Tag: Marcus Davenport

ESPN: Saints are a ‘wild card’ to trade into 2024 draft’s top 10 picks

ESPN’s draft analysts say the New Orleans Saints are a ‘wild card’ to trade into the 2024 draft’s top 10 picks. Never rule out Mickey Loomis:

Well this is interesting. Could the New Orleans Saints trade up and into the 2024 NFL draft’s top-10? ESPN’s Matt Miller, Jordan Reid, and Field Yates collaborated on a mock draft for the first 10 selections, with the draft order determined by ESPN’s Football Power Index. That left the Saints on the outside looking in, but Yates cautioned against writing them off as a player early in the 2024 draft.

When discussing wild-card teams that could make a move and trade into the top 10 picks, Yates said that Saints general manager Mickey Loomis “has perhaps the strongest belief of anyone in the league that if you have a guy you want, you do what it takes to get that player. He’s unafraid of the audacious, and trading up classifies as that. Keep an eye on New Orleans.”

That’s obviously true. Just look at his history. Loomis has greenlit first-round trades in recent years to go get players like wide receiver Chris Olave and Trevor Penning (in 2022) and Marcus Davenport (2018). He’s traded Saints players away to get additional first-round draft picks, spending them on right tackle Ryan Ramczyk (2017), linebacker Stephone Anthony (2015). His history of early-round trading goes back further: running back Mark Ingram II (2011), defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis (2008), and defensive lineman Johnathan Sullivan (2003).

And as you can see from that list of names, his hit rate is about 37.5%. Olave appears to be on the right track, Ramczyk has been a great player, and Ingram left the Saints as the franchise’s leading rusher in every major category. But Penning can’t get on the field, Davenport and Anthony were busts, Ellis washed out of the NFL after playing out his rookie contract, and the less said of Sullivan’s miserable run with the team, the better.

So, yeah, Loomis could absolutely call in another bold trade next April. He’s done it before. If Derek Carr continues to look like a lemon and a promising rookie quarterback like Jayden Daniels or Michael Penix Jr. is unlikely to get out of the top-10, maybe the Saints would make a move. But it’s worth asking whether that’s the right move for this Saints team. With an aging roster and few draft picks to work with in the early rounds, they need to hit on every selection possible, and that might mean a more patient approach is the better course of action.

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Updated Saints 2024 draft pick projections after Broncos’ 4-game winning streak

The Broncos have won four games in a row, dramatically shifting the Saints’ projected picks in the 2024 NFL draft:

This isn’t great. The Denver Broncos have won four games in a row, improving their record to 5-5 in Sean Payton’s first year on the job — powered by five Wil Lutz field goals in a Sunday night win against the Minnesota Vikings.

All of their success has a ripple effect on the New Orleans Saints, who are receiving Denver’s second- and seventh-round 2024 draft picks after trading Payton and Lutz to them earlier this year. Where are the Saints projected to be picking now that the Broncos have turned things around?

Here’s the Saints’ updated draft order from Tankathon, based off the latest standings after Week 11:

  • Round 1, pick 19
  • Round 2, pick 47 (via Denver Broncos)
  • Round 4, pick 136 (compensatory)
  • Round 5, pick 155
  • Round 5, pick 171 (compensatory)
  • Round 5, pick 174 (compensatory)
  • Round 6, pick 196
  • Round 6, pick 209 (via Philadelphia Eagles)
  • Round 7, pick 235 (via Denver Broncos)

Remember, those compensatory draft picks for 2023 free agents David Onyemata, Marcus Davenport, and Kaden Elliss will not be awarded until March, and it’s possible the expert predictions miss the mark. We’ll have to wait and see.

For now, it’s looking like there will be a sizeable gap between the Saints’ second-round choice (coming from Denver) and their next pick, whether it’s a compensatory fourth rounder or their own pick in the fifth round. Trading so many early-round picks away like Mickey Loomis has done will do that. Philadelphia controls the Saints’ second-round selection, while Denver has New Orleans’ third-round choice, and the Saints’ fourth-round pick is going to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Hopefully those compensatory picks transfer as expected.

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The New Orleans Saints have the NFL’s slowest pass rush in 2023

Your eyes aren’t fooling you. The New Orleans Saints have the NFL’s slowest pass rush, taking more time to get to the quarterback than any other team:

If you’ve been watching the New Orleans Saints defense this year and found yourself muttering or shouting some variant of “That’s too much time!” when the opposing quarterback drops back to pass, you aren’t crazy. Research from Doug Analytics found that the Saints have posted the NFL’s slowed pass rush unit through the first 10 weeks of the season.

And that checks out when you look at other stats. The Saints are tied for the fifth-fewest sacks (18) going into their Week 11 bye. Their Pro Football Reference pressure rate is 19.4%, ninth-worst around the league. That’s a slight improvement over last year’s 17.5% pressure rate, which was fourth-lowest, but the big difference is that the Saints aren’t finishing pressures with sacks. They had 48 sacks a year ago. They would need to average 4.3 sacks per game through these last seven weeks to match that total.

The problem is a lack of speed along the defensive front. Cameron Jordan is still being asked to be their leading rusher off the edge when his body just doesn’t have that extra gear anymore. He’s never been known for his speed off the snap, so Jordan’s game should age well as a run defender and power rusher, but the Saints must compensate for that by getting faster at other spots. Carl Granderson has some speed element to his game and Bryan Bresee can move quickly along the interior, but those are just two of the eight players in the rotation most weeks.

Whiffing on so many early-round draft picks hurts. The Saints swung and missed on first-round defensive ends like Marcus Davenport and Payton Turner and their rookie second-round pick Isaiah Foskey has had few snaps to show what he can do. They badly need one of those guys to step up and add some athleticism to the mix. Jason Pierre-Paul could improve the group but he isn’t helping them get younger.

Interestingly, the next-slowest pass rush in this graph comes from the Washington Commanders. It’s a comprehensive look at teams from Weeks 1 through 10, so that includes edge rushers Montez Sweat and Chase Young, both of whom were dealt at the NFL trade deadline. There was an uproar from Saints fans about not acquiring one of them, but it sure looks like they wouldn’t have cured the specific problem ailing the Saints defense.

A lacking athleticism up front is the issue. The Saints are slow to get after the quarterback, slow to put hands on him, and slow to keep up with him when he rolls out of the pocket looking to throw downfield. We saw them get gashed consistently by Joshua Dobbs and Tyson Bagent in recent weeks after C.J. Stroud did it a few weeks earlier. Any quarterback who can use their legs can challenge them.

Dennis Allen is a believer in the idea that the secondary and pass rush must work in tandem. He’s built this defense so that the quarterback is forced to hold onto the ball long enough for the rush to get home. But even a secondary full of All-Pro corners will get beaten if they’re all asked to cover for four, five, or six seconds. The Saints can’t afford to stop investing resources in the pass rush unit. Hopefully one of those draft picks hits soon.

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Josh Dobbs and Jayden Daniels in 2024? Purple Daily on Draft

Purple Daily on Draft discusses the Vikings future at quarterback, edge rusher and what to make of Josh Dobbs’ future in Minnesota

The Minnesota Vikings once again have a quarterback conundrum with a backup quarterback. Case Keenum came out of nowhere in 2017 to lead the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game and made the quarterback decision going into 2018 a difficult and fascinating one.

The performance of Josh Dobbs through two weeks already has the discussion of a contract extension coming into focus. Has he done enough to earn an extension? Should the Vikings even consider that after just seven quarters of football?

The edge rusher position is also in flux. Danielle Hunter is proving to be dominant and D.J. Wonnum is coming into his own during his fourth season. With those two and Marcus Davenport about to become free agents, how should the Vikings handle the room with both free agency and the NFL draft?

Lastly, the emergence of Jayden Daniels is coming into focus. How does his success impact how we view this quarterback class?

All of that and more on the latest episode of Purple Daily on Draft, dropping every Monday afternoon on the Purple Daily YouTube channel.

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Kevin O’Connell provided injury updates after win vs. Saints

O’Connell provided updates on the teams injruy front, including Justin Jefferson

The Minnesota Vikings continue to be fighting injuries as we are in the heart of the National Football League season. Not only are the Vikings dealing with injuries to their depth, but also to their star players.

The team has been waiting for Justin Jefferson to return from the hamstring injury he suffered against the Kansas City Chiefs, but they have also been playing great football, winning every game he has missed by going 5-0 and looking dominant at times on offense.

During his media availability on Monday, head coach Kevin O’Connell updated the many injuries on the Vikings with some having better prognosis than others.

Analyzing the final Saints injury report for Week 10 vs. Vikings

Analyzing the final Saints injury report for Week 10 vs. Vikings: Who’s in, who’s out, and who has a chance to play?

We’re looking at two teams in very different injury situations going into Week 10. The New Orleans Saints have all but two hands on deck for Sunday’s matchup with the Minnesota Vikings, who listed five players as questionable on the final injury report with a sixth doubtful to suit up and a seventh preemptively ruled out.

And that’s after Minnesota placed several key players on injured reserve earlier in the season like defensive end Marcus Davenport, quarterback Kirk Cousins, and running back Cam Akers. Let’s analyze the latest game statuses for all players listed on the injury report by the Saints and Vikings:

Vikings elevate 2 from practice squad for Monday’s game

The Vikings elevated two from the practice squad to fill the gap for injured players

The Minnesota Vikings have elevated two players from the practice squad for Monday night’s game against the San Francisco 49ers. Both wide receiver Trishton Jackson and outside linebacker Luiji Vilain.

With Jalen Nailor still working his way back from his hamstring injury, Jackson is being elevated likely to fill a role on special teams. This is Jackson’s second elevation this season and has one more before he has to be on the active roster to play in a game.

After playing in three games in 2022, this is Vilain’s first game in 2023 and also his first activation. With Marcus Davenport on injured reserve, Vilain is likely to be the fourth outside linebacker with Danielle Hunter, D.J. Wonnum and Pat Jones II getting the majority of the snaps.

The Vikings kick off with the 49ers at 7:15 central.

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8 burning questions answered about 2023 Vikings

From Lewis Cine to drafting a quarterback, Tyler Forness answers the burning questions from Minnesota Vikings fans

The 2023 Minnesota Vikings are quite an interesting team. After having poor underlying metrics and a 13-4 season in 2022, they are 2-4 with really good underlying metrics so far this season.

Crazy how the script flipped that drastically right?

It also has the fanbase not sure what to think of the team or the direction. Should they continue to pursue a playoff spot or sell off players that have expiring contracts like they do in baseball?

With a level of uncertainty, until we see the Vikings play out the next two games, we decided to answer some of the questions that the fanbase has. These eight questions tackle a lot of the questions being debated by the fanbase and I answered them all.

Vikings PFF grades on defense through 6 games

The Minnesota Vikings defense has some standouts and the Pro Football Focus grades showcase that

The Minnesota Vikings are a fascinating team.

Despite a 2-4 start, the Vikings have good underlying metrics and Pro Football Focus has the offensive line as one of the best units in the National Football League.

As we head into week seven, here are the PFF grades for each member of the Vikings defense.

Too many Mickey Loomis gambles have come back to burn the Saints

Too many Mickey Loomis gambles have come back to burn the Saints. The Saints GM has wasted a lot of valuable draft picks on players who haven’t helped the team:

There aren’t many general managers around the NFL with job security like Mickey Loomis, and it’s easy to see why. The franchise’s valuation has skyrocketed under his watch. Hired to the post way back in 2003, he helped raise the New Orleans Saints’ valuation from the $70 million that Tom Benson paid to buy the team in 1985 (which would be about $92 million today, due to inflation) to the $4 billion figure boasted around today. Loomis will be on staff as long as he wants to be, and he’s currently the longest-tenured general manager in the league.

But too many of his recent gambles have come back to burn the team. Not just the bad decision to promote Dennis Allen to head coach over better-qualified candidates like Doug Pederson, this week’s opponent with the Jacksonville Jaguars — but in the draft, too. There isn’t a more important even for acquiring young talent and sustaining long-term success than the annual NFL draft, and Loomis has played too fast and loose with the team’s draft picks.

Here’s what it’s cost them to add first-round players who aren’t helping the team like left tackle Trevor Penning (benched), defensive end Payton Turner (on injured reserve for the second time in three years), and defensive end Marcus Davenport (who left the team in free agency after an injury-plagued five-year career):