was suverying the field, missing Yiadom, which set up for an easy interception. Yiadom then took the turnover for a 19-yard return.

Yiadom is fighting for a roster spot as he enters his sixth season in the NFL and second with the Saints. The former third-round pick was signed to the Saints practice squad in the middle of last season and then activated to the main roster at the beginning of December, emerging as an important player on special teams. An interception like this will go a long way as he tries to lay claim for a depth spot in the cornerback room. His only regular season interception came in his rookie season, also against the Chargers.

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Saints re-sign special teams standout Isaac Yiadom, giving more depth to DB room

The Saints re-signed special teams standout Isaac Yiadom, keeping an experienced defensive back in an already stout secondary:

Here’s a smart move: The New Orleans Saints re-signed defensive back Isaac Yiadom per Thursday’s update to the daily NFL transactions wire, keeping another experienced defensive back in their secondary. But Yiadom was also one of their special teams standouts during the back half of the 2022 season. He made some plays as a gunner on the punt team opposite J.T. Gray and also ran with the kick coverage and return units, as well as the field goal blocking squad.

It’s worth bringing him in for a longer look. Yiadom turned 27 last month and has logged nearly a thousand snaps on special teams in his NFL career among stops with New Orleans, the Houston Texans, New York Giants, Green Bay Packers and the Denver Broncos (who drafted him out of Boston College in the third round in 2018). He’s also put 1,500 defensive snaps on tape over the years, largely as a cornerback playing out wide.

He’s in a cornerback depth chart featuring Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo, Alontae Taylor and Bradley Roby, plus Vincent Gray and Troy Pride Jr. (both returning from the practice squad last year). Yiadom is the latest well-seasoned defensive back the Saints have signed in free agency, along with former Raiders first-round safety Jonathan Abram, position-versatile defender Lonnie Johnson Jr., as well as slot corner Ugo Amadi. That’s been a point of emphasis for Dennis Allen’s team this offseason.

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