Tag: Max Garcia

Second-year referee Alan Eck assigned to Week 1 Saints-Panthers game

Second-year referee Alan Eck has been assigned to Week 1’s Saints-Panthers game. New Orleans went 1-1 with him on the field last season:

The New Orleans Saints will see referee Alan Eck for a third time on Sunday when they kick off their 2024 regular season with the Carolina Panthers; Football Zebras reports that the second-year referee and his crew have been assigned to Week 1’s game at the Caesars Superdome. Eck entered the league’s ranks as a side judge in 2016 before working as an umpire from 2017 to 2022. He was promoted to referee in 2023.

Eck refereed two games for the Saints last season: a road loss to the Houston Texans and a home win over the Carolina Panthers. The black and gold were fouled seven times for 83 yards in that first matchup (with two other fouls called and declined) but drew just three penalties for 30 yards in the follow-up. And the Panthers, this week’s opponent, were fouled four times for a loss of 27 yards in last year’s game at the Caesars Superdome.

The Saints’ costliest errors both came in the Texans game, with Paulson Adebo drawing a 29-yard pass interference foul on third down and Max Garcia getting flagged for a false start on fourth down. Garcia wasn’t re-signed this offseason, and it’s worth noting Adebo had just two more DPI penalties after that one last season.

How did Eck’s crew stack up around the league? They finished with the fourth-fewest total penalties per game (10.4), ranking seventh in average penalty yards per game (87.7). If you include dismissed fouls they had the fewest total flags thrown all year (179 in 15 games). They emphasized false starts (26 for 128 yards) and offensive holding fouls (24 for 227 yards), as well as unnecessary roughness (14 for 194 yards). For the most part they let guys get away with a lot of contact in coverage, with just a dozen DPI fouls, third-fewest. Hopefully Eck and his crew call another clean game on Sunday.

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73 days till the Cardinals’ season opener against the Bills

The Cardinals hope No. 73 Jonah Williams is an impactful player in 2024, signed to a two-year deal to play tackle.

The countdown to the start of the 2024 NFL season for the Arizona Cardinals continues. As of today, a Thursday, there are 73 days until they take the field on September 8 at Highmark Stadium to face the Buffalo Bills.

The Cardinals’ current No. 73 is tackle Jonah Williams, signed this offseason to a two-year deal to start at right tackle. He hopefully is an impactful player for them.

Who was the last reasonably impact player for the Cardinals?

That would be Max Garcia.

He played four seasons for the Cardinals from 2019-2022 and wore No. 73 for three seasons. He started 11 games in 2021.

He wasn’t the best No. 73 to play for the Cardinals. That distinction belongs to tackle Ernie McMillan, who wore it from 1961-1974 and started 173 games and made four Pro Bowls over 13 seasons.

We will be back tomorrow with another countdown post.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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Saints shake up their offensive line with two new starters vs. Texans

Saints shake up their offensive line with two new starters vs. Texans

The New Orleans Saints shook up their offensive line with two new starters in Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans: James Hurst at left tackle and Max Garcia at left guard. Hurst had been starting at guard but poor performance by left tackle Trevor Penning prompted the coaching staff to make a change.

Garcia getting the starting nod is a little odd. Andrus Peat had been expected to start at his old left guard spot with Hurst moving to tackle, but a groin strain injury held him out of practice on Friday and likely impacted this decision. Peat was active on Sunday so the coaching staff must have believed he would be healthy enough to play in a pinch, but not to start an entire game.

It’s an odd choice to shake up the line this much coming off a 34-0 shutout win where the offense finally seemed to get its act together. But head coach Dennis Allen doesn’t have the luxury of time on his side, and he can’t wait for Penning to develop into a reliable starter at left tackle. Allen’s team had to fight and claw its way to a poor 7-10 finish last season and the 3-2 record he took into Week 6 on Sunday was the best of his career to this point in the season. Hopefully Penning can watch and learn and still turn into a player who can help this offense.

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Veteran OL signings are due to competition, not health-related, says Dennis Allen

The Saints signed multiple linemen, which Dennis Allen says is more about increased quality of competition than the health of Cesar Ruiz and Andrus Peat:

Many fans spent their summer imploring the New Orleans Saints to reinforce the depth chart along the offensive line, and they got their wish on Tuesday: The team announced that veteran guards Trai Turner and Max Garcia would be joining them for training camp.

Turner is a five-time Pro Bowler, while Garcia has logged thousands of snaps in the NFL with the Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals. They’ll be pushing backups Nick Saldiveri, Calvin Throckmorton, Lewis Kidd and Mark Evans II for snaps in the rotation behind starting guards Andrus Peat and Cesar Ruiz. That’s a lot of players competing for what may be just two or three spots on the 53-man roster in September, and these heightened stakes are exactly what head coach Dennis Allen sought.

“Again, I mean I sound like a broken record, we’re looking for anything we can add to our football team and make us better,” Allen said with a grin while fielding questions during his pre-training camp press conference, acknowledging that increased competition has been a priority. “We feel like having a lot of competition within the team kind of brings out the best in everybody. Depth, competition, those are all things that we’re looking for.”

When asked whether the recent injury issues for Peat and Ruiz played a part in the search for better interior line depth, Allen responded, “This is not a health-related signing. This is a signing where we felt like there is a veteran player that we can bring in, put into the mix, and then let’s see how the competition plays out.”

Injuries limited Peat to just 11 games last year, and he’s never played a full season in the NFL. After not missing a snap in 2021, Ruiz missed the final three weeks in 2022 after suffering a foot injury that required surgery. Both guards are expected to fully participate in training camp practices, but it doesn’t hurt to have more depth with real pro experience backing them up in case they get banged up again.

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Saints waive two veteran players to make room for new additions

The Saints waived two veteran players to make room for their new additions following pre-training camp tryouts:

We’ve talked plenty about the players the New Orleans Saints signed on Tuesday, all three of which became official on the daily NFL transactions wire: tight end Jimmy Graham is the headliner, but they’ve also brought in depth along the offensive line with guards Trai Turner and Max Garcia.

New Orleans had just one roster spot to spare after releasing backup center Billy Price last week, so some corresponding moves were necessary to fit these new additions underneath the 90-man roster limit. The Saints waived reserve tight end Miller Forristall and backup guard Koda Martin, each of whom arrived this offseason through signing futures contracts with New Orleans after their previous teams chose to not retain them on the practice squad.

Are they finished making moves? No. The Saints regularly cycle in new players throughout training camp to churn the bottom of the depth chart and look for quality backups, so keep an eye out for updates. Odds are any big acquisitions are behind them at this point in the offseason, but you never know.

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Saints stack OL depth, sign former Cardinals guard Max Garcia

The Saints are stacking more offensive line depth, with ESPN reporting that they’ve signed former Cardinals guard Max Garcia | @DillySanders

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The New Orleans Saints continue to bring in more offensive line depth, this time signing former Arizona Cardinals lineman Max Garcia, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Garcia has proven to be a versatile piece across the offensive line. According to Pro Football Focus charting, in his pro career Garcia has spent 2,930 snaps at left guard, 992 reps at right guard and taken 297 reps at center. Along the way he’s he allowed 17 sacks and accrued 22 penalties in 4,237 career snaps (2,646 of them in pass protection).

Garcia has been in the league since 2015 when he was drafted by the the Denver Broncos in the fourth round out of Florida. He was a member of the team that won Super Bowl 50, in a rotational role.

This news comes after the Saints brought former LSU Tiger and Washington Commanders guard Trai Turner in as well. It’s clear that the Saints are trying to bring some competition and improve the depth on the interior of the line as training camp gets started.

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Cardinals sign OL Max Garcia off Giants’ practice squad

The Arizona Cardinals have signed OL Max Garcia off of the New York Giants’ practice squad. Giants also elevated two players.

For the second time in a week, the New York Giants lost an offensive lineman off of their practice squad.

On Thursday, the New Orleans Saints plucked Wyatt Davis from the Giants and added him to their active roster. On Saturday, the Arizona Cardinals did the same thing with Max Garcia.

Garcia was a fourth-round pick (No. 133 overall) of the Denver Broncos in the 2015 NFL draft and played in all 16 games that season (starting five) for Denver’s Super Bowl 50 championship team. After four seasons in Colorado, Garcia spent three seasons with the Cardinals and now reunites with his former team.

Although he was on the practice squad, the Giants undoubtedly had plans for Garcia, who saw time at multiple positions this summer. But that’s the chance you take when putting quality veterans with experience on the practice squad.

Meanwhile, the Giants elevated safety Tony Jefferson and linebacker Quincy Roche from the reserve unit for Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.

Jefferson was an expected elevation, while Roche’s presence seems to indicate that neither Kayvon Thibodeaux (knee) nor Azeez Ojulari (calf) will be able to play.

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Cardinals announce flurry of roster moves on eve of season opener

The Cardinals announced roster moves and practice squad elevations to be ready for their season opener against the Chiefs.

The Arizona Cardinals head into their Week 1 matchup at home against the Kansas City Chiefs with a number of question marks with injures. They dealt with them with some roster moves Saturday.

The moves they made are below.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Giants make 21 transactions; host eight tryouts and one visit

The New York Giants officially made 21 transactions on Thursday and hosted a total of nine players in East Rutherford — most on tryouts.

The New York Giants made a flurry of transactions on Thursday that impacted nearly every aspect of their team — active roster, practice squad and injured reserve.

The team also had a slew of free agents in for workouts and visits with at least one being signed, and potentially more to come.

Here’s a recap of Thursday’s moves.

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Giants defeat Bengals: Winners, losers and those in between

Here are the winners, losers and those in between from the New York Giants’ preseason Week 2 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

After a solid showing against the New England Patriots in Week 1 of the preseason, the New York Giants were back at it on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

Already down 18 players due to injury, the Giants quickly inflated that total. There were several notable injuries throughout the game, including to rookie edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Back on the field, New York’s reserves struggled against the Cincinnati Bengals initially, but rebounded strong and closed things out on another Davis Webb comeback.