Tag: Niko Lalos

Studs and Duds from New Orleans Saints’ 22-17 preseason win vs. Chargers

Studs and Duds from New Orleans Saints’ 22-17 preseason win vs. Chargers: Who rose to the occasion, who fell short?

That was almost too close for comfort. The Los Angeles Chargers’ reserves had the New Orleans Saints defense on the ropes, somehow converting a massive fourth down with 23 yards to go, only to end the game with an interception off of backup quarterback Easton Stick. Saints defensive back Lonnie Johnson Jr. jumped the route on another fourth down later in the series, picking off Stick’s pass to seal the win.

So who rose to the occasion? Who fell short of expectations? Let’s break it down in our preseason Week 2 Studs and Duds:

Saints sign two ex-Giants after impressive XFL campaigns

Two former members of the New York Giants have signed with the New Orleans Saints following strong XFL performances.

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The 2023 XFL season has proven fruitful for many former NFL players who are now getting second chances, including several former members of the New York Giants.

Earlier this week, the New Orleans Saints signed two ex-Giants after they impressed during the 10-week XFL schedule.

First up was defensive tackle Jack Heflin, who recorded 25 tackles (3 TFL), one sack and one fumble recovery for the Houston Roughnecks this year.

Heflin, who went undrafted out of Iowa in 2021, spent a little time on the Giants’ practice squad in 2022.

The second ex-Giant to sign with the Saints was versatile defensive end Niko Lalos. He recorded 35 tackles (7 TFL), 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and one interception for the Seattle Sea Dragons.

Lalos, who has a big fan in NBA superstar LeBron James, spent time with the Giants from 2020-2021. During that span, he appeared in six games, recording six tackles, one fumble recovery, one pass defensed and one very impressive interception.

Several other former Giants had strong seasons in the XFL and are likely to get some looks prior to training camp.

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Saints sign a familiar face out of the XFL after a tryout at rookie minicamp

The Saints signed a familiar face out of the XFL after a tryout at rookie minicamp: defensive end Niko Lalos, who also joined them for training camp last year

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The New Orleans Saints signed a familiar face out of the XFL after a tryout at rookie minicamp: defensive end Niko Lalos, who also joined them for training camp last year. Lalos played well for a few weeks before roster cuts but didn’t have enough time to make his case for a roster spot, so he’ll get another opportunity after competing in the spring league.

Originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of Dartmouth, Lalos started his NFL career with the New York Giants in 2020 and has bounced around the league since then, including his stint in New Orleans — he joined their practice squad in mid-November and stayed there to close out the season before teaming up with the XFL’s Seattle Sea Dragons. He played the third-most defensive snaps for them but made more plays in run defense than as a pass rusher.

He’ll be pushing Jabari Zuniga for snaps at the bottom of the depth chart, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see either player (or both of them) brought back to the practice squad. The top five roster spots appear to be set with Cameron Jordan and Carl Granderson starting, backed up by some combination of Tanoh Kpassagnon, Isaiah Foskey, and Payton Turner.

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XFL at the midway point: How are ex-Giants faring?

A look at how several former members of the New York Giants are faring in the XFL as the league hits the midway point of its season.

The XFL returned for its third iteration this year and is now being run by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

The season is officially through five weeks — their midway point — and there has been some solid action and interesting moments, many of which have a distinct New York Giants flavor.

Nearly 25 former Giants are playing in the league (several others coaching) and they have made their presence felt. In fact, several of the current league leaders are ex-Giants.

Here’s a look at how some of those players are faring.

Giants claim Warren G’s son, Olaijah Griffin, off waivers from Bills

The New York Giants have claimed the son of Warren G and step-nephew of Dr. Dre, Olaijah Griffin, off waivers from the Buffalo Bills.

The New York Giants claimed defensive back Olaijah Griffin off of waivers from the Buffalo Bills on Monday, bringing their roster to 88 men. That will need to be trimmed to 85 on Tuesday.

Griffin was signed by the Bills as an undrafted free agent out of USC in 2021. He spent his entire rookie season on their practice squad and has not yet appeared in an NFL game.

To the likely delight of wide receiver Kadarius Toney, who goes by the rap name “Yung Joka,” Griffin is the son of rapper Warren G and the step-nephew of rapper/producer Dr. Dre. The locker room rap battles are sure to be off the hook.

Meanwhile, two former Giants have also found new homes.

Defensive tackle Danny Shelton, who spent the 2021 season with the Giants, was officially signed by the Kansas City Chiefs. And linebacker Niko Lalos, who spent two seasons in East Rutherford and has a fan base that includes LeBron James, signed with the New Orleans Saints.

Lalos had been released by the Giants last week.

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Giants sign OT Will Holden, waive DE Niko Lalos

The New York Giants have signed OT Will Holden and waived DE Niko Lalos.

With significant depth concerns at the offensive tackle position, the New York Giants were forced to make a move on Friday.

The team officially announced that offensive tackle Will Holden has been signed. He arrived in East Rutherford for a tryout earlier this week.

The 28-year-old Holden was originally a fifth-round pick of the Cardinals in 2017. After one year in Arizona, he became a bit of a journeyman making stops with the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions.

Holden made two stops with both the Cardinals and Colts.

Over the course of his five-year career, Holden has appeared in 27 games with nine starts. He earned a 60.8 Pro Football Focus grade with Detroit last year.

In order to clear room for Holden on the 90-man roster, the Giants waived defensive end Niko Lalos, who had become somewhat of a fan favorite.

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2022 Giants training camp preview: Linebackers

Wink Martindale will rely heavily on his New York Giants linebackers in 2022.

The New York Giants are entering a new era on defense with incoming coordinator Wink Martindale. The objective is to creatively find ways to get to the quarterback via pressure packages and blitzes.

All three levels of the defense will participate but it will the linebackers that the lead the way this year behind two new unit coaches — John Egorugwu (outside) and Drew Wilkins (inside).

Here’s a quick roundup of the linebackers heading into camp.

New York Giants: 2022 reserve/futures contract scorecard

The New York Giants have begun signing players to reserve/futures contracts, so use the Giants Wire tracker to stay up to date.

The New York Giants are now officially in offseason mode and that means it’s time to begin signing players to reserve/futures contracts.

Even without the presence of general manager Dave Gettleman, who announced his retirement on Monday, the team will press forward with personnel moves. Assistant general manager Kevin Abrams is likely handling the heavy lifting.

The Giants announced their first eight signings on Monday afternoon.

  • LB Omari Cobb
  • OT Devery Hamilton
  • LB Trent Harris
  • TE Jake Hausmann
  • DE Niko Lalos
  • QB Brian Lewerke
  • DT David Moa
  • WR Travis Toivonen

Additional signings in the coming days are likely and we’ll update this scorecard as moves are made.

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Damion Willis, Blake Martinez were highest-graded Giants vs. Patriots

WR Damion Willis and LB Blake Martinez earned the New York Giants’ highest offensive and defensive grades in a loss to the Patriots.

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The New York Giants dropped their preseason finale to the New England Patriots, 22-20, and there were plenty of reasons to come away concerned. We’ll get to those.

Before we do however, there were also several reasons to feel optimistic. Case in point: linebacker Blake Martinez demonstrating a significant improvement in coverage — if even just for a day.

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Martinez led the Giants defense with a Pro Football Focus grade of 91.7. He was followed by defensive back Julian Love (89.5), and defensive linemen Elijah Qualls (80.7) and Austin Johnson (76.2).

Other notable defensive grades include linebacker Lorenzo Carter (74.3), cornerback Sam Beal (69.7) and cornerback Rodarius Williams (59.8).

The lowest-graded Giants defenders on Sunday were linebackers Trent Harris (29.9) and Niko Lalos (24.3).

On the offensive side of the ball, wide receiver Damion Willis led the way with a PFF grade of 92.5. He was followed by guard Will Hernandez (92.2), offensive tackle Jackson Barton (78.7) and tight end Nakia Griffin-Stewart (74.7).

Fullback Eli Penny earned a 73.7, while quarterback Daniel Jones graded out at 53.8.

The Giants’ lowest-graded offensive players were running back Devontae Booker (42.1) and wide receiver Darius Slayton (41.4).

Offensive tackles Andrew Thomas and Matt Peart earned grades of 53.4 and 48.5, respectively.

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Giants fall to Jets: Winners, losers and those in between

Here are the winners, losers and those in between from the New York Giants’ preseason Week 1 loss to the New York Jets.

The New York Giants opened the 2021 preseason on Saturday night with an embarrassing 12-7 loss to the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

It was an ugly game for both teams from the jump, but the Giants appeared lightyears behind where they should be. The saving grace is that the vast majority of their starters didn’t play or played very little.

Here’s a quick look at our immediate winners and losers (and those in between) from Week 1 of the preseason.