Tag: Taliese Fuaga

Saints have good news in the final injury report for Week 3 vs. Eagles

Friday’s injury report provides points of optimism for the New Orleans Saints leading into their Week 3 game with the Philadelphia Eagles:

While the New Orleans Saints streak of having the longer injury report continues, Friday’s report gives plenty reason for optimism. The Saints had five players go from DNP to limited reps or limited to full participation on Friday.

There were big names among that group such as Tyrann Mathieu, Taliese Fuaga and Marshon Lattimore. All three men made the jump to full participant and have no injury designation for Sunday’s showdown with the Philadelphia. This mean they’ll be set to go unless they encounter a setback on Saturday.

Taysom Hill is one of five players who are listed as questionable for Week 3. Hill suffered a chest injury last week, and had to go to the hospital after the game.

An underrated player to watch is Will Harris. Harris won the starting spot next to Mathieu. He’s made a couple of plays in the first two games of the season.

Philadelphia’s injury report is simple. Wide receiver A.J. Brown will miss the game with a hamstring injury and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson is questionable with a foot issue. The road team have no other health concerns heading into the game.

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Taliese Fuaga crowned as the NFL’s best rookie through two weeks

Taliese Fuaga went against Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence in Week 2. His performance earned him the top spot in B/R’s rookie rankings

New Orleans Saints offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga now sits at the top of Bleacher Report’s rookie rankings after being at second place a week ago behind Xavier Worthy. He earns this distinction after battling Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence in the Saints’ victory over the Dallas Cowboys

The list varies week by week, but this is a composite ranking rather than who was the best that particular week. However, because it’s early in the season, fluctuation is greater. Worthy was at the top of the list after Week 1, and now he’s out of the top-10 due to usage questions.

Fuaga doesn’t have those questions. He will be lined up at left tackle for every snap when healthy. That was the question heading into the game. Fuaga was a game-time decision due to back tightness.

The team decided he was good to go, and he delivered an impressive performance. Like many Saints players, this was Fuaga’s chance to prove it wasn’t just the Carolina Panthers. He didn’t allow a single pressure all game which includes snaps versus Parsons and Lawrence. You wouldn’t even be able to tell he missed multiple practices.

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Alvin Kamara excelling despite facing second-most loaded boxes

Defenses are selling out to stop Alvin Kamara and it isn’t working anyway. This is a testament to his offensive line:


Here’s an impressive New Orleans Saints stat for you. Alvin Kamara has ran for the sixth-most yards on the ground in the NFL and scored the most touchdowns despite seeing the second-most attempts with eight or more defenders in the box.

Defenses load up the box specifically to stop the run, and it happens 45% of the time when Kamara carries the ball. Everyone knows what the Saints want to do, but this tactic hasn’t been effective in stopping the Kamara.

Why? Taliese Fuaga, Lucas Patrick, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz and Trevor Penning are five reasons. The impact of the unit is seen through the near three yards before contact per carry against the Carolina Panthers by all Saints running backs.

You don’t beat heavy boxes purely on the strength of your running back. Kamara has phenomenal contact balance, but even with that he can’t consistently beat the odds by himself.

The front line is doing a good job resetting the line of scrimmage and getting to the second level to block linebackers. That’s why he’s been so successful despite running against heavy boxes on nearly half of his attempts.

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Taliese Fuaga, two other Saints rank highly in ESPN’s pass block win rate

Taliese Fuaga ranks among the best offensive tackles in the league when looking at ESPN’s pass block win rate so far:

The New Orleans Saints’ 2024 NFL draft picks were very intriguing from the start, especially Taliese Fuaga, who was looked at as the immediate franchise tackle due to Ryan Ramczyk’s injury and Trevor Penning having a rough initial start to his career. Now, Fuaga and Penning are both playing at an exceptionally high level for two weeks, and Fuaga ranks among the best offensive tackles in the league when considering the statistic pass block win rate. This statistic measures the percent of pass-blocking snaps that the offensive lineman wins, i.e. does not give up a pressure or sack.

According to the ESPN rankings in these statistics, Fuaga has taken 28 pass-blocking snaps, and on 27 of them, he has won the rep (96%). This ranks Fuaga tied for ninth best among offensive tackles, tied with Andrew Thomas, Jordan Mailata, and Lane Johnson, which is a pretty exceptional company to be in as a rookie.

His fellow Saints teammates Erik McCoy and Lucas Patrick also rank among the best interior linemen in this statistic, with McCoy at 12th (97%) and Patrick at 18th (96%). This success can be shown in many other metrics as well, such as pressures allowed within 2.5 seconds, where the Saints rank first at an extremely low 4%. The next best is at 11% with the Los Angeles Chargers, and the average for the NFL is 23%. That is how successful this Saints offensive line has been at protecting Derek Carr, and doing so at such a high rate is allowing the offense to play at a very high level.

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Dennis Allen credits the run game for quieting Cowboys’ pass rush

Limiting Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence was pivotal. The Saints did it by running the football and avoiding must-pass situations:

Stopping Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence was a key to victory for the New Orleans Saints against the Dallas Cowboys. Their ability to rush the passer is the defense’s greatest strength, yet Derek Carr didn’t see much pressure on Sunday.

Taliese Fuaga and Trevor Penning did a good job winning that matchup in the pass and run game. Part of stopping the Cowboys unit was running the football. Dennis Allen looked at the diminished impact of Lawrence and Parsons and felt “part of it was we were able to run the football.”

Alvin Kamara caught a touchdown, but his 115 rushing yards were equally as effective in slowing down the pass rush.

“When you’re able to run the ball and you’re able to put yourself in manageable situations, you’re not having to get into a dropback passing mode where they can unleash their pass rush,”  Allen explained.

That’s exactly what they did. The Saints only faced third down on eight occasions in this game. Just four of them were longer than 4 yards. One was a kneel-down and another was when the Saints were running out the clock and keeping the ball on the ground.

This means New Orleans only faced two third downs of more than 4 yards. The Saints were rarely in must-pass situations, and it kept the Cowboys’ best assets from getting active.

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Saints’ win over the Cowboys displays a major shift for New Orleans

The Saints’ win over the Cowboys showcased real growth. Dennis Allen beat a good team, and Klint Kubiak has completely renovated this offense:

The 2024 rendition of the New Orleans Saints have already succeeded where last year’s team failed. They’ve defeated a good team by knocking out the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

When the Saints finally started to put it together at the end of 2023, they defeated the lowly Carolina Panthers and New York Giants. The following game was against the Los Angeles Rams, and everyone wanted to see the Saints find success against a better opponent. Sound familiar?

This was the same sentiment expressed before visiting the Cowboys. But this time they passed the test. Alvin Kamara built on top of a strong Week 1 performance, Derek Carr’s connection to Rashid Shaheed proved to still  be dangerous, and it’s safe to say Klint Kubiak has completely renovated this offense.

The offensive line stalled the Cowboys’ pass rush, and that was the place where it seemed Dallas had the biggest advantage on paper. Trevor Penning and Taliese Fuaga kept Carr clean against an elite pass rusher in Micah Parsons.

Rising to the occasion this week answered a lot of questions about the Saints, and it drew a clear line between this team and last year’s squad. The 2024 Saints can beat good teams. The sky just might be the limit for New Orleans.

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Taliese Fuaga will play vs. Cowboys in Week 2

Taliese Fuaga continued to deal with back tightness throughout the week. After testing it out pregame, the rookie will play in Saints vs. Cowboys:

Taliese Fuaga played every snap in the New Orleans Saints’ season opener with the Carolina Panthers, and they’ll have in the lineup again for Sunday’s Week 2 game against the Dallas Cowboys. Fuaga was a limited participant during the first day of practice this week and it was the last time he practiced at all. He was out the ensuing two days and listed was seen as a game-time decision.

Fuaga is dealing with back tightness similar to what he managing during training camp. Saints head coach Dennis Allen doesn’t believe the injury is a major issue, and Fuaga was cleared to play after testing out his back before the game.

With Micah Parsons playing host, Trevor Penning will have to be on top of things Sunday. Parsons likes to rush against the right tackle but he’ll get reps against Fuaga, too. Penning may get the brunt of the high-profile matchup, but Fuaga doesn’t have it easy. Parsons is a dynamic pass rusher, and the rookie will still have to deal with Parsons at times. Even when Parsons is in front of Penning, DeMarcus Lawrence is a formidable threat.

Lawrence is a strong run defender who can derail the Saints’ main objective to dominate the run game. The Saints offensive tackles will have their hands full on both sides.

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Saints announce inactive players for Week 2 game vs. Cowboys

The New Orleans Saints announced their list of inactive players for Week 2’s game with the Dallas Cowboys:

The New Orleans Saints are looking for their second victory in a row and start 2-0 for the second consecutive season. After knocking off the Carolina Panthers, the Saints take on a bigger challenge in the Dallas Cowboys.

Bryan Bresee, Taliese Fuaga and Marshon Lattimore were prominent players who were listed as questionable. Bresee and Fuaga will play but Lattimore is inactive. The Saints ruled out two other players for the contest earlier in the week

Spencer Rattler will continue to be the third emergency quarterback. He’ll be dressed out, but he won’t count as an active player. He only comes into the game if Derek Carr and Jake Haener are injured.

Here are the inactive list from each team:

New Orleans Saints inactive players:

  • LB D’Marco Jackson (calf)
  • LB Jaylan Ford (hamstring)
  • DT Khalen Saunders (calf)
  • QB Spencer Rattler (emergency third quarterback)
  • LB Jaylan Ford (hamstring)
  • TE Dallin Holker (ankle)
  • WR A.T. Perry (hand)

Dallas Cowboys inactive players:

  • TE John Stephens (hamstring)
  • TE Jake Ferguson (knee)
  • QB Trey Lance (emergency third quarterback)
  • CB Andrew Booth
  • LB Buddy Johnson
  • WR Ryan Flournoy
  • OT Matt Waletzko

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Taliese Fuaga traveled to Dallas, will be a game-time decision vs. Cowboys

Taliese Fuaga traveled to Dallas while dealing with back tightness that has kept him out of practice. He’ll be a game-time decision against the Cowboys:

Taliese Fuaga traveled to Dallas for Sunday’s Saints game, per New Orleans.Football’s Nick Underhill, but his status will be a game-time decision ahead of kickoff with the Cowboys. Dennis Allen wasn’t concerned that the injury would be a major issue, but he never said Fuaga would play this week. He didn’t shut the door on that possibility, either.

Fuaga making the trip is the first step in the right direction. That keeps hope alive he could play. He’s currently dealing with back tightness, so that’s a tricky one. The injury kept the rookie out of practice for the majority of the week. He’ll have an opportunity to warm up on the field at AT&T Stadium and see how his back is feeling.

If Fuaga can’t play, Landon Young would join Trevor Penning as the starting tackles. Young filled in for Fuaga at practice during the week. Like Fuaga, Young shifted from the right side of the offensive line to the left this offseason. Olisaemeka Udoh is another option but he’s been focused on backing up Penning on the right side as of late.

The offensive line still has questions to answer and doing it without Fuaga will be a more difficult task. Fuaga will workout in pregame warm ups. It isn’t until then we’ll know whether he can go. It’s a long season and the Saints may not want to jeopardize their standout left tackle in Week 2.

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Landon Young on the difference between playing left guard and tackle

Landon Young came in for Lucas Patrick at left guard vs. the Panthers, and he may have to fill in for Taliese Fuaga vs. the Cowboys

Landon Young came in for Lucas Patrick at left guard against the Carolina Panthers, and there is a chance he may have to fill in for Taliese Fuaga against the Dallas Cowboys this week.

The New Orleans Saints drafted Young as an offensive tackle. This year he became more versatile by adding guard to his repertoire. That has come in handy just a week into the season.

This week in practice he’s gone from guard to tackle and he discussed the difficulties of it: “It has its challenges. It’s a little bit easier to go from outside to inside than inside to outside.”

Unfortunately for Young, the Saints are asking him to take the harder route. Being a natural tackle may make his transition easier. The most important and beneficial thing for Young is getting reps at the position he’ll end up playing.

Adjusting to different players on your own team and opposing teams is a huge difference Young pointed out. He goes from blocking smaller, agile players on the edge to bigger, powerful players on the interior.

There’s also the chemistry factor of understanding the tendencies of the center or the guard next to you. This understanding is crucial as you pass off defenders to teammates.

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