Tag: Jets

Longtime Gary Kubiak assistant emerges in Saints OL coach search

A longtime Gary Kubiak assistant has emerged as the frontrunner in the Saints’ search for a new offensive line coach. John Benton could be the right man for the job:

Klint Kubiak’s New Orleans Saints coaching staff is beginning to take shape. Kubiak can’t be formerly introduced as the team’s offensive coordinator until after his San Francisco 49ers compete in Super Bowl LVIII this Sunday, but the Saints are already on the search for key position coaches who know his system.

One name to watch: John Benton, who the Times-Picayune | Advocate’s Luke Johnson reports is a frontrunner to coach the offensive line under Kubiak, replacing the recently-dismissed Doug Marrone. Benton, 60, has a wealth of NFL experience — he came up as Gary Kubiak’s offensive line coach with the Houston Texans from 2006 to 2013, playing a big role in establishing one of the league’s best rushing offenses. Arian Foster, an undrafted rookie, twice led the league in touchdown runs and earned four Pro Bowl nods running behind Benton’s offensive line.

He also played for the Saints as a replacement during the 1987 strike. A graduate out of Colorado State (Klint Kubiak’s alma mater), he’s spent time with the St. Louis Rams early in his career (way back in 2003) and more recently on staff with the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars. Notably, he was one of the first assistants that Kyle Shanahan hired with the San Francisco 49ers (having worked together in Houston) back in 2017. He helped install one of the league’s best rushing attacks before leaving for a promotion on Robert Saleh’s New York Jets staff in 2021, being named the run game coordinator. But he was let go after the 2022 season and wasn’t in the NFL in 2023.

He could be a good get. Balancing out a younger offensive coordinator (Kubiak turns 37 in February) with a position coach who has seen it all through a decades-long career and developed so many young players might be the best path forward. Coaching up embattled left tackle Trevor Penning is just one of the responsibilities that come with the job, but it’s a critical task, and Benton just might be the right guy to see it through. The Saints use many of the same zone-blocking concepts that Benton, Shanahan, and the Kubiaks pioneered, just not as effectively. Maybe he can clean up the mistakes and get them on track.

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Sauce Gardner wants the Jets to go after Calvin Ridley

With free agency less than two months away, Sauce Gardner is hoping the Jaguars let Calvin Ridley hit the market.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a tough call to make regarding wide receiver Calvin Ridley. The impending free agent put together a 1,000-yard season in his first season with the team, but also had way too many critical drops in big moments.

If the Jaguars allow Ridley to reach free agency, there will undoubtedly be interest from other teams who hope to snag the 29-year-old receiver on the open market.

New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner hopes his squad will be one of those teams:

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins is also expected to become a free agent and would likely be the top player at the position if he does. Last week, PFF’s Gordon McGuinness wrote that Higgins would be a perfect fit in Jacksonville.

Later this offseason, the Jaguars are expected to receive two compensatory draft selections for the losses of Jawaan Taylor and Arden Key last year in free agency. If the team lost Ridley this year, it could mean another compensatory pick in 2025, although that could be negated if the Jaguars choose to be spenders.

Ridley finished the 2023 season with 76 receptions for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns.

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2024 Mock Draft Round-Up: Where Notre Dame players are projected to go in April

How many Notre Dame players will get drafted this spring?

Four more NFL teams see their seasons come to an end this weekend; four others will remain alive for a chance to win Super Bowl 58.

As more and more teams enter the offseason, more and more heads to turn to those offseason and NFL draft plans.

Notre Dame has what certainly seems like a top-10 pick: offensive tackle Joe Alt. Just how high will Alt go? Could he crack the top-five?

And what about the other former Golden Domers? Audric Estime and Blake Fisher expect to hear their names called. but what about some others?

We took a look at a handful of mock drafts to see where they project the former Fighting Irish stars to get drafted.  Here is what our first look at the NFL mock draft roundup found:

Bengals, Ravens, and Rams highlight the list of Eagles’ 2024 opponents

The Eagles konw their opponents for the 2024 NFL season and the Ravens, Rams and Bengals highlight the regular season schedule for Philadelphia

The Eagles’ second-place finish in the NFC East will still give Nick Sirianni’s team what feels like first-place competition in 2024.

With the final regular season Sunday of the year complete, Philadelphia’s 2024 opponents are set, and it’ll be one of the league’s most demanding schedules.

The official schedule with dates and times won’t be revealed until spring, but it is never too early to start planning trips and predict outcomes.

Eagles schedule: Home and away opponents for 2024

Here’s a list of the Philadelphia Eagles 2023 opponents as the competition will continue to increase going forward with a second-place schedule after going 11-6

The Eagles’ second-place finish in the NFC will still give Nick Sirianni’s team what feels like a first-place NFL schedule in 2024.

With the final regular season Sunday of the year complete, Philadelphia’s 2024 opponents are set and it’ll be one of the league’s toughest schedules.

The official schedule with dates and times won’t be revealed until the spring, but it is never too early to begin planning trips and predicting outcomes.

Jaguars’ 2024 opponents finalized after 2nd place finish

The Jaguars’ list of 2024 opponents is officially set.

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ slate of 2024 opponents is officially set after the team finished second in the AFC South with a 9-8 record.

Next season, the Jaguars will play the entire AFC East and NFC North along with one opponent each from the AFC North, AFC West, and NFC East.

The entire schedule with the dates of those games won’t be announced until later in the offseason, as the NFL typically waits until May to reveal the entire slate.

It’s also a guarantee that the Jaguars will play at least one game in London. Last year, the league announced the list of teams that would play overseas in January, so it may not be long before Jacksonville can get the first puzzle piece in place for its 2024 schedule.

Here’s every team the Jaguars will face next season:

No Saints players led their positions in 2024 Pro Bowl Games fan voting

No current New Orleans Saints players led their positions in fan voting for the 2024 Pro Bowl Games, but two of their former teammates did:

This is tough. No current New Orleans Saints players led their positions in fan voting for the 2024 Pro Bowl Games, but two of their former teammates did while playing for other teams: New York Jets punter Thomas Morstead and Miami Dolphins left tackle Terron Armstead both led the AFC in fan votes at their positions.

Maybe the Saints shouldn’t have let them go. Morstead was teammates with Armstead in Miami last year, but he’s continuing to play at a high level in the years since the Saints cut him to open the door for his successor Blake Gillikin. Gillikin was also released earlier this year in favor of Lou Hedley, who has experienced an up-and-down rookie year in the NFL.

As for Armstead: the Saints’ uncertainty at left tackle speaks for itself, though his situation was more complicated. On top of the serious salary cap implications involved, Armstead’s injury history made it tough to justify re-signing him. Even if they had kept Armstead, they would need an expensive insurance policy. Injuries have limited him to just 9 games this season for the Dolphins.

Fan voting is just one part of the process — coaches and the players themselves will also have ballots, so it’s possible some Saints players end up making the cut. And there’s always the possibility they can get in as alternates should starters opt out or are unavailable while playing in the Super Bowl. The NFL announced positional leaders in fan votes on Wednesday, with the AFC and NFC player rosters scheduled for release at 7 p.m. CT on NFL Network and NFL+.

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2024 NFL draft order: Where Chargers are projected to pick after Week 17

How the loss to the Broncos impacted the Chargers’ current draft positioning.

The Chargers fell to 5-11 after losing to the Broncos.

After the loss, Los Angeles is still projected to have the No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

Here is a look at the top 10 selections after Week 17:

1. Chicago Bears (from CAR, 2-14)

Panthers’ strength of schedule: .518

2. Washington Commanders (4-12)

Strength of schedule: .515

3. New England Patriots (4-12)

Strength of schedule: .518

4. Arizona Cardinals (4-12)

Strength of schedule: .562

5. New York Giants (5-11)

Strength of schedule: .514

6. Los Angeles Chargers (5-11)

Strength of schedule: .526

7. Tennessee Titans (5-11)

Strength of schedule: .529

8. New York Jets (6-10)

Strength of schedule: .507

9. Atlanta Falcons (7-9)

Strength of schedule: .423

10. Chicago Bears (7-9)

Strength of schedule: .463

2024 NFL draft order: Where Chargers are projected to pick after Week 16

How did the loss to the Bills impact the Chargers’ current draft positioning?

The Chargers fell to 5-10 after losing to the Bills.

After the loss, Los Angeles is projected to have the No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. This comes a week after being slotted to have the 8th pick.

Here is a look at the top 10 selections after Week 16:

1. Chicago Bears (from CAR, 2-13)

Panthers’ strength of schedule: .522

2. Arizona Cardinals (3-12)

Strength of schedule: .561

3. Washington Commanders (4-11)

Strength of schedule: .518

4. New England Patriots (4-11)

Strength of schedule: .522

5. New York Giants (5-10)

Strength of schedule: .514

6. Los Angeles Chargers (5-10)

Strength of schedule: .525

7. Tennessee Titans (5-10)

Strength of schedule: .525

8. Chicago Bears (6-9)

Strength of schedule: .467

9. New York Jets (6-9)

Strength of schedule: .514

10. Atlanta Falcons (7-8)

Strength of schedule: .420

2024 NFL draft order: Where Chargers are projected to pick after Week 15

How did the loss to the Raiders impact the Chargers’ current draft positioning?

The Chargers fell to 5-9 after losing to the Raiders.

After the loss, Los Angeles is projected to have the No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. This comes a week after being slotted to have the 10th pick.

Here is a look at the top 10 selections after Week 15:

1. Chicago Bears (from CAR, 2-12)

Panthers’ strength of schedule: .519

2. New England Patriots (3-11)

Strength of schedule: .523

3. Arizona Cardinals (3-11)

Strength of schedule: .557

4. Washington Commanders (4-10)

Strength of schedule: .515

5. Chicago Bears (5-9)

Strength of schedule: .357

6. New York Jets (5-9)

Strength of schedule: .511

7. New York Giants (5-9)

Strength of schedule: .511

8. Los Angeles Chargers (5-9)

Strength of schedule: .511

9. Tennessee Titans (5-9)

Strength of schedule: .532

10. Atlanta Falcons (6-8)

Strength of schedule: .424