Tag: Khalen Saunders

Khalen Saunders active for his first Saints game since injury

Khalen Saunders is active for his first Saints game since suffering a preseason calf injury. And don’t forget he’s wearing a new number in 2024:

Khalen Saunders is active for his first New Orleans Saints game since suffering a preseason calf injury, having replaced John Ridgeway III in the rotation at defensive tackle for Sunday’s game with the Atlanta Falcons. And don’t forget he’s wearing a new number in 2024 after giving No. 99 to Chase Young; “Bink” has switched to No. 50 instead.

He was a big part of Dennis Allen’s defense last season. Saunders played 523 snaps across 17 games, totaling a career-high 57 tackles (24 solo). He also got some looks on offense as a blocking fullback and decoy in the backfield. There aren’t too many guys at his size (6-foot, 324 pounds) who can do that, but Saunders is more nimble than you might expect.

We’ll see what he has in store for Sunday. The Saints have given the lion’s share of reps to Bryan Bresee and Nathan Shepherd at defensive tackle, though rookie draft pick Khristian Boyd has had an active presence. We’ve also seen Cameron Jordan and Payton Turner move inside for obvious passing situations. Here’s hoping Saunders makes the most of his chances.

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Initial Week 4 Saints injury report has Taysom Hill return to full practice reps

The Saints’ initial Week 4 injury report has 4 DNPs, but Taysom Hill (chest) is back to practicing fully after missing last week’s game:

The New Orleans Saints will be traveling to Georgia to take on the Atlanta Falcons in Week 4, and their initial injury report does not look great, as it looks similar to their initial Week 3 report in the number of non-participants.

The Saints did pick up multiple injuries in their Week 3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, with quarterback Derek Carr (left groin), defensive back Alontae Taylor (illness), linebacker Demario Davis (hamstring), running back Alvin Kamara (hip/ribs), and right guard Cesar Ruiz (knee) all being new additions to the list. The four DNPs are all players from this list, as Carr was the only one of the five who practiced, as he hit the full practice threshold.

In good news, tight end Taysom Hill (chest) has returned to full practice after his Week 2 injury, and defensive tackle Khalen Saunders (calf) has upgraded to limited from last week as well.

Linebacker D’Marco Jackson (calf) and offensive lineman Landon Young (foot) are both trying to work their way back from their respective injuries, and both started off limited which is a good sign, depending on how they progress through the week it could indicate they may be available.

On the other side of the report, the Falcons have only one player listed which is right tackle Kaleb McGary (knee), who did not practice as most expected. While this seems short, it is worth noting that center Drew Dalman (ankle) was placed on injured reserve just before this report came out, so the Falcons will be without at least one offensive line starter, potentially two.

Here is the full initial injury report for both teams:

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John Ridgeway expected to be traded from Commanders

New Saints DT John Ridgeway knew he’d be traded from the Commanders but wasn’t sure where or when.

The New Orleans Saints traded for defensive tackle John Ridgeway on Wednesday afternoon. It was a move that fans didn’t expect, but Ridgeway himself did. He wasn’t sure when or where he’d be traded. One thing he did know was he wouldn’t be suiting up for the Washington Commanders this upcoming season.

Saints media asked Ridgeway if he was surprised by the trade. He had been in Washington for two years. Ridgeway responded, “I was kind of just waiting on it to happen honestly.”

He looked at how the Commanders roster was falling during preseason and kept in contact with his agent. Ridgeway didn’t want his agent to tell him any teams that were interested, so the defensive tackle had no idea the Saints were interested.

He’s new to the Saints but there are a couple of familiar faces. Khaleke Hudson and Chase Young were both teammates with Ridgeway last year in Washington.

Ridgeway enjoys seeing familiar faces and suggests those guys could help get him acclimated to the city and facilities if necessary.

Khalen Saunders expected to miss several weeks with calf injury

The Saints may have to shuffle their cards on roster cut-down day, as Khalen Saunders is expected to miss several weeks with a calf injury:

New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders is expected to miss a couple of weeks due to a calf injury, per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill. This news comes on roster cut-down day and leaves the Saints with some pretty intriguing questions to answer as they begin to trim down the roster to its official 53-man size.

The Saints have options, as they could place Saunders on injured reserve, leaving him out of the lineup for four games but opening an extra roster spot for the duration. Otherwise, they could keep him on the active roster if the injury is expected to have a shorter duration than that and find a way to replace him for two to three weeks until he is healthy.

As for his replacement, the presumably obvious answer would be Nathan Shepherd, who started all 17 games for the Saints with Saunders along the defensive line. The other possible option would be rookie sixth-round pick Khristian Boyd, who has been the subject of quite a bit of hype throughout the offseason process. He has exceptional athletic skills and physical traits that make him an intriguing prospect, and may lead to him getting at least some share of the snaps left behind by Saunders. Bryan Bresee had already replaced Saunders in the starting lineup next to Shepherd so expect a big season for the second-year draft pick.

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Saints seeing growth from Bryan Bresee to become a three-down player

Dennis Allen spoke about Bryan Bresee’s improved run defense and conditioning, laying out what the Saints are looking for from Bresee in Year 2:

This was a cool development — Bryan Bresee started the New Orleans Saints preseason game with the San Francisco 49ers at defensive tackle over Khaulen Saunders, and Dennis Allen was asked about the decision after the game.

Allen’s response signified growth within Bresee. It sounds like he is inching closer to being a three-down player.

“He’s been a little bit more improved as a run player,” Allen told reporters. That’s what is needed for Bresee. He entered the league as a good pass rusher. His spin move was the talk of last year’s preseason.

Even in Sunday’s game his pass rush capabilities were shown as the second year defensive tackle harassed Brock Purdy to affect the throw. The better Bresee can play the run the easier it is to keep him on the field at all times.

Playing every down is about more than ability, though. Bresee has to be able to remain on the field with proper injury. Allen alluded to this by saying, “He’s a player we have to work to get him into the best football shape he can be in because when he’s rested and feeling good he’s a pretty good player.”

Allen wants Bresee to stay on the field for three to seven plays while maintaining a consistent level of performance. That relates back to conditioning.

That’s part of the reason Bresee remained in the game during the San Francisco two minute drive at the end of the first quarter. If he can continue to improve on his run defense and stay in great shape, Bresee has the potential to be a force in the defensive interior.

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Khalen Saunders on defending the Saints’ new offense: ‘I hate it’

Khalen Saunders believes the Saints new offensive scheme will play to their strengths and be more dangerous, but he doesn’t relish defending it every day:

When asked how he felt about trying to stop the run against the new offensive system, Khalen Saunders bluntly replied that, “I hate it.”

When the New Orleans Saints hired Klint Kubiak this offseason, it was viewed as major addition because it brings a modern offense to New Orleans. Kubiak’s system is derived from the same roots as Kyle Shanahan’s wildly successful San Francisco 49ers system, which relies more heavily on pre-snap movement and misdirection during the play than Sean Payton’s playbook.

It tries to trick opposing defenses through continuously setting and breaking tendencies to keep opponents from ever getting a gauge on what’s coming next. Saunders’ words reflect how defenders feel about playing against that style of offense.

“It’s good that I hate it,” Saunders elaborated. “I’m not going against it, the other 31 teams are.” He then highlighted how the offense changes the quarterback’s launch spot and keeps him from being a sitting duck in the pocket. Derek Carr has been effective working out of play action throughout his career, and the Saints have been running a lot of it at training camp.

Saunders highlighted the offensive line’s athleticism as another trait well-suited to Kubiak’s system. The Saints like athletic offensive linemen and the greater emphasis on zone blocking will allow those players to lean into their movement skills.

The defense receives residual benefits as well. Saunders said the new offensive deception “forces the defense to play honest and lock into their keys.” If discipline breaks down, Kubiak is ready to take advantage of it.

There’s a lot of pressure placed on the offense to raise its level of play within this new system. There’s an equal amount of faith the offense will rise to the challenge.

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Countdown to Kickoff: Khalen Saunders is the Saints Player of Day 50

Khalen Saunders is wearing a new jersey number in 2024. He’s the New Orleans Saints Player of Day 50 in our Countdown to Kickoff:

Khalen Saunders is wearing a new jersey number in 2024. He’s the New Orleans Saints Player of Day 50 in our countdown to kickoff in Week 1’s matchup with the Carolina Panthers. Saunders wore No. 99 last year, his first season with the Saints, but he’s switching to No. 50 since Chase Young joined the team and took it from him.

What does a successful season look like for Saunders? Let’s put him under the spotlight in today’s feature.

  • Name (Age): Khalen Saunders (27)
  • Position: Defensive tackle
  • Height, weight: 6-foot-0, 324 pounds
  • Relative Athletic Score: 7.59
  • 2024 salary cap hit: $4,400,000
  • College: Western Illinois
  • Drafted: Round 3 in 2019 (Kansas City Chiefs)
  • NFL experience: 6 years

Saunders’ first season with the Saints could be characterized as good, not great. He didn’t have a sack but he did post the second-most quarterback pressures of his career (14), which is solid for a nose tackle. What really held him back was an underwhelming year in run defense. The Saints were vulnerable up the middle and they finished the year with the 11th-most rushing yards allowed. You’d expect a stronger impact from Saunders as a big body playing on running downs.

How can he improve in 2024? Better holding ground when teams run at him while pushing the pocket when given opportunities to make a play is what’s asked of every veteran defensive tackle. With Bryan Bresee looking to take a step forward and Nathan Shepherd on top of the depth chart, Saunders can’t afford to fall behind.

It’s interesting that the Saints restructured Shepherd’s contract, lowering his salary cap hit, but they didn’t do so for Saunders. That might make him expendable if another player steps up like rookie draft pick Khristian Boyd — releasing Saunders would save $1.4 million against the cap, while trading him could free up as much as $3.7 million. Hopefully he does well enough at training camp to where this isn’t a real consideration.

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Saints shut out of ESPN’s top defensive tackle rankings

Bryan Bresee had a strong rookie year with the New Orleans Saints, but it wasn’t enough to make ESPN’s list of the best defensive tackles:

ESPN’s series polling dozens of anonymous NFL sources to rank the best players at every position continued this week with the defensive tackles, but there  wasn’t a single New Orleans Saints player on the list — not inside the top-10, nor even as an honorable mention.

The Saints overhauled their defensive tackles last year by signing Nathan Shepherd and Khalen Saunders while drafting Bryan Bresee, letting David Onyemata walk away in free agency in the process. But the group didn’t work out as well as hoped, with the Saints allowing the 11th-most rushing yards around the league.

Still, getting snubbed on this list is disappointing given Bresee’s strong rookie year. He made a big impact on passing downs by setting a new team record for sacks among first-year defensive tackles (4.5), and he almost broke the team record for passes batted down at the line of scrimmage (6), too. He also had a couple of sacks nullified by penalties. His 31 quarterback pressures were fourth-most on the team per Pro Football Focus charting.

So how can he improve in 2024 and make this list next year? Bresee must become a more impactful run defender. He was shoved around too easily in that phase last season and the coaching staff made an effort to limit his exposure when opponents were planning to run at him. Of the 15 Saints defenders who logged 400 or more total snaps, only Tanoh Kpassagnon played fewer run defense snaps (139) than Bresee (148). Improving his lower body strength to better anchor against advancing blockers will do a lot to help him stay on the field more often and make more plays.

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The brother of Taylor Swift’s backup dancer had the best reaction to ex-teammate Travis Kelce’s surprise Eras Tour cameo

The invisible strings between Swift and Kelce are so absurd.

Even before Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were a thing, there were some absolutely wild invisible strings connecting them.

Swift has worked with Kam Saunders for the entirety of the incredibly popular Eras Tour, and the outgoing and energetic dancer has become a fan-favorite with his creativity in finding ways to say “never” in “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”

MORE: Taylor Swift says she’s still ‘swooning’ over Travis Kelce in Instagram post about London Eras Tour shows

Saunders has a brother, Khalen, with his own fun connection to Miss Americana and the Kansas City Prince. Khalen is a defensive tackle in the NFL, currently playing with New Orleans. Before getting traded to the Saints, Khalen played alongside Kelce on the Chiefs, including Super Bowl LIV and LVII victories.

He felt particularly proud of his real life brother and his football brother after Kelce took the stage alongside Kam for a mid-show performance.

You absolutely love to see it.

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Countdown to Kickoff: Bryan Bresee is the Saints Player of Day 90

Countdown to Kickoff: Bryan Bresee is the New Orleans Saints Player of Day 90, but how can he improve in 2024 after a strong rookie season?

We’ve got 90 days to go until the New Orleans Saints open up their 2024 season with a Week 1 kickoff game against the Carolina Panthers, so we’re continuing our countdown with the No. 90 jersey’s current owner: defensive tackle Bryan Bresee. Last year’s first round draft pick enjoyed a strong rookie season, so let’s break it down:

  • Name (Age): Bryan Bresee (30)
  • Position: Defensive end
  • Height, weight: 6-foot-5, 305 pounds
  • Relative Athletic Score: 9.62
  • 2024 salary cap hit: $2,787,171
  • College: Clemson
  • Drafted: First round in 2023 (New Orleans Saints)
  • NFL experience: 2 seasons

Bresee was active in all 17 games last year, totaling 4.5 sacks and 9 quarterback hits with 7 tackles for loss and 6 passes defensed. He had 24 combined tackles. He was consistently pressuring quarterbacks and making plays in the backfield. So how can he level up in 2024?

The big priority for Bresee now is improving his run defense. He needs to do a better job anchoring against advancing blockers and plugging lanes to reroute ball carriers. He played too high at times as a rookie which led to him getting pushed off the line of scrimmage. The Saints limited his snaps accordingly, with Bresee playing 391 snaps on passing downs against 148 on running downs. He needs to prove to his coaches that they can trust him when the offense is looking to run the football. If he can do that, he’ll surpass veterans ahead of him on the depth chart like Nathan Shepherd (303 snaps in run defense) and Khalen Saunders (276).

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