Tag: Kiko Alonso

Irish in the NFL: Te’o Back With Saints

Manti Te’o is back to work in the NFL as the former Heisman Trophy runner-up is going back to work with the New Orleans Saints. Originally a fourth round pick of the Chargers, Te’o spent the last two seasons with New Orleans where he recorded 80 …

Manti Te’o is back to work in the NFL as the former Heisman Trophy runner-up is going back to work with the New Orleans Saints.

Originally a fourth round pick of the Chargers, Te’o spent the last two seasons with New Orleans where he recorded 80 tackles and seven tackles for loss in that time.

Te’o’s signing likely has to do with Kiko Alonso leaving the most-recent Saints game, a Thanksgiving Night win over the Falcons, with a thigh injury.

Te’o joins a roster thought by many to be as good as there is in the NFC. His girlfriend (pause for dramatic effect) Jovi Nicole posted her excitement of the news on Instagram late Tuesday afternoon.

Te’o will turn 29 on January 26.

Saints snap counts, Week 11: Was Marcus Davenport demoted?

New Orleans Saints LB Kiko Alonso and LG Nick Easton saw their highest snap counts of the 2019 season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The New Orleans Saints defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 11, but they did so with some uncommon splits in their snap counts. Second-year pass rusher Marcus Davenport was the third wheel in the defensive end rotation. Backup left guard Nick Easton played a full game in his first appearance on offense this season. Linebacker Kiko Alonso played the second-most snaps at his position group. Six difference defensive backs played more than 50% of snaps. Here’s how everything shook out against the Buccaneers:

Offensive backfield

  • QB Drew Brees, 67 (96%)
  • RB Alvin Kamara, 43 (61%)
  • RB Latavius Murray, 29 (41%)
  • FB Zach Line, 23 (33%)
  • QB Taysom Hill, 10 (14%)
  • FS Marcus Williams, 2 (3%)

The Saints may have caught some flak from the broadcast team for putting Hill in for a pass attempt rather than Brees, but it’s a look they’ve had success with before given Brees’ subpar arm strength on passes deeper downfield. This time it happened to bite them when Hill was surprised by an unblocked blitzer. Kamara improved as the game wore on and steadily looked more comfortable after he bounced off of some Buccaneers defenders. Williams got in on the victory formation to close out the game, which is always nice to see.

Skills positions

  • WR Michael Thomas, 57 (81%)
  • TE Jared Cook, 49 (70%)
  • WR Tre’Quan Smith, 42 (60%)
  • WR Ted Ginn Jr, 38 (54%)
  • TE Josh Hill, 32 (46%)
  • WR Krishawn Hogan, 13 (19%)

It’s a shame that the Saints can’t get any consistent production out of their wide receivers besides Thomas, because they’re all getting on the field very often without justifying it. This is now two weeks in a row where multiple receivers played 50% or more of snaps on offense but failed to combine for multiple catches. The clock is ticking on Smith and Ginn’s job security. Hill was on track to see his usual workload (39 snaps per game) but a concussion sidelined him.

Offensive line

  • T Terron Armstead, 70 (100%)
  • C Erik McCoy, 70 (100%)
  • T Ryan Ramczyk, 70 (100%)
  • G Larry Warford, 70 (100%)
  • G Nick Easton, 70 (100%)
  • G Will Clapp, 14 (20%)
  • G Patrick Omameh, 1 (1%)

It was a heck of an outing for Easton, who got his first snaps on offense of the year and turned them into a game-long performance. He effectively came off the bench to pitch a no-hitter. When Hill went out with a concussion, the Saints’ go-to adjustment was increased snaps for Clapp as a blocker, though Omameh joined him in a heavyset offensive line look on Brees’ leaping fourth-down conversion.

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Former Saints LB Vince Biegel turning into a bright spot for Dolphins

Few would argue that the New Orleans Saints made a bad move in swapping linebackers with the Miami Dolphins back before the NFL roster cuts deadline, shipping out a special teams ace and defensive reserve for a starting-quality veteran. Kiko Alonso …

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Few would argue that the New Orleans Saints made a bad move in swapping linebackers with the Miami Dolphins back before the NFL roster cuts deadline, shipping out a special teams ace and defensive reserve for a starting-quality veteran. Kiko Alonso has played well for New Orleans in his first few months on the job, gradually picking up more of the defensive playbook and earning increasingly-high snap counts.

But this is a case where both parties came away feeling good about what they’d gained. For Miami, it meant a talented pass rusher who’s just happy to have the opportunity. Vince Biegel has turned into a bright spot in a season that’s been tough to watch for Dolphins fans. He ranks second on the team in sacks (2) but leads the defense in hits (11) by a landslide. If he put up those same numbers for the Saints, he’d rank third-best in each category.

According to pressure rates charted by Pro Football Focus, Biegel places inside the top 10 for pass rushers league-wide, ranking just above Marcus Davenport. That shows that he’s performing well with consistency on a snap-to-snap basis, not just notching a few lucky plays.

And for Biegel and his family, the opportunity to start on a defense and make a career in Miami is something to be grateful for. Wins and losses are great (and his fortunes there would be widely reversed if the Saints hadn’t traded him), but the chance to write his own NFL story is something he appreciates.

“To be in (Dolphins coach Brian Flores) defense has been a blessing for me,” Biegel said earlier this season. “Coach Flo reminds me a lot of Dave Aranda, who was the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, a guy who really loved to mix it up, a great defensive mind who really put guys in great positions to make plays.”

And he’s made some memorable plays for Dolphins faithful already, including his first career sack — which came against none other than New England Patriots legend Tom Brady. The list of players who can boast that kind of start to their career is brief, and it’s something Biegel takes pride in.

“For me, this has been the most comfortable defense I’ve been a part of so far in the league,” Biegel continued. “It’s been fun to be a part of this defense, make some plays, obviously for the team and continue to grow. As the season progresses, and hopefully (I) stay here for years to come I hopefully can grow and develop and to be a great, great player in this defense.”

So what does this mean for Saints fans? It’s certainly not something to complain about. Biegel was playing well in his role for New Orleans, but the opportunity to add someone as experienced as Alonso was too good to pass up, especially with Biegel buried on the depth chart. If anything, having someone to root for during Dolphins games is a plus for fans of the black and gold — so long as they aren’t the ones playing against Biegel and his new team.

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