Tag: starter

Saints must find out who Spencer Rattler is before 2024 ends

Opinion: The Saints must stick with Spencer Rattler through the rest of the season, unless there is injury, to get a full evaluation of the rookie

Spencer Rattler should be given the opportunity to audition to be the New Orleans Saints quarterback in 2025 over the next three weeks.

A report came out Tuesday morning saying Derek Carr returning to the lineup was unlikely. With the Saints all but out of the playoff race, Carr playing in 2024 provided more risk than reward. Even if he could go, it is smart to hold him out.

This gives you a chance to evaluate Rattler for the future. This means letting him play the entirety of the season unless injury happens. Darren Rizzi switched from Haener to Rattler after just a half of football.

The Saints may be too far back in the draft to get one of the top quarterbacks this season. The future head coach may decide to see what they have in the young quarterback through next season.

Is he the quarterback who held the ball too long in his first few starts and didn’t handle pressure well? Is he the player who stepped up and delivered a bomb to Marquez Valdes-Scantling while being hit? Rattler looked like a different player than we saw in his first stint.

The only way to get that true evaluation is to see the good bad and ugly of Rattler. No more hot potato. Stick with Rattler to close the season.

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Cowboys rookie WR set to make first NFL start Monday vs Texans

From @ToddBrock24f7: Ryan Flournoy teased the news on Instagram. It’s unknown how that may affect playing time for options like Jalen Brooks or Jonathan Mingo.

Whether they should be tinkering or tanking probably depends on your personal point of view, but the 3-6 Cowboys are still throwing the kitchen sink at their offensive lineup heading into their Week 11 matchup with the Houston Texans.

Cooper Rush has already taken over at quarterback thanks to a serious hamstring injury to Dak Prescott. Head coach Mike McCarthy finally admitted last week that Rico Dowdle is the team’s lead running back. Even depth OL pieces like Asim Richards and T.J Bass have seen live game action over the past several weeks.

And now a rookie wide receiver appears ready to contribute in a new way as the Cowboys embark on a brutal stretch of three games in an 11-day span.

According to an Instagram post he made on Monday, sixth-round draft pick Ryan Flournoy will make his first NFL start when the Cowboys host their intrastate rivals at AT&T Stadium.

The 25-year-old out of Southeast Missouri State has two catches on three targets so far this season and has appeared in five games for Dallas, logging 47 total offensive snaps.

What’s not immediately clear is what kind of ripple effect Flournoy’s start might have on the rest of the WR corps. CeeDee Lamb popped up on the injury report over the weekend with a back issue, though the team is reportedly optimistic about his status.

“Everything right now is pointing for him to play,” a source told NFL Network’s Jane Slater midday Monday.

Brandin Cooks has been sidelined since the beginning of October, and third-year man Jalen Tolbert has already started every game for the Cowboys this season. Jalen Brooks started Week 9’s game in Atlanta, and KaVontae Turpin got the nod in Week 6 versus Detroit. Jalen Cropper has been used very sparingly but has yet to crack the starting lineup.

Dallas also added second-year option Jonathan Mingo 13 days ago via a trade with Carolina. He has been expected to make his Cowboys debut Monday night as well.

But now it’s apparently Flournoy’s turn to start. While the starting lineup is often merely a ceremonial honor dictated simply by the personnel package required to run the first pre-scripted play, it could be assumed that the team has at least a few routes designed to try to really see what they have for the future in the 6-foot-1, 200-pounder. And given the demands that the next week and a half will put on Cowboys players, this move may be simply a pre-emptive way to spread the physical toll around.

Earlier in the season, though, team owner Jerry Jones hyped up the rookie by comparing him to a longtime favorite of Cowboys fans.

“He’s got Dez Bryant stuff to him,” Jones said prior to Flournoy’s NFL debut in the Week 5 win over Pittsburgh.

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Flournoy will theoretically get some chances Monday night in a Dallas passing attack that struggled mightily last weekend. In his first start at QB since 2022, Rush delivered a historically poor performance against the Eagles in a blowout loss, continuing something of a theme for the blue and silver.

The Cowboys currently rank first in the league in pass attempts per game (39.4), but they fall all the way to the bottom 10 when measuring net yards per attempt (just 5.5).

So the opportunities will likely be there. Now it’s up to Flournoy to capitalize on them.

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Opinion: Spencer Rattler should remain Saints’ starter until Derek Carr returns

Opinion: Jake Haener looked good at the end of the Broncos game on his few plays, but the Saints should stick with Spencer Rattler as the starter

Spencer Rattler left the New Orleans Saints game against the Denver Broncos on the final drive. If he’s healthy, he should continue to be the Saints starter until Derek Carr returns.

Jake Haener finished the drive Rattler departed with a touchdown. It was a struggle for the offense all night, but Haener looked smooth in the few plays he played. The most notable difference was how quickly he got rid of the football even when the Broncos sent the house after him on a blitz.

Despite this difference in performance, Dennis Allen should continue rolling with the rookie. As much as the decision was meant for the present, playing Rattler benefitted your future. That likely played a part in the decision, if it wasn’t the driving factor.

Rattler has the ceiling to be your next starting quarterback after Carr. He showed promise in his debut, but struggled with ball security against Denver. Sitting him after a bad game would be counterproductive to his development.

Ratter should be given a chance with some of the returning weapons. His two starts have come without any of the starting interior linemen or Taysom Hill. Rattler played just three snaps with Chris Olave and one full game with Rashid Shaheed. It would nice to get an evaluation of him with his top weapons available and better protection in front of him.

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Justin Fields is right, he didn’t play ‘good enough’ through six weeks

While Justin Fields has several qualities of his game to work on, his maturity and poise in accepting his benching is immaculate.

Former Steelers QB Kenny Pickett should take notes on Justin Fields’ attitude and how he handled being benched in favor of Russell Wilson. Fields, while speaking to reporters during the team’s media availability on Wednesday, acknowledged that a QB controversy may not have existed if his play had been better. While fans of the former Bears QB are quick to defend his performance due to the Steelers’ stellar 4-2 record, how many wins were truly a result of his play? 

Fields’ TD-to-INT ratio is fantastic—an eye-popping 10-1. However, there’s more to the QB’s stats than meets the eye. Fields consistently made poor decisions on passing downs, and his interception total would likely be much higher if not for defenses that seemed to drop every ball thrown their way. The young QB showcased maturity by acknowledging his poor play and understands that he gave Wilson the opportunity to take the starting job away from him. 

 

While Fields’ rushing upside is greater, Wilson brings more consistent center-QB exchanges, better accuracy, better decision-making, and an overall better chance to win football games for Pittsburgh. 

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Steelers’ legendary QB supports Justin Fields remaining as starter

Ben Roethlisberger recently spoke on his podcast, Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger, about Justin Fields remaining the starter.

Justin Fields appears to be making friends and supporters in all the right places. Two-time Super Bowl champion, Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, believes that the only stat Pittsburgh should hold Fields accountable for is the win-loss record. 

While Fields posted his worst passer rating of the 2024 season in Week 6, the Steelers’ young QB made up for it with his athletic prowess—11 rushes for 59 yards and two rushing touchdowns. 

Roethlisberger spoke highly of Fields’ ability to keep the Steelers winning, talking about what he does right on his podcast, Footballin With Ben Roethlisberger: “What he did with his arm, what he did with his legs, I thought was really, really impressive.” He also added that it would take around two awful turnovers to give the starting duties back to Russell Wilson. 

Is Roethlisberger correct in his assessment, or should the defense truly be credited as the reason for Pittsburgh’s success? Only time will tell, but the former 2020 Walter Payton Man of the Year, Wilson, may push Fields to reach even higher levels. 

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Dennis Allen explains why he’s starting a rookie QB after Derek Carr injury

Dennis Allen explains why he’s starting Spencer Rattler after Derek Carr injury: ‘In this particular game he gave us the best chance to win’

Dennis Allen delivered a bombshell on Wednesday when he announced that backup quarterback Spencer Rattler would take the reins from Derek Carr in Week 6’s game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The New Orleans Saints’ starter suffered a significant oblique muscle injury that’s going to keep him out for at least the next two games.

As to why the Saints are rolling with Rattler instead of the team’s other backup Jake Haener? Allen said that was a staff decision.

“We talked a lot as a staff about what we felt like was the best thing for us, and [anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media], that was the decision that we made. And we’re excited about him getting an opportunity to go in there, and  we’ll let him go play and see what he can do,” Allen said.

However, Allen kept his cards close to his vest in talking about what went into making this decision — as far as matchup preferences or the state of the offense given all of the injuries impacting the offensive line. Still, after meeting with his coaches, this was the course of action Allen felt was best for them this week.

“Internally we talked a lot about it and felt like in this particular game that he gave us the best chance to win,” Allen continued, “Both he and Jake have been practicing extremely hard, preparing to be the starter. It was kind of the conversation that we had at the beginning of the year, Jake would be the two to start but there wasn’t going to be any, basically, a kind of a week-to-week deal. And we just felt like, for this game, was going to give us the best opportunity.”

It’s surprising to see the Saints shift gears now after Rattler was inactive for each of their first four games. It was Haener going in each week whenever Carr missed time with an injury or the game’s result was put out of doubt. But Haener wasn’t drafted by this coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko, and their assistants made the decision to draft Rattler and now they want to see what he can do with a full week of practice under his belt.

That just might save Allen’s job. He’s led the team into a 2-3 record for the second time in three seasons as their head coach, and they need some kind of a spark to snap their three-game losing streak. If Rattler can navigate a muddy pocket and bounce back from the occasional negative play as well as he did at South Carolina, it would give the team some real hope for the future. He added that Rattler will have a bit of a long leash. Allen feels that the rookie needs to play if he’s going to learn and improve, and fearing he could be pulled out of the game after one or two mistakes wouldn’t be helpful.

But that still means he’s got to play better than he did in preseason. Few of Rattler’s opponents from those exhibition games are dressing out on Sundays, and those that are got the better of him in his second preseason matchup with the San Francisco 49ers. For now, all Rattler should worry about is studying and preparing for his next opponent so he can earn another opportunity after that.

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Saints rule out starter vs. Chiefs, update Kendre Miller’s status

The New Orleans Saints linebacker unit will be without Pete Werner against the Chiefs, and Kendre Miller’s status was updated for Week 5:

The New Orleans Saints provided two updates to their injuries on Sunday, which included marking starting linebacker Pete Werner as out and returning running back Kendre Miller as doubtful. Werner will also not travel with the team to Kansas City for their matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, which is an unfortunate development as the team was already without Willie Gay Jr. as well, and Demario Davis is returning off injury. If last week is any indication, the starters will be Davis and D’Marco Jackson for Week 5.

Kendre Miller being downgraded is not great news either, as he had practiced fully at points during the week, but unfortunately will not be able to take some pressure off of Alvin Kamara just yet unless a major swing occurs and he looks ready on Monday. We will see how he looks pre-game and if anything has changed, but this could also be a precautionary measure to ensure he is fully healthy before getting on the field.

Panthers bench Bryce Young, turn to former Saints QB Andy Dalton

The Carolina Panthers have benched Bryce Young and turned to former Saints quarterback Andy Dalton. He’ll start in Week 3 and potentially beyond:

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1835737829923491918

The Carolina Panthers have decided to go a different direction at the quarterback position after a tough start to the season for Bryce Young. They will now be starting former New Orleans Saints quarterback Andy Dalton for Week 3, and potentially beyond. The Panthers will visit the Las Vegas Raiders next, on Sept. 22.

Young has had a tumultuous first 18 games in his NFL career, going 2-16 in the games he started with 3,122 passing yards and 11 passing touchdowns against 13 interceptions, worth a 33.4 quarterback rating.

One of the last games he played before this benching was the Panthers’ 47-10 loss to the Saints in Week 1, in which Young went 13 for 30 with 161 yards (5.4 yards per attempt) and 2 interceptions without a touchdown, which yielded a 12.2 QBR. He was also sacked 4 times for a loss of 26 yards, and has been sacked 68 times for 518 yards in his career (on 10.45% of his dropbacks) which is also worth noting.

Ultimately this was a quick decision, as Young had very little opportunity to really grow under new head coach Dave Canales, and will now have to work to take that opportunity back from the veteran journeyman. Dalton unexpectedly started 14 games for the Saints in 2022 (in which they went 6-8) after replacing an injured Jameis Winston, completing 252 of his 378 passes for 2,871 yards (7.6 yards per attempt) with 18 touchdowns against 9 interceptions. He was sacked 25 times. In his career Dalton has started 163 games but he has a 83-78-2 record. We’ll see if he remains the starter when the Saints visit Carolina on Nov. 3.

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Report: Former Wisconsin quarterback to return to starting lineup vs. Texas A&M

Report: Former Wisconsin quarterback to return to starting lineup vs. Texas A&M

Former Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz is expected to return to the starting lineup for Florida‘s Week 2 game against Texas A&M on Saturday, according to a report from 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

This update follows what has been a back-and-forth saga at quarterback for the Gators.

Related: How Wisconsin’s recent transfer departures fared in Week 2 of 2024 football season

Mertz began the season as the starter after excelling in the role with the Gators in 2023. But he was quickly forced out of Florida’s Week 1 loss to Miami with a concussion, which gave way to five-star true freshman D.J. Lagway. Lagway went on to start Week 2 against Samford with Mertz sidelined. He impressed, to say the least, with 456 yards and three touchdowns.

Many around the sport thought that Lagway’s performance would give him the full-time starting job. That viewpoint was bolstered by head coach Billy Napier’s current need for long-term hope, as the Gators have not done much winning with him at the helm and Mertz under center. In other words, Lagway’s emergence could end up saving Napier’s job.

But Napier said earlier this week that Mertz would start against the Aggies, with Lagway also seeing time. That snap breakdown was supported by Zenitz’s report on Friday.

This still appears to be a fluid situation, where terrific play from the true freshman should only result in more snaps. For Badger fans interested in Mertz’s career after transferring after the 2022 season, it will be interesting to watch how Saturday’s game against Texas A&M plays out.

The game is set for a 3:30 ET, 2:30 CT kickoff on ABC and ESPN+.

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Baldinger reviews reel of Bo Nix in Broncos vs Packers

Watch: #Broncos recently announced starter Bo Nix’ film reel reviewed by football legend Brian Baldinger after preseason game vs Green Bay

Though this year will be a rebuilding year for the Denver Broncos, the team’s offense is in good hands with talented rookie Bo Nix who officially got the job of starting QB today.

Two preseason matches don’t give a large sample size for stats but Nix has come out of the gate with a solid performance which could translate to Denvers’ overall league standing improving greatly alongside the young quarterbacks’ progress as he gains more experience in the NFL.

Analyst and former offensive lineman Brian Baldinger shared his reel review of the budding star athlete on Twitter, stating Nix and Sean Payton are in sync and look to be forming the basis of a solid coach/quarterback relationship.

Although Nix has cemented his spot as a starter and possibly secured the future of a Broncos comeback, the battle is still on for the second-string spot, which comes down to Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson.