Tag: Juwan Johnson

Juwan Johnson had a career game vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Juwan Johnson set new career-highs in both receiving yards and catches during the Saints’ win over the Buccaneers:

New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson set a couple of career-high marks against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His 8 receptions set a single-game  high after having 5 catches in multiple games, including twice this earlier year. Johnson’s 90 receiving yards were by far the most in his career and the most by any Saints receiver on the afternoon.

Johnson started the game hot, but it seemed like his day might be cut short after heading to the locker room with a shoulder injury. He suffered the injury after catching a touchdown pass on the opening drive. That was New Orleans’ first opening drive touchdown of the season and Johnson’s third consecutive game with a touchdown.

He remained Derek Carr’s favorite target on the day after returning and didn’t skip a beat, making an acrobatic, tumbling reception on a big shot downfield. After the game, Johnson credited the move to his former Penn State teammate — and Buccaneers opponent — Chris Godwin when discussing it with WWL Radio’s Jeff Nowak. For Johnson to battle through injury and make so many plays speaks volumes about his grit and the trust the team has in his abilities.

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Studs and Duds from Saints’ 23-13 win over the Buccaneers

Our Studs and Duds from the Saints’ 23-13 win over the Buccaneers highlight Juwan Johnson, Demario Davis and other standouts from Sunday:

It took a team effort to put away the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the New Orleans Saints are left feeling pretty satisfied. This was a complete win with the offense, defense, and special teams units each pulling their weight.

But who were the standouts? Who made a difference on Sunday afternoon — for good or bad? Who stood out for positive and negative reasons? Let’s break down this week’s Studs and Duds:

Saints shock the Bucs in Dennis Allen’s first signature win

The Saints shocked the Buccaneers in Dennis Allen’s first signature win. It’s their first complete effort against a quality opponent:

Credit where it’s due: Dennis Allen and the New Orleans Saints finally turned the narrative around with their first signature win. We all said Allen couldn’t beat a good team with a winning record. We doubted Derek Carr’s ability to make plays with the weapons available to him. We surveyed 52 different expert game picks going into this game, and everyone but Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton sided with the Bucs.

And the Saints pulled it off. They won 23-13 and it wouldn’t have been even that close if linebacker Pete Werner hadn’t gotten matched up with star wideout Chris Godwin on the Bucs’ final possession. The Saints dominated in all three phases by making big plays on offense, defense, and special teams.

The defense intercepted Baker Mayfield three times (thanks to Alontae Taylor, Johnathan Abram, and Paulson Adebo on the penultimate two-point attempt), also recovering a pair of fumbles (one forced by Abram and recovered by Demario Davis, the other picked up by Isaac Yiadom). Running backs Rachaad White and Chase Edmonds were limited to a combined 58 rushing yards.

Offensively, Derek Carr finally got into rhythm with his tight ends; Juwan Johnson set new career-highs in catches (8) and receiving yards (90) while Taysom Hill and Foster Moreau both chipped in with some much-needed first downs and a Hill touchdown catch of their own. Jamaal Williams had his best game of the year after Alvin Kamara exited the game with an ankle injury, running for 58 yards.

Blake Grupe nailed all five of his kicks (three field goals from distances of 45, 28, and 38 yards; plus a pair of extra point tries) and Lou Hedley dropped three of his six punts inside the Tampa Bay 20-yard line. The game was sealed by Moreau recovering the Bucs’ attempted onside kick.

This is a big win. It isn’t the end of the road, and the Saints have not clinched a playoff berth. There’s plenty of work left to do and they still need a lot of help from other teams. But it’s encouraging, and it’s the kind of performance that the Saints will point to in the offseason when trying to sell Allen’s vision of the team to a disgruntled fanbase. But today, a win is a win.

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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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WATCH: Saints score their first opening-drive TD of 2023 season

The Saints scored their first opening-drive TD of the 2023 season in Week 17 against the Buccaneers. Better late than never:

The New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers went face-to-face in their Week 17 matchup and the Saints had an uncharacteristic start. For the first time this season, Derek Carr and Taysom Hill led the Saints down the field for their first opening-drive touchdown of the season.

Of the Saints’ first 14 opening possessions, nine ended with punts, three ended with missed field goals, and one each ended with a successful field goal and an interception.

It was a team effort. The drive included Hill finding Juwan Johnson on a pass as well as Hill catching a pass himself. Alvin Kamara found some success on the ground as well. It was capped with Carr finding Johnson for a 4-yard touchdown pass, giving the Saints an early 7-0 lead after Blake Grupe banged the extra point attempt.

But as luck would have it, the best start of the season also came with bad news. Johnson hurt his shoulder on the touchdown catch and was announced as questionable to return, but he was able to get back in the game and helped out in a big way — he bailed the Saints out of the shadow of their own goalpost with a huge 32-yard reception.

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WATCH: Derek Carr throws first TD pass to Juwan Johnson in Week 15

WATCH: Derek Carr throws first touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson in Week 15

The New Orleans Saints took on the New York Giants in Week 15 of the NFL season on Sunday afternoon. During the third quarter, Derek Carr connected with Juwan Johnson for a 23-yard touchdown pass. It was the first time Carr found Johnson for a score this season.

There was some hype building around Johnson after he broke out last season, catching seven touchdowns from Andy Dalton and scoring four times the year before, but the consistency just hasn’t been there. The former Penn State and Oregon wide receiver-turned-tight end has only eclipsed 20 yards in three games this season. His first and only other receiving touchdown this season came from Taysom Hill.

As the Saints continued to try to get the offense into a rhythm, a positive step this week, Johnson will need to continue to emerge. The top offenses in the NFL have a reliable tight end and the Saints have been missing that factor.

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Saints Twitter rips Derek Carr for dangerous throw on first-quarter interception

Derek Carr had a wide-open receiver but threw into tight coverage instead, leading to an interception on the opening drive. Saints fans weren’t happy:

Yikes. The New Orleans Saints offense took the field on Sunday facing a 7-0 deficit against the Detroit Lions, and their first play from scrimmage had Derek Carr dropping back to pass — and that’s where things took an ugly turn.

Carr missed a wide-open A.T. Perry on the left side of the field and chose to check down to tight end Juwan Johnson in tight coverage, which was a dangerous decision. And it proved to be costly. The pass deflected off of Johnson’s hands and into the mitts of Lions safety Brian Branch, who intercepted it to set the Detroit offense up in prime field position.

Johnson should have caught that ball. But Carr shouldn’t have thrown it in the first place when he had a safer option open for a bigger gain downfield. And everyone saw it: Saints fans, local media, and observers on social media:

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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4 Saints keys to victory on offense vs. Lions

It all starts with scoring more touchdowns. Breaking down four keys to a New Orleans Saints victory on offense against the Detroit Lions:

What can the New Orleans Saints offense do to secure a win over the Detroit Lions in Week 13? What schematic decisions and points of emphasis will make a difference? Which vulnerabilities in the Detroit defense can they exploit?

Scoring more touchdowns would help.

Really, though: Derek Carr’s deficiencies in the red zone and inside the 10-yard line have been pronounced in recent weeks, and figuring out why he’s struggling so badly can make a difference on Sunday. But there are 80 yards to cover before the Saints can get in scoring position. With that in mind, here are four keys to victory we’re looking for from the New Orleans offense: