Tag: Jaylon Smith

Important Saints position battles to watch in preseason Week 1

The preseason is where position battles are decided. Cornerback and left guard are just two of the intense battles to watch in Saints vs. Chiefs | @southexclusives

The preseason is best for getting young players experience and deciding position battles. These battles won’t be decided in the first week of action, but players can begin to separate themselves from the pack. The New Orleans Saints have a couple of intense position battles currently raging at training camp, which will come to a head Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Here are the areas you need to keep an eye on and the players you need to watch in each phase of the game:

Saints release veteran WR to open a roster spot for LB Jaylon Smith

The Saints released veteran wide receiver Keke Coutee to open a roster spot for linebacker Jaylon Smith:

The New Orleans Saints released veteran wide receiver Keke Coutee to open a roster spot for linebacker Jaylon Smith, head coach Dennis Allen said Friday. Smith had a successful tryout with the team and signed with them on Thursday, practicing for the first time on Friday at the Caesars Superdome — though Allen cautioned he doesn’t expect Smith to play in Sunday’s preseason game with the Kansas city Chiefs after arriving in town so soon.

No position group had more players rostered for training camp than wide receiver. Coutee, formerly of the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts, was one of many experienced pros on the depth chart along with Lynn Bowden, Bryan Edwards, James Washington, Keith Kirkwood, and Kawaan Baker (plus rookies A.T. Perry and Shaquan Davis).

None of them had made much noise to unseat Tre’Quan Smith as the team’s fourth wideout behind Michael Thomas, Chris Olave, and Rashid Shaheed, so it made sense to thin out the group and open more practice reps.

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How Jaylon Smith can find success in the New Orleans Saints defense

The Saints have gotten quality reps out of veteran backups like Manti Te’o, Kiko Alonso, and Craig Robertson. Now it’s Jaylon Smith’s turn:

News of the New Orleans Saints signing veteran linebacker Jaylon Smith drew mixed reviews on Thursday, with some fans criticizing the move as something of little consequence while others celebrated the addition of an experienced pro. Smith’s NFL career hasn’t met expectations after a catastrophic knee injury ended his college career, but he’s still carved out a role for himself on some good defenses with the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants and occasionally earned Pro Bowl recognition.

So how can he find success in 2023? There’s actually already a blueprint for him in place. The Saints have gotten quality reps out of veteran backups before — guys like Manti Te’o, Kiko Alonso, and Craig Robertson, just to name a few. None of them were starters. Smith won’t be starting, either. But just like his predecessors, all he needs to do to make this move a positive is avoid making mistakes when the Saints call his number. Be ready when it’s his time, then get out there and execute his assignments. Don’t make mistakes.

And he’s done a great job of playing mistake-free football throughout his career. Pro Football Focus charting found that Smith missed just 7.3% of his career tackles, and that he’s allowed just 6 touchdown passes on 2,454 snaps when dropping back into coverage. For context, last year Demario Davis missed 14.4% of his tackles and yielded 2 touchdown passes. Pete Werner missed 11.7% of his tackles and gave up 2 touchdowns of his own in coverage.

Smith has a reputation as a dirty player (not helped by his infamous illegal hit on Alvin Kamara back in 2018), but he’s only been penalized 14 times in his seven-year pro career, and he hasn’t been flagged at all in each of the last two seasons. That’s something he identified early on as a weakness in his game and worked to correct.

Barring an extended absence for Davis or Werner, Smith isn’t going to play a ton of snaps this season. The Saints prefer to run nickel or dime defensive personnel to field more defensive backs than linebackers, and that isn’t going to change given their depth in the secondary. If Smith only plays 12 to 15 snaps per game and doesn’t look like a liability, that’s a win for all involved. He doesn’t need to be a starter or look to bag 100 tackles. He just needs to do his job well.

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Report: Jaylon Smith to sign with Saints after workout

Report: Jaylon Smith to sign with the New Orleans Saints after successful tryout

Here’s the addition at linebacker the New Orleans Saints have been looking for. TheScore’s Jordan Schultz reports that the Saints are signing Jaylon Smith after a successful tryout on Wednesday, adding experienced depth behind Demario Davis and Pete Werner.

Smith, 28, has carved out a role for himself in stops with the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, and New York Giants, starting 69 of the 87 games he’s appeared in (plus four playoff games). Even if he isn’t starting on Sundays, he brings some much-needed experience to the Saints linebacker corps. After Davis and Werner, the Saints didn’t have a single linebacker with more than 8 career starts.

We’ll see what Smith can do in preseason. If he can consistently stop the run and lead the second-string defense when on the field, that should be enough to make the team. New Orleans still has youngsters like D’Marco Jackson and Nephi Sewell competing for snaps, but adding a proven commodity like Smith won’t exactly limit their opportunities over the next three weeks.

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Report: Saints work out former Giants, Cowboys LB Jaylon Smith

Report: Seeking improved defensive depth, the Saints work out former Giants and Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith

This could be an interesting move: TheScore’s Jordan Schultz reports that the New Orleans Saints brought in linebacker Jaylon Smith for a workout in the wake of Anthony Barr’s visit on Monday.

Smith, 28, has spent most of the last two years with the New York Giants after starting his career with the Dallas Cowboys back in 2016. He’s started 69 of the 87 games he’s played in the NFL, as well as four playoff games. He also had a two-game cameo with the Green Bay Packers in 2021.

Smith’s career was derailed by a catastrophic knee injury in his final college game at Notre Dame, costing him his entire rookie season and dropping him out of first-round consideration; it turned out to be one of a few incidents that ignited a wave of withdrawals by top NFL draft prospects in bowl season that continues to this day.

To his credit, Smith has gone on to put a nice career together for himself, and he’d be a good fit in New Orleans behind Demario Davis and Pete Werner. Head coach Dennis Allen recently acknowledged that he hasn’t seen anyone emerge out of the group of first- and second-year pros and journeymen special teamers to win that opportunity.

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Notre Dame commit named Preseason MaxPreps First Team All-American

All eyes will be on him when he comes to the Irish.

[autotag]Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa[/autotag] is getting rave reviews from everywhere. The California-based four-star linebacker, who recently picked Notre Dame over USC and Ohio State, very well could follow in the footsteps of recent Irish linebacker All-Americans like [autotag]Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaylon Smith[/autotag]. Until then, we will see how well he continues to develop at the prep level. MaxPreps thinks that will go well as he was named to its Preseason All-American First Team.

Here’s what MaxPreps has to say about the 2024 commit and his relevance to St. John Bosco in Bellflower:

“Played a huge role on defense for the 2022 MaxPreps National Champs racking up 111 tackles.”

Racking up that total in any season for the Irish would be nice. No Irish player has approached that number since [autotag]Te’von Coney[/autotag] had 116 and 123 tackles respectively in 2017 and 2018. That alone should give Irish fans reason to be excited about his arrival in a year’s time. And the fact that he chose the Irish over two other college football powerhouses makes it all the sweeter.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

List of notable free agents after first week of training camp

There are some big-name options still available in free agency.

It’s usually slim pickings on the free agent market around this time of the year, but surprisingly, there are still several big-name players out there that remain unsigned.

Most of the notable talent is at the running back position with at least two or three potential NFL starters on the list. The Patriots could certainly use help at that position with Ty Montgomery going down with an injury.

They have mostly leaned on Kevin Harris and Pierre Strong Jr. as their top options behind Rhamondre Stevenson. Harris looks the most improved of the two, and they could make the decision to stick with him in the end.

However, they have visited with a few players on this list, including Ezekiel Elliott, Darrell Henderson and Leonard Fournette.

They’ve also reportedly considered a future visit with Dalvin Cook.

But there are more than just running backs on this list of NFL talent. Let’s take a look at some of the more notable unsigned free agents.

Notre Dame players named to preseason award watch lists

Will anyone win this year?

It’s the time of year when we start seeing award watch lists come out in anticipation of the college football season. With Notre Dame expected to be highly ranked once again, there are plenty of players who are ripe for watching. Whether or not any of them actually take home any of this hardware is anyone’s guess right now, but they’re at least on the radar of those who know college football best.

In some cases, more than one Notre Dame player is on the watch list for the same award. Also, as different award watch lists come on different days, it can be difficult to keep track of them all. Rest assured, we will be doing just that as these lists continue to come out.

At season’s end, we’ll find out if any of them or maybe somebody different becomes the first national award winner for the Irish since [autotag]Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah[/autotag] won the Butkus Award in 2020:

Raiders work out former Pro Bowl LB Jaylon Smith

More than a week into training camp and the Raiders are finally looking into making some moves at linebacker

Over a week into training camp and the Raiders are finally looking into making some moves at linebacker. Tuesday it was signing former Chiefs LB Darius Harris. Wednesday they were back at it, working out Jaylon Smith.

Smith was a second round pick by the Cowboys in the 2017 draft. The 28-year-old was a full time starter for four seasons in Dallas, including making the Pro Bowl in 2019.

Smith later signed with the Giants, appearing in four games with two starts under Patrick Graham who is now the DC with the Raiders.

Last season, Smith appeared in 13 games with the Giants, starting 11 and putting up 88 combined tackles (46 solo), three for a loss.

Currently the Raiders top two linebackers are Divine Deablo and Robert Spillane. After that there is a bunch of roster fringe guys hoping their special teams work can earn them a spot on the team. So, yeah, working out a few free agents is a good idea.

Jaylon Smith: Saquon Barkley is heartbeat of the Giants

Jaylon Smith calls RB Saquon Barkley the heartbeat of the New York Giants and says they don’t make the playoffs in 2022 without him.

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From the moment he was given the franchise tag, many have wondered if running back Saquon Barkley would eventually come to an agreement with the New York Giants on a long-term agreement.

While the debate continues to rage over running back value and how much money should be invested into the position, it’s hard to ignore what Barkley means to the Giants’ offense.

Former Giants linebacker and current free agent, Jaylon Smith, was a guest on Good Morning Football and sang Barkley’s praises with contract talks ongoing.

“He’s the heartbeat. He’s the engine. He’s the guy that you want in your foxhole,” Smith said. “Without Saquon, we don’t make the playoff last year. He’s a huge piece to that franchise and he cares. He’s a guy that cares. He’s the most competitive person, arguably, that I’ve ever met. I’m talking locker room, I’m talking ping pong, badminton, pushup competition, whatever. He’s trying to get after it and he’s going to talk stuff, too, when he wins.”

There’s no ignoring the impact Barkley has on the Giants’ offense given the magnitude of how much the offense runs around him. It’s hard to imagine Mike Kafka’s offense being successful without Barkley.

Given the lacking weapons outside of Barkley, it’s not that bold a statement to say Big Blue would’ve missed the playoffs without their star running back.

Smith spent parts of each of the past two with Big Blue and admired Barkley from the sideline. Additionally, Smith spent the first few seasons of Barkley’s career as an NFC East rival with the Dallas Cowboys, so he’s seen firsthand what the superstar is capable of.

Barkley was finally able to stay on the field last year and strung together his best performance since his rookie campaign.

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