Tag: Justin Evans

Eagles’ projected depth chart following the first wave of free agency

After several key signings and the first wave of NFL free agency, we’re looking at the Philadelphia Eagles’ updated team depth chart.

The Eagles will look much different when the team reconvenes at the NovaCare Complex for the 2023 off-season program.

Philadelphia lost ten free agents, retained five of their own, and added three free agents from other teams during the first wave of signings and agreements.

Making matters even more urgent, the franchise will work to sign All-Pro quarterback Jalen Hurt to a hefty contract extension, ensuring that the Eagles are a Super Bowl contender for years to come.

With the first wave of free agency in the rearview mirror, here is an updated look at the team’s current depth chart.

Instant analysis of the Eagles signing free agent safety Justin Evans to a deal

We’re looking at takeaways and instant analysis of the Philadelphia Eagles signing safety Justin Evans to a one-year deal.

The Eagles have added safety depth after announcing veteran Justin Evans’s signing to a one-year deal.

The move was made hours after C.J. Gardner-Johnson joined the Detroit Lions on a one-year, $8 million deal.

In 15 games last season with New Orleans, Evans played 40% of the snaps, logging 29 total tackles, one forced fumble, and two passes defended.

Here’s an instant analysis of the move.

Free agent Saints safety Justin Evans signing with Eagles

Free agent New Orleans Saints safety Justin Evans is signing a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, NFL Network reports:

Hey, good for Justin Evans. The New Orleans Saints backup safety is signing with the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo. It’s a one-year deal for the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers second-round pick.

Evans is a great story. He’s only 27 years old but lost several years of his career recovering from complicated lower-leg injuries, and he impressed Saints coaches so strongly last summer they were willing to move on from disgruntled slot corner C.J. Gardner-Johnson by the end of training camp. He ultimately played 391 snaps on defense, mainly covering the slot and lining up over the top at free safety, while also running with the kickoff and punt coverage units on special teams.

Evans was an important depth player for the Saints throughout the year, even if he struggled a bit in a starting role. They’ll need to make moves like signing former Houston Texans starter Lonnie Johnson Jr. to overcome this loss. He may factor into the compensatory picks formula for the 2024 NFL draft but we’ll have to wait and see what his contract is valued at to know for sure.

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Eagles are signing safety Justin Evans to a deal

The Philadelphia Eagles are signing veteran safety Justin Evans to a deal

After losing C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Lions, Howie Roseman and the Eagles are signing veteran safety Justin Evans to a deal.

The 27-year-old Evans was drafted in the second round (50th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Buccaneers out of Texas A&M.

As a rookie, Evans had 66 combined tackles (50 solos), six pass deflections, and three interceptions in 14 games and 11 starts for Tampa Bay.

In 2018, Evans received an overall grade of 67.7 from Pro Football Focus, which ranked as the 52nd-best grade among all qualified safeties during that season.

Evans dealt with an Achilles injury in 2019 that cost him the 2020 and 2021 NFL seasons before spending last season with the Saints.

In 15 games last season with New Orleans, Evans played 40% of the snaps, logging 29 total tackles, one forced fumble, and two passes defended.

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Saints free agent report cards: Grading value signings from 2022

New Orleans Saints free agent report cards: Daniel Sorensen and Kentavius Street were among 2022’s value signings, but how much did they help the team?

We’ve already reviewed the larger moves of last year’s New Orleans Saints free agent class — handing out report cards for veteran players like quarterback Andy Dalton, slot receiver Jarvis Landry, and safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye. But they weren’t the only players the Saints added last offseason. They made a series of value signings at or near the veteran’s minimum, and some of those players really helped the team out in some clutch moments.

Here’s a quick look at the free agent report cards for safeties Daniel Sorensen and Justin Evans, tight end J.P. Holtz, and defensive lineman Kentavius Street:

Juwan Johnson, Justin Evans were the highest-graded Saints players in Week 15

Juwan Johnson and Justin Evans were the highest-graded Saints players in Week 15 at Pro Football Focus, stepping up big against the Falcons:

The New Orleans Saints took care of business against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 15, winning 21-18 at home to improve to 5-9 on the season so far. They wound up in that position with some standout performances — for both good and bad — on offense, defense, and special teams.

Here’s a look at the highest and lowest grades from Pro Football Focus, limiting our focus to players who were on the field for at least 15 snaps in each phase of the game:

Studs and duds from the Saints’ Week 15 win against the Falcons

New Orleans Saints standouts like Kentavius Street, Rashid Shaheed, and Justin Evans rose to the occasion in their win over the Atlanta Falcons:

The New Orleans Saints didn’t lack for standouts on Sunday. Players like Kentavius Street, Rashid Shaheed, and Justin Evans rose to the occasion in their Week 15 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Let’s highlight the peak performers and underwhelming outings in this week’s studs and duds:

Saints could be without top CB Marshon Lattimore vs. Bengals after Week 5 injury

The Saints could be without top CB Marshon Lattimore vs. the Bengals after a Week 5 injury, further complicating their banged-up secondary:

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All of these injuries in the secondary have the New Orleans Saints flirting with disaster. Cornerback Marshon Lattimore exited Sunday’s win over the Seattle Seahawks with an abdomen injury suffered when he tried to help defend a touchdown pass in his own end zone targeting another player. Iinstead, the pass was completed for a score and he fell in a pile with several others. The team initially said Lattimore was questionable to return, but didn’t clear him to get back in the game.

On Monday, Saints coach Dennis Allen acknowledged that they could be without Lattimore in Week 6’s home game with the Cincinnati Bengals. It all hinges on how his body responds to treatment over the next few days.

“He’s going to be okay,” Allen said, echoing his past comments on running back Alvin Kamara, who missed two of the next three games after Allen’s previous reassurances. Allen continued, “We’ll just have to see how he responds this week in terms of his availability.”

That’s not exactly encouraging, but at least Lattimore’s season isn’t over. Their top corner has played exceedingly well this season. He’s only come up small in one matchup during Week 4’s loss in London to the Minnesota Vikings — and his primary opponent in that game, Justin Jefferson, is arguably the best receiver in pro football. There’s no shame in that. What’s important is that Lattimore has dominated four of his five games so far.

And what’s more important is how big his loss would be against Cincinnati. The Bengals lean hard on their three-deep receiving rotation of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd (though Higgins is managing an ankle injury), and having Lattimore go against Chase would be the easiest path towards slowing him down. If he can’t go on Sunday, the Saints would be starting Paulson Adebo and Bradley Roby outside with Justin Evans covering the slot. Well, if Evans isn’t filling in for Marcus Maye at safety. If Maye misses his fourth consecutive game, veteran slot corner Chris Harris Jr. is likely called up from the practice squad again. Injuries have hit the Saints defensive backs hard this year. Let’s see how they respond.

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Analysis: New playmakers emerge on Saints defense in Week 1 win

Analysis: New playmakers like Justin Evans and Marcus Maye emerged on the Saints defense in their Week 1 win in Atlanta, via @MaddyHudak_94:

The New Orleans Saints salvaged their season opener to defeat the Atlanta Falcons through impeccable fourth-quarter play. Otherwise, it wasn’t pretty. Taysom Hill, plainly, was the entire offense through three quarters. He ran in 2 of the team’s 4 total first downs in the first half. New Orleans converted a mere 3 of 11 third down attempts prior to the fourth quarter.

Then Jameis Winston briefly entered the injury tent and proceeded to play the best quarter of his career. He amassed 75 passing yards in his first scoring drive. The offense converted 10 passing first downs in the final quarter alone. Winston brought poise under center that had felt absent since Drew Brees retired – doing so with zero turnovers. That calm command was matched in the kicking game with Wil Lutz’s return. After missing a 44-yard attempt early on Sunday afternoon, Lutz recorded a 49-yarder in the third quarter and sealed the victory with 19 seconds left on a 51-yard field goal. The Saints found a way to win, but it wasn’t pretty. Let’s take a deeper look after reviewing the tape:

How did the Saints defend the slot without C.J. Gardner-Johnson?

How did the Saints defend the slot without C.J. Gardner-Johnson? Justin Evans got the start in his place, but it took a team effort:

There weren’t too many unknowns about the New Orleans Saints defense going into Week 1. We had a good idea of what the assignments would be for new safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye, and many starters returned at other spots in the lineup. But the biggest change came in the slot, where New Orleans shipped out C.J. Gardner-Johnson two weeks before the season started. Gardner-Johnson had been a three-down defender for the Saints, so the trade left big shoes to fill. And a couple of Saints stepped up.

Pro Football Focus snap-by-snap charting found that Justin Evans got the lion’s share of snaps in the slot. The veteran safety signed with New Orleans after losing a year of his playing career with an injury, but his strong summer led to this well-earned opportunity. Evans led the team with 25 snaps in the slot, dropping back into pass coverage on 15 of those reps. The Falcons tried him four times but he only yielded one 5-yard reception which did not convert a first down. That’s a productive day in the office.

While Evans did see more slot snaps than anyone else, he was far from the only Saints defender to fill that role. Second-year linebacker Pete Werner moved to the slot 10 times, and that was the matchup Atlanta wanted to exploit — both of the targets sent his way were completed, gaining 31 yards. Fortunately Werner tackles well and prevented either play from converting a first down. You don’t want to see him covering the slot often (and Werner did drop back in coverage there only 5 times), but it can’t be helped when the offense dictates terms when facing man coverage. If Werner’s assignment is the Falcons running back and they motion from the backfield to the slot, he’s got to hang in there.

What about the other players who covered the slot in Week 1? Mathieu, Maye, and linebacker Demario Davis each stepped in for 8, 7, and 6 plays, respectively. They were targeted a combined 6 times, allowing 3 receptions for 11 receiving yards. Only one of those catches picked up a first down.

A handful of other Saints defenders also manned the slot at times, but defensive back P.J. Williams was the only one to cover it on a passing down (he did so twice, stopping Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts short of a first-down conversion on an 8-yard reception). The other players to line up there included linebacker Kaden Elliss (3 snaps), cornerback Bradley Roby (3), cornerback Marshon Lattimore (2), and defensive end Cameron Jordan (1). All of those were running downs, though.

So let’s tally it all together. The small platoon of Saints players covering the slot did so on a combined 37 snaps, drawing 13 targets. Of those passes 6 were completed for 55 yards, converting a single first down. That’s very encouraging.

There will be greater challenges ahead and better slot receivers than those the Falcons threw at them. But this was about as strong a start as you could hope for coming out of the gates. The Saints have said previously they’ll try different combinations each week to try and get the best matchups, so it’s a bit of a work-in-progress. If Sunday’s debut was any indication, they’ve got the right plan in mind.

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