rashid shaheed – Page 11 – Syndication Server

Rashid Shaheed questionable to return vs. Falcons with thigh injury

Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed is questionable to return vs. Falcons with thigh injury

The New Orleans Saints headed into the matchup against the Atlanta Falcons with a weakened wide receiver room and it only got worse from there as Rashid Shaheed had to exit the game early and head into the locker room. The team announced that he was questionable to return at halftime with a thigh injury.

Shaheed has been clearly dealing with a leg injury during the game, spending time both in the injury tent and on the exercise bike. He had been fighting through it, though, with two catches for nine yards before going back to the locker room. His injury reached its peak as he had to lay out for a pass and got up gingerly. The emotion was felt as he slammed his helmet on the ground when he got to the sideline.

The Saints were already without Michael Thomas for the day. A.T. Perry, Lynn Bowden Jr., and Keith Kirkwood saw increased snap counts in the first half.

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What we’re thankful for during the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 season

What we’re grateful for during the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 season

Thanksgiving is a time for expressing gratitude for the blessings in our lives — things that bring us joy which shouldn’t be taken for granted. And the New Orleans Saints have given fans some things to be thankful for even in a frustrating 2023 season. Whether it’s young standout players or position groups that have carried the team to some much-needed wins, here are our staff picks for the things we’re grateful for about the Saints this year:

Jameis Winston labels Michael Thomas as an irreplaceable part of the Saints offense

Michael Thomas will miss some time with a knee injury. Jameis Winston calls Thomas irreplaceable, but knows how the Saints have a plan for surviving his absence:

When discussing the absence of New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas (who head coach Dennis Allen said “will take some time” recovering from a knee injury), Saints quarterback Jameis Winston didn’t mince words. Winston said he’s been “in New Orleans for four years and they still haven’t been able to replace Michael Thomas,” during his Monday locker room media availability.

Chris Olave being on the team makes this statement even more powerful. Olave is the team’s leading receiver with 94 targets, 56 receptions, and 657 yards, but Thomas’ impact can’t be understated. Thomas has been the most consistent receiver on the team, despite shotty usage. He also has a different build at 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds than Olave (6-foot-0, 187 pounds) and Rashid Shaheed (6-foot-0, 180 pounds). There are assignments and plays the Saints can call for Thomas that his teammates can’t be expected to achieve.

Winston outlined a committee as the route to replacing Thomas’ production; the Saints recently re-signed wide receivers Keith Kirkwood and Marquez Callaway, but the most intriguing member of that committee is rookie draft pick A.T. Perry. Winston said that “Perry was brought in for this situation.”

Last week, Perry recorded his first catch and receiving touchdown of his career. It won’t just be Perry replacing Thomas’ role, however. That’s not fair to ask of the first-year pro. Replacing Michael Thomas will be difficult and may not ever be done. The sooner he’s back in the lineup, the better.

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5 Saints players who deserve bigger roles coming out of the bye week

Rashid Shaheed and Juwan Johnson are two of the Saints players who deserve bigger roles coming out of the bye week:

It can’t be more obvious that the New Orleans Saints need to make some changes during their bye week. They’re lucky to have a 5-5 record and sit on top of the worst division in pro football; the weak NFC South is all that’s keeping them in the playoff picture.

So what adjustments can they make? They can start by making bigger roles for these five players after the bye week:

Studs and Duds from the New Orleans Saints’ first 10 games in 2023

Studs and Duds from the New Orleans Saints’ first 10 games in 2023: Who has stood out, for good and bad?

The New Orleans Saints are on bye this week, so it’s a great time to turn retrospective and look back at the ten games they’ve played so far. And we’re looking for the Studs and Duds of 2023 — players who have stood out the most for both good and bad.

Who are your picks? Here are ours:

By The Numbers: Comparing Saints QB Derek Carr to his predecessor Andy Dalton

We saw a lot of raised eyebrows and questioning takes from the pro football world when the New Orleans Saints announced a four-year contract with Derek Carr valued at up to $150 million, an average annual payout of $37.5 million. That number ranked tenth among NFL quarterbacks at the time of signing, and it’s since fallen to 13th around the league after a couple of young pros signed lucrative extensions.

But Carr has not played like the 13th-best quarterback in the game. He ranks 17th in passer rating (89.8), 20th in ESPN’s quarterback rating (50.7), and 16th in adjusted net yards per pass attempt (5.96), a metric which accounts for touchdown passes, interceptions, and sacks relative to passing yards and attempts. His passing grade at Pro Football focus ranks 23th (67.5). At best, you could argue Carr is playing like a league-average quarterback, but the numbers suggest he’s closer to mediocre, and that’s certainly what the viewing experience has felt like each week.

Let’s go back to that $37.5 million figure. The Saints paid Carr so highly because they believed he would be a big upgrade over Andy Dalton, the veteran backup who surprised everyone by starting 14 games last year after Jameis Winston was injured, and who received just $3 million from the Saints in his one-year contract. They could have paid 12.5 Andy Daltons for the price of one Derek Carr.

So has Carr been 12.5 times better than Carr? It’s a little premature to compare them head-to-head with Dalton having started 14 games last year and Carr just 10 games into his Saints career, but there’s enough data to work with to analyze some trends. So how do they stack up against each other?

Carr is averaging more passing yards per game (223.1) than Dalton’s pace last season (205.1), but that’s because he’s also throwing more often. He’s clocking 33.4 pass attempts per game against Dalton’s 27. Dalton had a slightly better completion percentage (66.7%) than Carr (65.9%) while averaging a full yard more per attempt (7.6) than Carr (6.7).

One thing Carr has done better than Dalton is protect the football. He’s thrown just four interceptions (1.2% of his attempts), turning the ball over at half the rate Dalton did (nine interceptions; 2.4% of his passes). But Carr has fumbled four times this season, losing the ball twice, while Dalton fumbled five times last year, losing once. Altogether that’s 6 turnovers for Carr in 10 games and 10 giveaways for Dalton in 14 games.

Last year, the Saints ranked 21st in red zone efficiency (521.%), with 25 of their 48 drives into the opposing 20-yard line ending in touchdowns. They’ve regressed this year with Carr at quarterback, posting the 24th-ranked red zone conversion rate (48.6%) while going 17-of-35. Poor execution in scoring position was a major criticism of Carr throughout his Raiders career, and those issues — questionable decision-making, inaccurate passes, and folding under pressure — have continued in New Orleans.

What’s more distressing is that Carr hasn’t hit the big plays outside the red zone, either. He’s thrown 8 of his 10 touchdown passes in the red zone. In his career he’s thrown about 35% of his touchdown passes from outside the red zone, out in the open field. This year he’s done so just twice. Even Dalton was able to hit on those deep touchdown passes from outside the 20-yard line last year (7 of 18; 38% of them).

That’s inexcusable for a quarterback with Carr’s experience and some of the best young deep threats in the game available to him. It’s past time he figure out whatever chemistry issues are putting a rift between him and Chris Olave. Rashid Shaheed deserves even more touches than he’s getting. Juwan Johnson has been a non-factor after breaking out last season with Dalton under center. At least Carr is throwing to Alvin Kamara more frequently, but it’s come at a detriment to his downfield weapons.

Carr is the veteran in the room, the Pro Bowl quarterback with 153 starts behind him. It’s past time he play like it. Or else it’s going to seem increasingly certain that the Saints miscalculated what he would bring to the table. If he can’t outperform Dalton, it’s worth asking whether they should have even made a switch to Carr, much less overpaid him so badly.

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Dennis Allen’s fate shouldn’t be separate from Pete Carmichael

Despite being a defensive coach, Dennis Allen’s choice to not make offensive changes should reflect on him.

The New Orleans Saints have been in the same place all season long. They are good enough to compete in and win a bad division but not good enough to inspire confidence for a playoff run. Because New Orleans is always in contention for the NFC South, the fans have to constantly hear the dreaded “we can still win the division” line or some variation of it. That’s a true statement and is the reason the Saints are opting to not make coaching staff changes.

The desire for change comes on the offensive side. Head coach Dennis Allen leads the defense. Despite their first half struggles, it is unlikely there will be changes defensively. That doesn’t mean he should be absolved from responsibility; Allen should shoulder a lot of responsibility for the state of the offense.

As the head coach, he has sat and watched the offense be inconsistent with no real attempt to jumpstart it. If Allen wants the Saints to keep doing what they’re doing, he should also be held accountable for the results.

The likely scenario is if the offense doesn’t improve, offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael will suffer the consequences. The issue with the offense is the talent appears to be there. They have playmakers in Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Michael Thomas, Juwan Johnson, and Taysom Hill, plus an offensive line stocked with first- and second-round draft picks. And a quarterback who has seen it all in Derek Carr. A lot of struggles boil down to coaching, so replacing the play caller makes sense.

However, Allen has chosen to not switch play callers for two seasons. For that reason, his fate should be just as much tied to the offensive success as Carmichael. If things don’t pick up after the bye week, the Saints must consider wholesale changes sooner rather than later.

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2023 midseason awards: Saints MVP, Comeback Player of the Year (so far)

2023 Saints midseason awards: Our picks for Team MVP, Most Improved, and Comeback Player of the Year (so far):

The New Orleans Saints are on bye this week, so it’s a good opportunity to take a look back at the first half of their season — well, the first 10 games. Honestly we’re past the midpoint on their schedule, but there are still seven games left to play (plus the postseason, hopefully), and the bye week is a great time to practice a little retrospection.

With that in mind, here are our staff picks for the Saints’ 2023 midseason awards:

Most Valuable Player
Breakout Player of the Year
Most Improved Player
Comeback Player of the Year
Rookie of the Year.

Saints rule out Michael Thomas (knee) after halftime vs. Vikings

The Saints downgraded Michael Thomas (knee) after halftime, saying he would not return against the Vikings:

Things went from bad to worse for the New Orleans Saints. After initially announcing he was questionable to return to Week 10’s game with the Minnesota Vikings due to a knee injury, the team downgraded Michael Thomas and ruled out the wide receiver for the remainder of the game.

The offense could really use him. They struggled to get the other receivers going through the first half but they’ll have to go the rest of the way without him. Rookie draft pick A.T. Perry was the next man up at receiver behind Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. Let’s see what he can do.

Thomas hasn’t dealt with any injury issues this year after a series of ankle problems interrupted his career, so hopefully this isn’t a significant ailment. It’s possible the Saints chose to approach the situation conservatively given the large deficit with the bye week up next. We’ll look out for an update on his status.

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Halftime report: Saints down 24-3 in most embarrassing first half of Dennis Allen’s tenure

Yikes. The New Orleans Saints went into halftime down 24-3 against the Minnesota Vikings in the most embarrassing first half of Dennis Allen’s tenure. They’re 2-8 in games when trailing by 10 or more points with Allen as head coach, and if things don’t turn around rapidly in the second half they’ll be even worse.

Allen can’t point to health as a problem. 21 of the 22 players from the Week 1 two-deep roster were available. Michael Thomas exited the game early with a knee injury but young stars Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed combined for 3 targets, 2 receptions, and 3 yards in the first half. Derek Carr did a bad job responding to pressure and looking for his weapons.

But the defense bears the brunt of responsibility here. The Vikings offense is missing its best quarterback (Kirk Cousins) and wide receiver (Justin Jefferson) with multiple starters playing through injuries like tight end T.J. Hockenson and left tackle Christian Darrisaw. Joshua Dobbs was acquired in a trade last week and carved the Saints up to the tune of 220 passing yards and 40 rushing yards in the first half alone.

And penalties have been a major problem. After drawing just one foul for a loss of 5 yards a week ago, the Saints went into halftime with four penalties for 25 yards with two other infractions declined. And almost every penalty wiped out a big play — a Paulson Adebo interception, an Alvin Kamara first-down run, and a Cameron Jordan sack. The Saints couldn’t get out of their own way.

This first half encompasses the criticisms that have dogged Allen’s team for two years. They’re sloppy and penalty-prone and can’t function consistently enough on offense to keep up with even a league-average outfit. Everything is difficult. There is such a heavy responsibility on the defense to carry every game that the margin for error is so thin and every mistake matters. The Saints must get out of their own way before they can even worry about competing.

The good news is that the Saints will receive the opening kickoff in the second half. Let’s see if Derek Carr and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael can do something with that opportunity.

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