Tag: Starters

Predicting the Saints starting defense after the draft

Predicting the New Orleans Saints starting defense (and top backups) after the 2023 draft: How many rookie draft picks will win starting jobs?

The defense was a priority for the New Orleans Saints in the 2023 NFL draft, and their efforts paid off — the defensive line in particular is seen as one of the league’s most-improved units. But how many rookies and veteran free agent acquisitions will be running with the starters when the season starts?

That’s something we won’t learn for sure until training camp, but here’s our first projection for the Saints’ starters and immediate backups on defense going into the summer (click here for a preview of their offense):

Projecting the Saints’ 2023 starting lineup as offseason program begins

The New Orleans Saints recently kicked off their offseason program to return to work. Here’s what their starting lineup may look like going into the 2023 draft:

The New Orleans Saints recently kicked off their offseason program under the second year with Dennis Allen at head coach, following an eventful free agency signing period that brought several new starters into town.

And they aren’t finished yet. After signing Derek Carr, Nathan Shepherd, and Khalen Saunders, the Saints are positioned to add more talent through the upcoming 2023 NFL draft. General manager Mickey Loomis and his front office are hard at work looking for upgrades in this rookie class. Taking a look at the projected starters on offense, defense, and special teams gives us an idea of which areas still need to be addressed.

Here’s our projection of what the current Saints starting lineup should look like given the players under contract for 2023:

Predicting the Saints’ 2023 starting defense after first wave of free agency

There have been plenty of changes to the strength of the New Orleans Saints’ team. Predicting the 2023 starting defense after the first wave of free agency:

The New Orleans Saints built their team on the strength of their defense, so seeing it be steadily eroded in free agency has been kind of alarming. They’ve lost multiple starters along the defensive line — David Onyemata and Shy Tuttle at defensive tackle, plus Marcus Davenport at the right end spot — and several key backups in linebacker Kaden Elliss and defensive back Justin Evans.

But the Saints have been active in searching for help on this side of the ball, too. Let’s take a quick look at their projected starting defense and top backups for each position group in the wake of the first wave of free agency signings:

Predicting the Saints’ 2023 starting offense after first wave of free agency

Predicting the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 starting offense after first wave of free agency signings, re-signings, and roster moves:

The first wave of free agency is in the books, but the New Orleans Saints did more to keep their offense together in the first week of veteran signings rather than bringing in upgrades from the open market. Sure, they found a new starting quarterback in Derek Carr — but the biggest moves the Saints accomplished was holding onto starters like wide receiver Michael Thomas, left guard Andrus Peat, and tight end Juwan Johnson.

But what does the depth chart look like at this point in the offseason? What should it look like on offense? Let’s break it down by each position to get an idea of where more additions should take place:

Where does Derek Carr rank among the NFC’s top 10 quarterbacks?

Where does Derek Carr rank among the NFC’s top 10 quarterbacks? He’s clearly the best QB in the NFC South, and he might already rank top-5 in his new conference:

We’re in business. The New Orleans Saints are signing free agent quarterback Derek Carr to lead their offense, and he might already be a top-five quarterback in his new conference. He’s certainly the best passer in his division. But where exactly does Carr rank among the other Week 1 starting quarterbacks around the NFC?

To start out, I eliminated Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray owing to last year’s season-ending injury, which is going to keep him on the shelf for at least the start of the 2023 season (if not longer). I also sidelined the other NFC South teams due to their unsettled quarterback situations — Kyle Trask is an unknown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while neither the Atlanta Falcons nor the Carolina Panthers have anyone to speak of right now. That was also the case for the Washington Commanders and Green Bay Packers, who have uncertainty under center as well as horrific vibes. No one knows what Aaron Rodgers is doing, right this minute nor this time next year. Until those setups clear up, we’ll just work without them.

That left us with ten teams (assuming Geno Smith re-signs with the Seattle Seahawks and Daniel Jones hammers out his extension with the New York Giants, as is expected for both of them) and ten quarterbacks to throw against each other. I didn’t plan on this being a very scientific project, but that didn’t stop me from overcomplicating it.

I found where each quarterback ranked last season in a couple of commonly-used passing stats: adjusted net yards per pass attempt (from Pro Football Reference), NFL passer rating, and the less-renowned Pro Football Focus passing grades, as well as The Ringer positional rankings from Steven Ruiz. I averaged the various placements together to spit out an initial list which I then tweaked to my liking, based off the eye test and vibe check for each situation, and ran the list past our staff writers Ross Jackson and Dylan Sanders, who smartly edited it into something more rational. Here’s what we came up with:

With season opener just weeks away, Seahawks focus shifts to starters

Now that training camp is officially in the books, the Seattle Seahawks’ focus shifts to preparing the starters for the season opener.

The Seattle Seahawks are just a couple of weeks away from the regular-season opener against Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos. Now that training camp has wrapped up, Pete Carroll and his staff are making some adjustments.

“The focus really shifts to the starters and the guys that we are counting on and are doing a lot of playing,” Carroll said after Sunday’s practice. “We’ve been developing guys throughout and working with them in making sure that we know who we have and making it competitive and all that. And the starters have been getting reps, but the focus goes directly to the guys who are going to do all the playing. So, the scripts and the preparation of the practice and design is to make sure they are ready to go now.

“So, that’s the clear shift for us.”

With a number of starting positions still up for grabs including quarterback, this week’s final preseason game will be of the utmost importance for Seattle. The Seahawks are set to square off against the Cowboys in Dallas on Friday night. Kickoff is at 5:00 p.m. PT.

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Andy Reid says Chiefs’ starters will play first half vs. Commanders

Andy Reid expects the #Chiefs’ starters to play roughly the full first half against the #Commanders in preseason Week 2.

The Kansas City Chiefs will continue to ramp up their starters’ workload ahead of the regular season in preseason Week 2.

When the Chiefs hit the field to face the Washington Commanders at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday, the plan is to get the starters close to a full half of football. The offensive starters played anywhere from 3 to 16 snaps in preseason Week 1 and their workload could be doubled if not tripled this week.

“We’ll go somewhere (around the) first half with the 1’s,” Reid said. “It might be shorter than that, but I’m just going to see how things go. Then the rest of the guys will fill in. Chad Henne won’t play this game, like last year. We sit him and give the two young guys (Shane Buechele and Dustin Crum) some extra time.”

Last year Patrick Mahomes played 32 snaps in preseason Week 2. The starting offensive line played upwards of 40 snaps, which means we should see at least one series with Buechele behind the team’s starting offensive line if things go according to plan this year.

Reid didn’t rule out two injured players, DT Chris Jones and WR Mecole Hardman. Their injuries both seem to be minor in nature, with the team exercising some caution in the final days of training camp. Reid did, however, suggest that WR JuJu Smith-Schuster wouldn’t play in the game this week.

The Commanders also plan to play their starters per Washington HC Ron Rivera. He comes from the Andy Reid coaching tree and seems to have a similar philosophy regarding preseason games.

Rivera said earlier this week that some starters would be on a pitch count during the game, so it’s possible a few starters are pulled early to allow some depth players to rotate in.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid says starters will play first quarter vs. Bears in preseason Week 1

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid confirmed that Patrick Mahomes and the starters will get the first quarter in Saturday’s preseason opener in Chicago.

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid is sticking to his preseason routine for the Week 1 tilt with the Chicago Bears.

That means that the Chiefs’ starting lineup, including QB Patrick Mahomes, will get the full first quarter of repetitions on offense and defense in preseason Week 1. He says that the plan is to give every quarterback a full quarter, meaning Chad Henne and the second team will get the second quarter. Shane Buechele and the third team will get the third quarter. Dustin Crum and the fourth team will get the fourth quarter.

“As far as the game goes, we’ll go quarters for the quarterbacks,” Reid said. “So each one will get a quarter and their group will kind of follow along with that. We’ll try to get the young guys the majority of the reps as we go and make sure they get enough work.”

Reid is intent on getting his starters, backups and the young players as many repetitions as he can during the preseason. They don’t always have the repetitions to evaluate players in full during the course of training camp. He also likes to get his starters mentally prepared to play. He says doing things this way will make it so that they’re best prepared for the Week 1 opener against the Arizona Cardinals.

Obviously, things are flexible with the starting lineup. It’s possible that he sees enough in one series and pulls them off the field early. Given the conditions of the grass field in Chicago, that might be the ideal scenario in order to avoid injury. Things are different now for Reid with just three preseason games.

“Yeah, I was good with the three games,” Reid said. “We can still get our work done. There’s a balance there. We let the 1’s get a little bit of work and the guys that are going to play in the game and still have competition at certain positions and still give the young guys a look. We have to make these cuts as hard as it can be on Brett (Veach) and myself.”

Depth players and guys on the roster bubble are at a big disadvantage now without a fourth preseason game now. They need to make every opportunity count when they’re on the football field. This first preseason game is super important for them because they’ll get their most snaps of the preseason. Typically the starters will get up to a full half of play by the second preseason game and nearly three quarters in the third and final game.

With the first wave of roster cuts from 90 to 85 players coming on Tuesday, Aug. 16, Reid’s message to players is simply to get out there and play.

“Don’t count the numbers,” Reid said. “Everyone is going to have an opportunity to play. When you get your chance to play— play. Don’t start counting numbers, this guy’s here, this guy’s here, I’m on the third team, he’s on the second team. Don’t do that. Just go play.”

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Here were the Chiefs’ starters on the first day of training camp

We take a look at the offensive and defensive starts for the #Chiefs on Day 1 of training camp.

The Kansas City Chiefs officially completed their first full training camp practice of the season on Wednesday.

Reporters and fans in attendance got their first look at the starting lineup for the team on both sides of the ball. This is only the first iteration of the starting lineup for Andy Reid’s team, which will change and evolve throughout the course of training camp. Injuries, players returning from injury and new additions will likely lead to changes to that starting lineup. That said, this gives us a good indication of the current pecking order in Kansas City.

Here is a quick look at the offensive and defensive starters on the first day of practice:

Projecting Packers starters on offense for 2022 season

Attempting to predict the starters for the Packers offense to open the 2022 season.

The Green Bay Packers completed a three-day minicamp last week and will finish up the offseason workout program this week with a final session of OTAs.

With information gathered during the offseason, here’s a best guess at the starters for the Packers offense when the 2022 season opens: