Tag: Nate Burleson

Nate Burleson thinks Tajae Sharpe will have career-year with Vikings

These predicted numbers would be pretty close to what Diggs did in 2019 with the Vikings.

The Vikings took a chance on receiver Tajae Sharpe hoping that he can help the team solve its void at WR2 after trading Stefon Diggs.

Nate Burleson over at NFL.com thinks that Sharpe will do a solid job of it, which would certainly be a big win for the Vikings.

Here’s what Burleson wrote about Sharpe’s fit with the Vikings:

This is a great situation for the former Titan. During his career, as a backup or sub, Sharpe has rarely been one of the QB’s first few reads. With Stefon Diggs out of Minnesota, Sharpe has a spectacular opportunity to prove himself opposite Adam Thielen, and I think he will log his best season to date.

2020 production: 55 rec., 950 yards, 9 TDs

Those numbers would all be career highs for Sharpe and are nearly identical to what Diggs did in 2019 for the Vikings. Diggs caught 63 passes for 1,130 yards and six touchdowns.

The Vikings are also likely to added at least one receiver in the draft as well, which could certainly cut into Sharpe’s touches.

What will Stefon Diggs’ numbers look like in Buffalo?

All eyes will be on how Stefon Diggs adjusts to the change from Kirk Cousins to Josh Allen at quarterback.

Former Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs is have a new home in 2020 after being traded to the Buffalo Bills.

Most would agree that going from Kirk Cousins to Josh Allen is probably a downgrade.

Diggs is coming off a season in which he caught 63 passes for a career-high 1,130 yards and six touchdowns.

Nate Burleson, who is also a former Vikings receiver, is predicting that Diggs’ numbers will take a bit of a hit, but his touchdowns will increase.

Here’s what Burleson predicted for Diggs’ 2020 season:

Diggs’ production will drop slightly, but his touchdown totals will increase. His yardage will dip simply because Josh Allen is a dynamic runner, so the young QB isn’t likely to drop back and pass it as much as Kirk Cousins did in Minnesota. I will say that I think Diggs will have an impact statistically on every game in Buffalo, something he didn’t consistently do on the Vikings.

2020 production: 60 rec., 1,000 yards, 10 TDs

It was clear that Diggs wasn’t happy with Minnesota’s run-first approach and you got the sense he wasn’t a fan of Cousins’ latest contract extension. While Allen is a solid quarterback, his accuracy is a concern. We’ll see how Diggs responds to that. It will also be interesting to see where Diggs goes in fantasy football drafts. There’s certainly a risk there.

Ranking the Vikings’ 3 best 3rd-round picks since 2000

With the NFL Draft right around the corner and our Kyle Ratke ranked the Vikings’ three best third-round picks since 2000. 3. RB, Jerick McKinnon, 2014 The Vikings found a shifty former college quarterback to be their change-of-pace running back. In …

With the NFL Draft right around the corner and our Kyle Ratke ranked the Vikings’ three best third-round picks since 2000.

3. RB, Jerick McKinnon, 2014

The Vikings found a shifty former college quarterback to be their change-of-pace running back. In three of McKinnon’s four seasons with the Vikings, he eclipsed the 500-yard rushing mark and also combined for 984 receiving yards during that stretch.

We saw just how dangerous was in 2017 when he ran for 570 yards and caught 51 passes for another 421 yards. He was a big part of the team’s 13-3 season.

McKinnon earned a big deal with the 49ers the following offseason. Unfortunately, he hasn’t played in a game since after tearing his ACL before the 2018 season.

2. WR, Nate Burleson, 2003

Burleson only played three seasons with the Vikings after being drafted out of Nevada, but he showed almost immediately that he was going to be a dangerous in the league for a long time.

In his second season, Burleson piled up 1,006 receiving yards to go with nine touchdowns. After three seasons in Minnesota, he spent four seasons with the Seahawks and another four with the Lions. He never hit the 1,000-yard mark, but he lasted 11 years in the NFL and had 5,630 receiving yards and 39 touchdowns. That’s more than what most third-round picks can say.

1. DE, Danielle Hunter, 2015

What an absolute home run this pick was.

Hunter was considered a project, at just 21 years old, out of LSU. In his first season with the Vikings, he piled up six sacks. In his second season, he had 12.5. What made that so wild was that he started just one game during that time.

Hunter is coming off of back-to-back 14.5 sack seasons and has 54.5 for his career. And he’s only 25 years old. In 2019, he made his second Pro Bowl and became the youngest player in NFL history to record 50 sacks.

Seems like things are going in the right direction for Hunter.

Nate Burleson says the Lions should ‘draft the best player available’ at pick No. 3

Recently on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football, former Detroit Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson weighed in on the Lions options in the 2020 NFL Draft. Burleson’s answer was simple and straightforward: ”Draft the best player available, don’t overthink it”.

Thursday morning on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football, former Detroit Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson weighed in on the Lions’ options at the top of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Burleson’s co-host, Kyle Brandt, posed him the question, assuming that both Joe Burrow (LSU) and Chase Young (Ohio State) are the first two players selected, “If you were the Lions, would you rather draft the best player available or trade down”?

Burleson’s answer was simple and straightforward: ”Draft the best player available, don’t overthink it”.

“If you try to trade down, then you have to negotiate to get exactly what you want,” Burelson continued. “There are some absolute dogs in this draft. Derrick Brown will still be there, so you can grab him (there). Isaiah Simmons, I feel is a guy who is going to make an immediate impact.

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“If you want to get after the quarterbacks in the NFC North, you can’t be 29th in sacks and still try to make some waves within that division. So to me, go ahead and get the best player available.”

When draft day comes, the Lions could follow Burelson’s advice, play it safe and draft the best player, or they could trade down, in an effort to solve multiple problems.

GMFB has differing opinions on Jameis Winston’s future with Bucs

See what the crew over at “Good Morning Football” had to say about Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston and his future with the team.

This morning on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, Jameis Winston was the topic of conversation on the shows Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda segment, posing the question:

“Would you be surprised if Jameis Winston remains Buccaneers starting QB?”

Former wide receiver Nate Burleson, said that he would not be surprised if Winston remains at the helm citing comments from coach Bruce Arians, “We can win with Jameis.” Burleson continued by saying that Arians “wants a quarterback that can sling it, and throw it down field.” As Burleson elaborated, he talked about calling the Buccaneers and Houston Texans game at the end of the season, and spoke to Arians asking him about the offense, and what he wants out of his quarterback. “If he doesn’t make the throw, if he hesitates, if he checks it down, even if there are two guys on one of our star receivers, I am going to yell at my quarterback,” Arians told Burleson.

Burleson continued on his understanding of what Arians wants, saying “Jameis has that, he’s not going to hold back, he’s going to let it fly. I heard he went out and got LASIK, got his thumb on his throwing hand fixed. All things that point to Jameis coming back and having a better season. He won’t be 30-for-30 like the ESPN documentaries.”

Co-host, Kyle Brandt meanwhile, had a polar opposite opinion on Winston’s future saying, “[Bruce] Arians doesn’t want someone to sling it. Winston doesn’t need Arians to tell him to sling it. Carson Palmer, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning, those guys were not throwing 30 interceptions a year. Those are Bruce Arians guys.” Brandt made reference to Winston being the teams starting quarterback for five years by very simply stating, “If you’re not sure after five years. Then you are sure.”

During their press conferences, both general manager Jason Licht and Arians have been delivering the same undertones that the team could win with Winston as their quarterback, but they are doing their due diligence and weighing all of their options. Arians went as far as saying that he and the team already know what they are going to do at quarterback, they just haven’t made it public yet. It’s now being discussed among many of my peers that the Buccaneers are a potential landing spot for Tom Brady.

Another take that isn’t being widely discussed, could the Buccaneers trade up into one of the top spots and draft a quarterback? Keeping the defense together has been the top priority for the team, and this would allow them to allocate the majority of money to doing just that.

The April 23rd draft is not very far away, and only time will tell what the Buccaneers will do in preparation for the 2020 season.

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Nate Burleson predicts 1,200 yards, 14 TD’s for DK Metcalf in 2020

Nate Burleson predicted Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf will have 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2020 on ‘Good Morning Football’.

On NFL Network’s ‘Good Morning Football’, former Seattle Seahawks receiver and current analyst Nate Burleson made predictions about a handful of players who will be entering their second season in the league in 2020.

One of those predictions was about Seattle’s own DK Metcalf, and Burleson did not hold back his excitement for the big, speedy wideout.

Burleson predicted 1,200 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns for Metcalf in 2020, numbers that would almost certainly be among the best in the league.

Metcalf definitely impressed in his rookie season, hauling in 58 receptions for 900 yards and seven touchdowns in 16 games played.

For him to reach those lofty totals however, the Seahawks will need to throw the ball more – which has never been a huge part of their game – and Metcalf will need to work on his hands, having only hauled in 58 percent of his targets last year.

Seattle would also have to commit to making Metcalf their top target in the red zone – which certainly does not seem out of the question considering his size and leaping ability.

All in all, this is a bold prediction that no doubt represents the absolute best case scenario for Metcalf and the Seahawks in year two.

It’s not completely impossible, however, considering his strong rookie performance and Russell Wilson’s elite play at quarterback.

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Nate Burleson: Giants’ Darius Slayton is a ‘beast’

Nate Burleson says New York Giants WR Darius Slayton is a “beast” who’s only going to get better and eventually earn big money.

Former NFL wide receiver and current television analyst/personality, Nate Burleson, is the latest to hop on the Darius Slayton express.

Burleson was quick to point out that the Giants got a steal in the fifth round in the Auburn speedster, who led the Giants with 740 yards receiving and eight touchdowns.

“This is what the league is about,” Burleson told NJ Advance Media during Super Bowl week in Miami. “Just when you thought it was gonna be Golden Tate’s wide receiver group, Sterling Shepard’s wide receiver group, even (tight end) Evan Engram … You thought: ‘all right, these guys are gonna be the trio that we all appreciate when it comes to the Giants wideouts.’

“Slayton is just in the background, making play after play after play,” Burleson added. “This is how guys get paid.”

Slayton is the bright light that the defenders of general manager Dave Gettleman are hanging their hats on. It’s obvious that Slayton was under-drafted last year and his success has somewhat made up for the Giants overdrafting other players.

We agree with Burleson that the Giants have a solid wide receiver corps but Tate will be 32 this year and carries a $10.5 million cap hit. Shepard sustained two concussions last season which could alter his career path. The addition and success of Slayton may not be enough for the Giants to not consider selecting another wideout in the upcoming draft.

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