Tag: Starters

Projecting the Saints’ starting defense for the 2022 season

Projecting the New Orleans Saints’ starting defense for the 2022 season, via @DillySanders:

We have likely seen the last of any major shakeups to the New Orleans Saints roster for the 2022 season. As the Saints begin their quest for a Super Bowl championship this year, the defense will be the heart of the journey. With uncertainties on the offensive side of the ball, having the defensive coordinator move up to the head coach and then most of the defensive staff sticking around, the defense should be just fine switching over from year to year. That’s the hope at least.

Most of the defense is the same but there are some key changes from the last season. There are a couple of newbies and a couple of potential battles that need to take place. For now, here is the starting lineup for the 2022 Saints defense:

Projecting the Saints’ starting lineups after recent signings

Projecting the Saints’ starting lineups on offense and defense after recent signings:

We aren’t out of the woods yet. The New Orleans Saints can still make some additions through free agency, and they’re positioned well to make a splash in the upcoming 2022 NFL draft after acquiring another first round pick through a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles.

But this is a good opportunity to take stock of the depth chart and project which players could make the starting lineup on offense and defense. The first few waves of free agency are behind us. At this point, the Saints are more likely to tweak the top of the roster rather than seriously mix it up. Let’s review:

Seahawks QB Drew Lock will get his ‘second chance’ in Seattle

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll believes quarterback Drew Lock is worthy of the second chance he’s been given after his trade to Seattle.

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Russell Wilson isn’t the only quarterback who will be getting a fresh start with a new team this season. Drew Lock, acquired from the Denver Broncos in the Wilson trade, will get his shot in Seattle to compete to take over the reins for the Seahawks.

Coach Pete Carroll preached “second chances” during his press conference with John Schneider on Tuesday to discuss the trade.

“Is this a second chance for Drew Lock? Heck yeah, it is,” Carroll said emphatically. “It’s an absolute clear second chance for him to show, to take us back to where we knew him to be, and we’ll find out.”

Although Lock hasn’t had as much success as he had hoped over the last few years, Carroll believes he knows what the quarterback has to offer.

“We loved him in the draft,” Carroll told reporters. “He goes in his first year, finally plays his first five games, and he goes 4-1 in his first season, his rookie season. All the promise, all that you would hope to see.”

Scheider said the Seahawks will still continue to explore all available options for their quarterback of the future so the ball is now in Lock’s court to make the most of his opportunity.

“I hope that we’ve been really clear to you, we believe in giving people second chances,” Carroll continued. “We’ve fought for giving guys second chances.”

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NFL Next Gen Stats: Saints set new NFL record with 57 starters in a single season

NFL Next Gen Stats: Saints set new NFL record with 57 starters in a single season

Yikes. This isn’t exactly a record to boast about — the New Orleans Saints broke an NFL record for fielding the most starters in a single season, having lost players at every position group during a COVID-19 outbreak that followed weeks of injuries and eroded depth all across the roster.

With rookie quarterback Ian Book starting alongside backup right tackle Caleb Benenoch and practice squad wide receiver Easop Winston Jr. in Monday night’s game with the Miami Dolphins, the Saints set a new standard with 57 different starters in 2021.

That beat the record the Dolphins themselves set in 2019 (56 different starters), which was tied by the Houston Texans this year. It’s close, though, so maybe Houston can take it back from New Orleans by year’s end.

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Seahawks Russell Wilson ranks No. 6 of QB starters entering Week 1

Seattle Seahawks signal-caller Russell Wilson ranks No. 6 out of all quarterback starters entering Week 1 per NFL.com’s QB 1 index.

There is no arguing that Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is one of the best in the game but Seattle’s signal-caller enters the regular season ranked at No. 6 out of all starters at his position.

Around the NFL editor Gregg Rosenthal just released his QB 1 index for Week 1 and had the following to say about Wilson and his placement on the list.

“It’s possible to recognize that Wilson bears responsibility for his performance down the stretch last season — probably the worst he’s played since his rookie year — and to recognize that he’s likely to bounce back to form,” Rosenthal writes. “New offensive coordinator Shane Waldron should put Wilson in more advantageous situations, even if there are some early growing pains.”

Patrick Mahomes topped the rankings, followed by Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Tom Brady and Lamar Jackson, all who beat out Wilson to land in Rosenthal’s top 5.

Wilson and the rest of the Seahawks have their first regular-season test this Sunday when they face the Colts in Indianapolis.

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Seahawks maximized opportunity to see backups in preseason

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll maximized the opportunity to see the backups play throughout the preseason, resting the starters instead.

The Seattle Seahawks came away with a victory in their final preseason game Saturday night, beating the Los Angeles Chargers in an impressive 27-0 win at Lumen Field. Seattle finally shined, and did so without most of its starters.

After hinting that the first teams would get at least some time this week, Pete Carroll had most sitting on the sidelines, cheering on their teammates and watching the backups get all of the work.

“That was the way we basically approached it, for the whole preseason, to make sure that we maximize the opportunity to see the other guys; to not just see them, but knowing that so many of these guys are going to be on our team,” Carroll explained during his postgame press conference. “We wanted to take them as far as we could, and get them as ready to backup and support the effort throughout.”

Saturday’s matchup marked the Seahawks’ third and final preseason game of the year and Carroll is hoping his approach, different from previous summers, will be effective after all.

 “I think from stuff that we’ve learned, last summer,” Carroll said of his decision. “Leave it that. Succinct.”

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Andy Reid says Chiefs’ starters scheduled to play first half vs. Vikings

During Friday’s preseason Week 3 matchup with the #Vikings, Andy Reid says the #Chiefs’ starters are scheduled to play the full first half.

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Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid has made a decision on how he’ll handle the starters during the preseason finale.

Earlier in the week, Reid was noncommital talking about snaps for star QB Patrick Mahomes in the preseason finale. Now, it sounds as if the preseason Week 3 tilt against the Minnesota Vikings will look a lot like the previous week in terms of action for the starters.

“What we’ll do with this game is, we’ll play the 1’s for the first half,” Reid told reporters on Wednesday. “And then we’ll see about after that and go from there. And then the other guys will jump in and fill in.”

When asked if he had always envisioned a full half of play for the starters in preseason Week 3 from the get-go, Reid waffled a bit on his comments.

“I’m just going to see,” Reid said. “We’ll see how it goes, but that’s what I’ve got scheduled for them. We’ll play it by ear from there.”

With the final week of the preseason, Reid is looking for a few things from his offensive and defensive starters before the regular season arrives. He’s feeling confident now, but both units can do a lot to reassure the veteran coach prior to Week 1.

“On the offensive side, just getting the No. 1 offensive line a couple of reps is what I’m looking at,” Reid said. “And on the defensive side, just making sure that we’ve got all the kinks knocked out there. Which I’m feeling pretty good about right now.”

One thing that gives Reid some added flexibility is the extended work that Patrick Mahomes and the starting offense had against the Arizona Cardinals last week. Mahomes played 32 snaps and the starting offensive line got 41 snaps in their second week of preseason action.

“The one bonus is that we got a lot of snaps last week,” Reid said. “I can do whatever we need to do for this game because of last week’s game.”

That added flexibility means that if Reid feels like pulling the first team after a single series, he’ll feel comfortable and confident to do so. It seems that Reid’s comments on playing the starters for the first half are written in pencil rather than written in ink.

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Jaguars coach Urban Meyer says he expects to play starters in final preseason game

Meyer said most healthy starters will play in the final preseason game against Dallas.

Jacksonville’s first-teamers haven’t had the best showing in the preseason. In the losses against Cleveland and New Orleans, the Jaguars allowed their opponent to move quickly down the field and couldn’t get much going on the offensive side of the ball themselves.

For Jags fans looking for reassurance that the team will take a major leap forward, there hasn’t been much to grasp onto through the first two games. But according to coach Urban Meyer, there will be another chance. At his press conference on Wednesday, he said that healthy starters will play in the final preseason game.

“My anticipation is, [if] you’re ready to play, you gotta play,” Meyer said.

Starting edge rusher Josh Allen remains on the COVID-19/Reserve list, and interior offensive lineman Andrew Norwell likely won’t play due to injury. Center Brandon Linder could be on the same boat. Left tackle Cam Robinson, who also missed the game against New Orleans, is expected to play in the final game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Meyer said that the potential season-ending foot sprain that rookie running back Travis Etienne suffered in the last game has impacted his decision a bit, but that he decides to stop playing guys when he feels that they’re game-ready.

“It’s all with the position,” Meyer said. “Our job — the term that I’ve always used is ‘game-ready.’ Once someone’s game-ready, they’re done. We’re a young team right now.”

Players that Meyer said are game-ready (or close) right now include Linder, Marvin Jones Jr., and Myles Jack. Allowing starters to see preseason action is always a gamble, but this is also a team that doesn’t have many players who can afford to turn down reps.

It will be interesting to see how long the healthy starters play on Sunday, but Meyer surely wants to see more from his ones before the start of the regular season.

Expect to see Seahawks starters in Seattle’s final preseason game

After sitting out the first two games, coach Pete Carroll said fans can expect to see the Seahawks starters in the final preseason contest.

Teams around the NFL had to make some adjustments this year in light of the change in the preseason format. Now down from four exhibition games to just three, coaches had to decide when to play and when to rest their starters.

For the Seahawks, like many of the clubs, backups saw most of the action throughout the first two matchups. Coach Pete Carroll explained that was the game plan for Seattle going into the summer.

“This format for us was different than we’ve ever done before,” Carroll said after Saturday’s loss to the Broncos. “We’ve done something different, and it hasn’t been a lot of fun and games with the way we’re playing. But, week 3 is a big deal for us. We’ll go back to a lot of the other guys that haven’t played in the first two games to prepare them for game one of the regular season, that’s been the plan all along.”

So expect to see some of quarterback Russell Wilson and the rest of the starters this Saturday night when the Seahawks host the Chargers at Lumen Field.

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What the first team offense looks like for Texas football this week

This is what the first-team offense looked like at Wednesday’s open practice.

At Texas’ open practice on Wednesday, there may have been some questions answered about the pecking order on offense.

Since the departure of four-year starter Sam Ehlinger, there has been a standing question of who will replace him at quarterback?

The competition has been ongoing between Casey Thompson and Hudson Card, but neither quarterback has seemingly separated from the other. The spring game provided the first look at the new team, and we saw Thompson with the first team, while Card was with the second team. However, Card was much more efficient than Thompson, and head coach Steve Sarkisian said the battle would continue on.

The two hopefuls have been rotating and splitting reps all offseason, but over the last few practices, Card has reportedly been starting off with the starters, hinting that he is currently in the lead.

Here is what Inside Texas said about the quarterback situation prior to Wednesday’s practice:

The leading storyline of UT camp. Hudson Card has taken the majority of the snaps with the first team in the two practices since the first scrimmage. Will that continue with fans in the stands? Or will Casey Thompson receive additional reps compared to the last two days ahead of Saturday’s scrimmage?

Card did in fact get the nod on Wednesday, but Thompson also received opportunities to play with the starters as well.

The quarterback position is not the only offensive position in question, as the wide receivers and the offensive line are expected to have a few new full-time starters as well.

Let’s take a look at who was with the starting unit at Wednesday’s practice according to Inside Texas’ Joe Cook. Something to keep in mind is that impressive freshman wide receiver, Xavier Worthy, was not practicing due to an illness, but he would likely be included otherwise. While this depth chart can easily change on a day-to-day basis, it’s significant considering the season opener is roughly two weeks away.