Tag: player

Dennis Allen compares Khalen Saunders to a former fan-favorite Saints DT

Dennis Allen has a smart player comparison for Khalen Saunders, offering a throwback to his early days in New Orleans: Hollis Thomas

What are the New Orleans Saints getting in Khalen Saunders? The big defensive tackle was one of their first free agent signings this offseason, and head coach Dennis Allen has a smart comparison in mind. When asked for his thoughts on the team’s pickup, he offered a throwback to his early days in New Orleans.

“Khalen Saunders reminds me a lot of Hollis Thomas,” Allen said at NFL owners meetings in Phoenix this week. “Kind of a big square body, athletic, can move. Good run stopper but yet some sneaky pass-rush ability. The ability to push the pocket inside. I think he can help us in that regard. Maybe slightly more athletic than what we saw with Shy.”

“Tank” Thomas wasn’t quite as big as Saunders — the Saints listed him at 6-flat and 306 pounds; Saunders tips the scales at 324 — but it’s a good comparison. He joined the Saints as a veteran in 2006 and started 30 of the 38 games he played in black and gold, ultimately seeing 1,259 snaps across his three-year run in New Orleans. He averaged about 33 snaps per game and was active defending the run as well as the pass. Pro Football Focus charting found he generated 32 pressures in that time, with the NFL officially crediting him with 6.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss. If Saunders can return similar production, Allen and the team probably feel great about the move.

And like Saunders, Hollis had a big personality. He was known as an always-positive, charismatic face in the locker room. A former undrafted free agent who got his first break in the NFL by sending his highlight tape to all 30 teams at the time (his career began in 1996, before the league expanded to 32 franchises in 2003) while a student at Northern Illinois.

Thomas recounted the story to PhiladelphiaEagles.com’s Jim Gehman in 2021: “I got the audio-visual department to make me one. It wasn’t too long and it wasn’t too short. I was just trying to give them pretty much a highlight of what I do in games. … I talked to (former Eagles head coach) Ray Rhodes before I committed to come here. And one of the things that Ray told me was if I came and did the things that I did in college, that I will make the team. No ifs, ands, or buts.”

Saunders is arriving in New Orleans with a little more fanfare. The Kansas City Chiefs’ former third-round draft pick signed a three-year contract with the Saints valued at up to $12.3 million, with half of it guaranteed. He’s expected to start next to Nathan Shepherd in the middle of Allen’s defense and set the tone early.

Like Thomas was before him, he’s going to be a key piece of the New Orleans defensive line at a pivotal moment in franchise history. After working hard to recruit free agent quarterback Derek Carr and coming off their first losing season in seven years, it’s vital that Saunders helps the Saints shake back and chase an NFC South title. We’ll see if he has it in him.

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Juwan Johnson, Justin Evans were the highest-graded Saints players in Week 15

Juwan Johnson and Justin Evans were the highest-graded Saints players in Week 15 at Pro Football Focus, stepping up big against the Falcons:

The New Orleans Saints took care of business against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 15, winning 21-18 at home to improve to 5-9 on the season so far. They wound up in that position with some standout performances — for both good and bad — on offense, defense, and special teams.

Here’s a look at the highest and lowest grades from Pro Football Focus, limiting our focus to players who were on the field for at least 15 snaps in each phase of the game:

Saints player power rankings ahead of Week 1’s Falcons game

Demario Davis is on top of our Saints player power rankings ahead of Week 1’s Falcons game:

The 2022 NFL season is here, so it’s a great time to run through our New Orleans Saints player power rankings ahead of Week 1’s game with the Atlanta Falcons. Our staff here at Saints Wire each submitted ballots ranking our top 25 Saints players, which was combined into the list you’ll find below.

A quick note on our methodology: we’re keeping it simple with each of our staffers submitting a ballot with the top 25 players listed, and points awarded for placement. So one first-place ballot is worth 25 points, second-place is 24 points, and so on. This rewards players who are mentioned often (even if they’re at the end of the pack) rather than someone who only gets one ballot but is ranked disproportionately high. It levels the playing-field.

hen necessary, tiebreakers are decided by which players appeared on more ballots and who received higher votes (two top-10 votes versus one top-10 vote, for example).

So with that in mind, here are your top 25 Saints players entering Week 1. We’ll circle back and update this after the Falcons game, and keep it running on a weekly basis throughout the 2022 season:

Each team’s under the radar player for the divisional round of playoffs

Highlighting one important under-the-radar player for the #Chiefs and the 7 other teams left in the NFL’s divisional round of the playoffs.

Every NFL playoff team has a handful of stars, but the difference between advancing with a win and going home with a loss is so often razor-thin in the postseason, and sometimes it’s the under-the-radar players that make all the difference.

Who is going to make the big play when the All-Pro receiver is double covered? Who is going to help slow down the other’s team star running back? Who will step up in an important spot late in the game?

Here is each team’s under the radar player entering the NFL’s divisional round:

Chiefs players react to trade for Ravens LT Orlando Brown Jr.

Orlando Brown’s newest teammates are excited to have him on board.

The Kansas City Chiefs have a new player inbound after trading to acquire Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. on Friday. The 24-year-old was clearly brought in to be the teams’ starting left tackle, filling the most glaring hole on the roster ahead of the 2021 NFL draft. Several members of the team took to Twitter to react to the news of the trade shortly after it was first reported. It’s safe to say that this is a widely approved move in the locker room from both offensive and defensive players alike.

Here’s a quick look at some of the reactions:

Linebacker Ventrell Miller returns for fifth season looking to lead UF defense

Ventrell Miller led the team in tackles as a redshirt junior, and he returns as one of UF’s most experienced defensive players.

Name: Ventrell Miller

Number: 52

Position: Linebacker

Class: Redshirt Junior

Height: 6’1″

Weight: 230 pounds

Hometown: Lakeland, Fla.

High School: Kathleen

Twitter: @ventrell_miller

2020 statistics:

TOT SOLO AST SACK FF FR YDS PD
86 52 34 3.5 0 1 0 3

Overview:

A three-star recruit coming out of Kathleen High School, Miller originally committed to and signed with former coach Jim McElwain in 2017, becoming a part of the Lakeland-to-Gainesville pipeline.

He had to wait until his second season on campus to see the field, though, as he spent the entire 2017 season suspended for his role in the credit card fraud incident. He finally rejoined the team in 2018, and he appeared in all 13 games playing on special teams and as a reserve linebacker, finishing with 15 tackles, a sack and a pick.

Miller’s role increased considerably as a redshirt sophomore in 2019. He appeared in 12 games and started 11 of them, eventually finishing second on the team in tackles with 55. He also had three sacks.

He entered his redshirt junior season in 2020 expected to be one of the leaders on defense, and though the unit as a whole struggled considerably, he had a solid season. He played in 11 of Florida’s 12 games, and he started 10 of them.

Miller led the team in tackles last season with 88 in addition to notching 3.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss (all career-highs). Though he certainly could have been selected in the 2021 NFL draft, he decided to return for a fifth season in Gainesville, where he should be one of the best players on defense.

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Chiefs players react to postponement of Week 4 vs. Patriots

Kansas City Chiefs players took to social media to express their dismay over the postponement of the Week 4 game.

The NFL has announced that the Kansas City Chiefs vs. New England Patriots Week 4 game will be postponed after a player on each team tested positive for COVID-19. The Chiefs had already begun to inform their players of the delay of Week 4 ahead of the official announcement. Several took to social media to react to the news of the postponement of the game.

Tyrann Mathieu opted to share an important reminder of the most critical protocols to follow that can keep everyone safe during the pandemic.

Tyreek Hill sought to reiterate Mathieu’s point because it’s just that important.

Armani Watts’ one-word reaction is really how most people are feeling after the news this morning.

Juan Thornhill feels like he’s witnessing something straight out of a movie, perhaps a horror film and not because it’s the month of October.

Mathieu’s initial reaction to the situation, while it wouldn’t follow social distancing guidelines, it emphasizes the frustration and disappointment from the players who truly love this game and want more than anything to be able to play.

This game will eventually be played, with the NFL expectation of Monday or perhaps Tuesday. This frustration is only temporary, but a disappointing Saturday for many Chiefs players and fans nonetheless.

Historic player organization movements are only the beginning

If a players union is ever going to exist at the college level, it will not come from the generosity of college athletics administrators.

Earlier this week, a group of Pac-12 players sent a letter to the Players’ Tribune with a list of demands for the conference and are threatening to opt-out of the 2020 football season should those demands not be met.

The list was later shared by a number of Pac-12 athletes on Twitter, including Oregon star Penei Sewell, who is a projected early first-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

The players’ demands cover a wide range of issues, from COVID-19 safety to racial justice and compensation. For COVID-19 protections, players want the ability to opt-out of the season free from punishment within their programs and for safety standards to be maintained by a third party. To protect the status of all sports during the pandemic, they are demanding pay cuts from Commissioner Larry Scott, as well as coaches and administrators.

They also want the right to profit off their name, image and likeness, as well as the distribution of 50 percent of total conference revenue from each sport evenly among the athletes in those sports.

In response to this, players across the nation voiced their support for the movement, including Florida defensive end Zachary Carter.

Groups of players in both the Big 10 and Mountain West followed suit, giving their own list of demands to conference administrators. However, the lists of demands from those conferences aren’t as broad as that of the Pac-12 players. They only address COVID-19 safety and not wider-reaching social issues.

These movements have shown unprecedented levels of player organization at a time when it is desperately needed. As players unions in the NBA, MLB and NFL have negotiated substantive protections for their players, college athletes — who have no representation whatsoever — have been largely forced to go along with the (generally terrible) decisions made by those who allegedly care about their best interest.

Of course, the players have power; any group of organized laborers does. It’s the reason trade unions exist in the first place. But without a union (which the players desperately need for a number of reasons, as the Pac-12 players have demonstrated), the players are essentially powerless as individuals.

That’s why these grassroots organizational movements are so important. Once players realize they have power in numbers, they will be able to affect change within the system. Maybe not everything they are demanding, but significant change nonetheless.

If a players union is ever going to exist at the college level, it will not come from the generosity of college athletics administrators. Allowing the players, who aren’t technically employees, to unionize would give the game away for the NCAA. If players can collectively bargain, the current system of college athletics would be burned to the ground.

And it should be.

Because ultimately, the value of college sports isn’t derived from the NCAA. It comes from the players. And the only way the players will get what they deserve is if they force the issue through organized, collective action.

If met, the demands of the Pac-12 players would preclude the league from competing in NCAA-sanctioned events, as nearly all of them violate current amateurism rules. But, so what? Do the conferences really need the NCAA to survive?

Talking to ESPN, Ramogi Huma, founder of the college athletics advocacy group the National College Players Association, phrased the answer succinctly.

Huma said the players are aware that if the Pac-12 met their demands that the conference would not be eligible to participate in NCAA-sanctioned competitions or championships.

“Right now, it’s clear that the conferences don’t need the NCAA. Each conference is an industry unto itself,” Huma said. “[The players are saying,] ‘We’re fine if our conference doesn’t belong to the NCAA at all. We need to be treated fairly.'”

Don’t misunderstand, some reforms are certainly possible within the system, as state legislators allowing players to be compensated for the use of their names, images and likenesses shows.

But historically, massive, systemic reforms for labor groups tend to stem from one thing and one thing only: tireless and unflinching advocacy from the laborers themselves until those taking advantage of them have no choice remaining but to listen.

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Longhorns offer Virginia Football Player of the Year

Texas has given an offer to TreVeyon Henderson out of Hopewell, Virginia. Henderson is a four-star ATH in the 2021 class but mainly plays RB.

Texas has given an offer to TreVeyon Henderson out of Hopewell, Virginia. Henderson is a four-star athlete in the 2021 class but mainly plays running back. If he were to be a running back, Henderson would be the seventh player the Longhorns have offered at the position in 2021.

Listed at 5 feet 10 inches, Henderson has been outstanding for Hopewell High School the past two seasons. In his junior year, he nearly ran for 2,500 yards, recording 2,424 yards and 45 touchdowns on 198 carries. Henderson was also a threat catching the ball, having 283 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 13 receptions.

Playing some snaps on the defensive side of the ball, he recorded 48 tackles, three of them for a loss. Henderson also forced four turnovers, three via interceptions.

His efforts in the 2019 season were good enough to earn him Virginia Player of the Year. Most top schools throughout the country are in on Henderson, with Oklahoma and West Virginia coming from the Big 12. Clemson seems to be the favorite to land his commitment right now, but the door remains open for Texas to ink another star running back.

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