Tag: Krishawn Hogan

Saints roster moves: DB DeShawn Shead signed, WR Krishawn Hogan to I.R.

The New Orleans Saints officially signed DB DeShawn Shead, listing him as a safety. WR Krishawn Hogan ended his year on injured reserve.

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The New Orleans Saints made their signing of veteran defensive back DeShawn Shead official on Wednesday, listing his addition on the daily NFL transactions report. Interestingly, the Saints designated him to play safety; Shead’s NFL experience as been limited to cornerback in his seven-year career, though he tried out at safety for the Seattle Seahawks during their 2019 training camp and preseason. It didn’t stick, however, and he’s been a free agent since.

This might suggest that the Saints don’t expect Shead to play right away, despite injuries to starting free safety Marcus Williams and strong safety Vonn Bell. They adjusted on the fly during last week’s game with the Tennessee titans by subbing in cornerback P.J. Williams and rookie defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson, each of whom have spent the bulk of the season defending the slot. Asking Shead to learn a new position and playbook after three-ish days of practice is a tall order. But it obviously can’t be ruled out given how thinly the Saints are spread in the secondary.

Additionally, the Saints reported that they signed second-year center Casey Dunn to their practice squad. The Green Bay Packers poached rookie offensive lineman John Leglue from the Saints practice squad last week, making an availability for Dunn.

Listed at 6-foot-4 and 307 pounds, played three years at Jacksonville State before transferring to Auburn, and he was signed as an undrafted rookie by the Washington Redskins in 2018. He suited up for each of their first two games before being demoted to their practice squad, and he spent some of the 2019 offseason on injured reserve before being released on September 24. Now, he’ll get a late-season tryout with the Saints.

Here’s the updated Saints practice squad:

  • OL Casey Dunn
  • DL Jalen Dalton
  • CB Chris Johnson
  • TE Jerrell Adams
  • LB Andrew Dowell
  • WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey
  • WR Emmanuel Butler
  • RB/WR Taquan Mizzell
  • OL Derrick Kelly
  • TE/DL Mitchell Loewen

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Who returns punts with Deonte Harris injured?

The New Orleans Saints will be without their breakout star punt returner against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers so who fills in for Deonte Harris?

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Breakout rookie punt returner Deonte Harris was an unexpected absentee on the New Orleans Saints injury report, with the team ruling him out for their Sunday game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Harris’s loss is huge; he’s been the best to do it for New Orleans since Sean Payton was hired as head coach, and the rookie is the only player in the NFL with 200-plus yards on both punts and kickoffs.

Unfortunately, a late-game hamstring injury versus the Atlanta Falcons has put his availability in doubt, though the team already put him on the shelf this week. Hopefully this won’t become a lingering issue that derails his promising NFL debut.

In the meantime, who will the Saints roll out to fill in for him against the Buccaneers?

The easy answer on punts is Ted Ginn Jr., who has the most NFL experience doing that of anyone else left on the roster. But Saints coach Sean Payton has been critical of Ginn’s shaky hands in the past and may prefer to give younger teammates a shot first.

One of those candidates could be Krishawn Hogan, who was the only other player warming up as a punt returner next to Harris before last week’s Falcons game. Hogan has only played a handful of snaps so far, mostly blocking on run plays, but he might be someone Payton considers for the job.

Two other names to monitor are players more familiar with Saints fans: quarterback Taysom Hill and running back Alvin Kamara. They have both returned punts and kickoffs in the past, with Kamara notching a 106-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Tampa Bay back in his 2017 rookie season. He’s since eased off of return duties due to his value on offense, but it’s possible the Saints get desperate for a spark and trot him out.

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