Tag: Underrated

6 under-the-radar free agents Saints could target

6 under-the-radar free agents the New Orleans Saints could target on offense and defense:

The New Orleans Saints will have largely the same roster next year as they did last season, but will need to look around for some role players to replace those that are on the way out.

The Saints likely won’t be in on the big name targets such as defensive linemen Chris Jones, Justin Madubike or Josh Allen but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t options at more available price points.

Last year, they signed players like veteran safeties Jonathan Abram and Ugo Amadi that flew under the radar during free agency, but ended up making a bit of an impact and will likely stick around for another year.

Here are some under-the-radar options in this free agency class at some positions of need:

Alontae Taylor named a ‘Secret Superstar’ for the Saints in 2023

Alontae Taylor was named a ‘Secret Superstar’ for the New Orleans Saints in 2023. He’s built a lot of momentum, but first he needs to win a starting job:

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There doesn’t seem to be any stopping the momentum propelling Alontae Taylor. The second-year New Orleans Saints cornerback is carrying lofty expectations into 2023 (not slowed by his new jersey number), with Doug Farrar over at Touchdown Wire being the latest NFL analyst to bring up Taylor as an underrated talent around the league.

Here’s what Farrar had to say of Taylor’s prospects while highlighting a pass breakup against Los Angeles Rams receiver Van Jefferson last season:

The Saints got Taylor in the second round of the 2022 draft out of Tennessee, and the rookie proved to be a natural in Dennis Allen’s aggressive, man-heavy coverages. Last season, Taylor allowed just 29 catches on 64 targets for 283 yards, 87 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, no interceptions, 10 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 58.3. Among rookie cornerbacks who played at least 20% of their teams’ snaps, only Sauce Gardner allowed a lower passer rating at 53.9, and Taylor’s was the fifth-lowest in the league, regardless of tenure.

Whether in the slot, or playing overhang roles, Taylor is aggressive when he needs to be, and he can also hang back and wait for things to develop. It’s not easy playing press in the slot no matter how experienced you are; you’re vulnerable to receivers who can move to both sides, and the boundary is no longer your friend.

Taylor is going to be competing with Paulson Adebo in training camp for the opportunity to start across from Marshon Lattimore, but reports out of voluntary workouts this spring say the Saints have been training him in covering the slot.

That’s not something Taylor did often in college at Tennessee (only 44 snaps from 2018 to 2021) or in his rookie year with New Orleans (just 22 snaps in 2022), but if he can comfortably handle coverage assignments out wide and in the slot it will help him get on the field early and often regardless of how that battle with Adebo unfolds.

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6 underrated prospects to watch for the Saints in 2023 NFL draft

Penn State TE Brendon Strange and San Jose State DE Viliami Fehoko are among 6 underrated prospects to watch for the Saints in the 2023 NFL draft’s third day:

Everyone knows the big names in the 2023 NFL draft: the first-round prospects who get fans excited and who draw swarms of scouts and coaches to their pro day workouts. But the New Orleans Saints have done well in the later rounds of the draft, and it’s important to identify players they could be looking at in rounds four, five, six, and seven — as well as undrafted free agency. They always seem to find some diamonds in the rough.

So who qualifies as a sleeper? Draft coverage is so oversaturated these days that even casual fans can recognize dozens of names, and some dedicated draftniks even have their own top-100 rankings (with the real sickos among them ranking hundreds of prospects).

To help thin out the herd, we’re only considering prospects who were ranked outside the top 150 at both NFL Mock Draft Database and Pro Football Network’s industry consensus big board. That gives us an opportunity to highlight some undersung players who should be available on Day 3 of this year’s event. These aren’t going to be perfect prospects, or even players who can step into a big role right away. The goal is to find guys with enough traits that can give them a shot at making the roster as a backup or on special teams, buying them time to develop into better pros.

Here are six underrated prospects we could see the Saints targeting on the draft’s third day:

5 underrated Chiefs performances in preseason Week 1 vs. Bears

Upon closer inspection, these five #Chiefs had great performances in preseason Week 1.

The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t come away with a win against the Chicago Bears in Week 1 of the preseason, but they did get some very valuable snaps for members of their roster.

The coaching staff will use those snaps to help evaluate players as they whittle down the roster to 53 players at the start of the NFL’s regular season. The first wave of roster cuts comes on Tuesday, Aug. 16, with Kansas City needing to trim its roster from 85 to 90 players.

While everyone knows the standout performers from the Chiefs’ Week 1 preseason game, there was a handful that might have flown under the radar. Here’s a look at five of the team’s underrated performances in Week 1:

Every NFL team’s most underrated player heading into 2022

These players don’t get the recognition they deserve in the NFL, starting with Saints linebacker Demario Davis — who still hasn’t been voted into a single Pro Bowl:

The NFL has no shortage of superstars who are the face of the league. But there are plenty of impact players in the NFL who don’t necessarily get the recognition they deserve.

Whether overlooked or ignored all together, these players are significant contributors for their respective teams. They’ve had proven success but haven’t necessarily gotten the praise they deserve.

Our NFL Wire editors examined the most underrated player for each team heading into the 2022 season, highlighting why they’re deserving of recognition.

Why Safety Quandre Diggs is Seahawks most underrated player

It was close, but safety Quandre Diggs has earned the nod as the Seattle Seahawks’ most underrated player heading into the 2022 NFL season.

The start of training camp is just weeks away, but for now, the lists continue! In Touchdown Wire’s latest, editors from all 32 Wire sites picked the player they deemed most deserving of the team’s most underrated heading into the 2022 season.

Seahawks Wire’s Tim Weaver gave safety Quandre Diggs the nod.

“A strong case can be made here for WR Tyler Lockett, but I’ll go with Diggs, who is one of the most underappreciated defenders in the league,” Weaver writes. “Much of his impact on the game can’t be seen on the broadcast angle on TV and doesn’t make it into the box score.”

“However, Diggs plays his position about as well as anyone and his ball skills have been a massive difference-maker for this team,” Weaver continues. “Since coming over in a lopsided trade with Detroit, Diggs has posted 13 interceptions in 38 games in Seattle.”

Click here for a look at the most underrated players for all 32 clubs.

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Every NFL team’s most underrated player heading into 2022

These players don’t get the recognition they deserve in the NFL.

The NFL has no shortage of superstars who are the face of the league. But there are plenty of impact players in the NFL who don’t necessarily get the recognition they deserve.
Whether overlooked or ignored all together, these players are significant contributors for their respective teams. They’ve had proven success but haven’t necessarily gotten the praise they deserve.
Our NFL Wire editors examined the most underrated player for each team heading into the 2022 season, highlighting why they’re deserving of recognition.

Every NFL team’s most underrated player heading into 2022

These players don’t get the recognition they deserve in the NFL, including a defensive tackle who plays for the #Chiefs:

The NFL has no shortage of superstars who are the face of the league. But there are plenty of impact players in the NFL who don’t necessarily get the recognition they deserve.

Whether overlooked or ignored all together, these players are significant contributors for their respective teams. They’ve had proven success but haven’t necessarily gotten the praise they deserve.

Our NFL Wire editors examined the most underrated player for each team heading into the 2022 season, highlighting why they’re deserving of recognition.

Former Saint Trey Hendrickson listed among NFL’s most underrated defenders

Bengals star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson is listed among the NFL’s most underrated defenders. Did the Saints make a mistake in letting him go?

Ouch. Well, hey, good for Trey Hendrickson: the former New Orleans Saints defensive end made the cut for Doug Farrar’s list of the most underrated defenders in the NFL over at Touchdown Wire, and for great reason. Hendrickson led the Cincinnati Bengals in sacks (14) and overall quarterback pressures (87, per Pro Football Focus charting) after leaving New Orleans in free agency last offseason. So it’s safe to say he’s doing well for himself.

Hendrickson is one of three edge defenders to make Farrar’s list, along with John Franklin-Myers (New York Jets) and Rashan Gary (Green Bay Packers). Here’s what Farrar had to say of Hendrickson after his big year with Cincinnati:

“There are times as an analyst where you do your best, you think you have it right, and in the end, you have to take the L. Hopefully, you learn from it, and you move on. When the Bengals signed former Saints edge-rusher Trey Hendrickson to a four-year, $60 million contract in March, 2021, I panned the deal, giving it a B- because Hendrickson didn’t offer a lot of gap versatility. I thought that Hendrickson might be limited in a Bengals defense that wasn’t as versatile upfront.

Uh… whoops. I would hereby like to apologize to Mr. Hendrickson, and anybody else I may have offended. Hendrickson wasn’t very gap-versatile in 2021 for the AFC champs — he played 835 snaps outside the tackles and 56 inside — but if you have a fastball with enough velocity and movement… sometimes that’s all you need. In the 2021 season, only Maxx Crosby and Nick Bosa had more total pressures than Hendrickson’s 87, tying with the aforementioned Rashan Gary for third-best in the league.”

There was some though at the time of Hendrickson’s signing that he was just a one-year wonder. He’d doubled his career sacks total in 2020 after spending the first three seasons as an afterthought in the Saints’ rotation, having missed a lot of time with injuries. But credit to him for putting it all together and maximizing his value to earn a nice payday from the Bengals and some well-deserved acknowledgement.

I’d hesitate to say the Saints made a mistake in letting Hendrickson walk, though. With the salary cap crunch in effect amid the COVID-19 pandemic, New Orleans had to make some tough choices, and ended up letting players like Hendrickson, Sheldon Rankins, and Jackrabbit Jenkins walk away so they could retain others and issue the franchise tag to Marcus Williams. It’s disappointing that they couldn’t sign Williams to a long-term deal after that, and he did ultimately leave in free agency, but we should be looking at both situations separately. When you draft and develop talented players as often as the Saints have, inevitably some of them will move on.

Still, it’s going to be impossible not to ask whether the team would be better off with Hendrickson still around on a high salary as opposed to, say, still-unproven first round picks like Marcus Davenport or Payton Turner. Hendrickson is just 27 years old and may have been a nice succession plan for Cameron Jordan (who turns 33 in July).

Let’s save the “shoulda, woulda, coulda” talk for another day and just hope Hendrickson doesn’t have too big of a game when he and his Bengals teammates (including other ex-Saints like Vonn Bell and Eli Apple) visit New Orleans on Oct. 16. Ryan Ramczyk, Trevor Penning, and the rest of the Saints offensive line are going to have their hands full.

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