By: Jake Rajala

The New Orleans Saints have a very admirable cornerback group heading into the 2022 season. Their alpha cornerback Marshon Lattimore is gunning for his first All-Pro season. It should also be stated that the days of the New Orleans struggling to find talent at CB2 and CB3 have eroded – as the Saints exhibit the ascending Paulson Adebo and the 2021 surprise performer P.J. Williams. After the top three CB faces, the Saints will anticipate production from Alontae Taylor and Bradley Roby.

Lattimore had a personal best of 19 pass-breakups last season (which ranked third in the league), 3 ints, and a career-high 68 tackles (and this led him to make his fourth Pro Bowl trip). The Saints showed their commitment to Lattimore’s excellence by inking him to a five-year contract extension worth $97.6 million dollars. PFF gave Lattimore a 77.3 grade for his 2021 season.

The biggest story of the training camp is arguably the rise of the former Stanford CB. Nick Underhill of NOF stated on Twitter, “Paulson Adebo might be having the best camp of any player on the team.” Ross Jackson of Locked On also stated the following today, “Paulson Adebo is a beast in one on ones right now.” Finally, Luke Johnson of the New Orleans Advocate, expressed that Adebo shined today – as he referenced Day 5 of camp as “The Paulson Adebo Show” for his latest piece. The Saints signed the Honey Badger this off-season and it seemed like he would be hogging the spotlight at this point. It’s certainly an amazing surprise that Adebo is playing lights out alongside Lattimore and the gifted Tyrann Mathieu. If Adebo can consistently play like a Pro Bowl-caliber CB and Lattimore “stays healthy”, the Saints may just have a Top-5 CB duo in 2022.

Williams, aka Tom Brady’s worst nightmare, will look to build off his 2021 season (3 ints, 2 sacks, and 42 combined tackles). He garnered a modest 70 grade by PFF for his last season’s performance. He reunited with DA on a one-year deal worth $5 million dollars. The Saints 2022 second-round pick out of the University of Tennessee also hasn’t been a slouch. Brooke Kirchhofer, who is a reporter for WWLTV, noted that Adebo “stood out” on the first day of pads (today). Let’s not forget that the Saints still Roby, who also played at Ohio State, and he made flashes last season (such as his int against Josh Allen). The Saints also made an underrated move in extending Roby – so he will be a FA in 2024. All in all, it’s safe to say that the Saints may have numerous top-end CB profiles and that they will be loaded at the CB spot for quite some time.

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By: Jake Rajala

The GOAT in the NFL is unequivocally the ageless quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Tom Brady. The Bucs QB has seven Super Bowl rings and he’s still pressing on for his eight SB victory. With that said, there has been kryptonite to Brady in recent memory: The New Orleans Saints. In particular, the Saints defense has been a personal hell for Brady — which was evident in Brady dropping a goose egg against the Saints in Week 15 of last season.

With that said, I believe the Bucs should feel more confident against the Saints and there ought to be plenty of optimism for them to at least split games against the Saints next season. It will certainly be a challenge for Mike Evans to have an outstanding outcome against Marshon Lattimore, but the Bucs will have new, numerous x-factors on their offense in Russell Gage and Rachaad White that could find success against the Saints defense. Antonio Brown was an understandable subtraction from the Bucs offense, but they did miss a strong WR3 presence against the Saints in their second battle a season ago. Gage, who might be the next Julian Edelman, could exploit the Saints rookie Alontae Taylor and be a third-down magnet for Brady. The Bucs rookie RB will also aspire to be James White 2.0 in Brady’s offense. White can certainly not excel in the rushing game, but he can also be a threat as a receiving back — which was shown with his 456 receiving yards in 2020.

The last element in the Buccaneers quest for revenge against the Saints is none other than Brady’s mindset. He has been bruised and pushed around by the Saints for two straight regular seasons. I fully expect him to have his best plan to start fast, take care of the football, and make pivotal throws against the Saints in their next bloody show-down. Perhaps the Bucs will even completely turn the table against the Saints — as the Bucs and the potential last ride of Brady could win both divisional match-ups in 2022.

The post Why the Buccaneers could beat the Saints in 2022 appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Jake Rajala

The New Orleans Saints simply have one of the most talented secondaries in the NFL. They arguably have a Top-5 cornerback in Marshon Lattimore — who made his third straight Pro Bowl last season. The former DROY and kryptonite to Mike Evans also signed a five-year contract extension worth $97.6 million dollars in September of 2021.

The Saints CB2, also known as Paulson Adebo, could be the x-factor on the Saints defense. The former Stanford CB ousted three interceptions and eight pass deflections last season. He really showed promise in the back-end of last season. He particularly stood out against the Bucs in their second match-up — as he allowed zero catches.

The Saints will also feature the rook Alontae Taylor in their secondary. Per Saints Wire, Dennis Allen has been impressed with the rookie thus far. Allen expressed that he’s further along than expected and that he’s excited about his ability in 2022.

P.J. Williams was an underrated re-signing by the Saints, to say the least. Williams absolutely had a personal-best season in 2022 — as he recorded three interceptions (including a pick-six), 2 sacks, and 42 combined tackles. He will look to be a ball-hawk and a big hitter in 2022.

The Saints display one of the top safety groups in the NFL with Tyrann Mathieu, Marcus Maye (who is somewhat in the shadow of Mathieu), and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. Of course, the shiniest DB on the Saints is the Honey Badger. The former Chiefs DB has been named All-Pro in two of the past three seasons. Per New Orleans.Football, he was standing out in OTAs earlier this off-season.

The former Jets safety Marcus Maye was arguably the Jets best player in 2020 and then took a slight dip in performance last season. Maye has a similar skill-set as Mathieu and it’s clear that Allen will enjoy utilizing the two new safeties. Last but certainly not least, the Saints will have their chippy, ascending safety in Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (3 ints, 2 sacks, and 4 QB hits in 2021). CGJ might just be the key ingredient in finishing off Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in their next battle.

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The San Francisco 49ers carry a 9-7 record and stress heading into Week 18. It’s unclear if the 49ers will beat the Los Angeles Rams for the sixth straight time, or if the new-look Rams led by the revenge-seeking Sean McVay will notch a much-needed victory. As widely enunciated, here is the playoff scenario for the 49ers: 

1. If the 49ers win, they are in the playoffs.

2. If the Rams win and the Saints win, the 49ers are out of the playoff picture.

3. If the Rams win, but the Saints lose, the 49ers are in the playoffs.

It’s not clear if the 49ers will be in the playoffs and how competitive they could be in the NFC gauntlet. Nonetheless, they will have to focus past the season and on the offseason at some point. With that said, Kyle Shanahan has another pivotal offseason. The 49ers added their future QB in Trey Lance last offseason, so now they need to figure out what pieces they want around the former NDSU signal-caller moving forward. The most glorious and optimistic aspect of the 2022 offseason isn’t the NFL combine (that most NFL nerds watch), but it is the NFL Draft. So, which direction could the 49ers look to go in the first three rounds? Let’s go under the scope and see what could pique Shanny’s interest.

Round 2: CB – Alontae Taylor – Tennessee (trade back in late 2nd/or early 3)

John Lynch and Shanahan should be pleased with the team’s performance in 2021. They know with ease that the NFC West team is built to win now. If the 49ers can get Lance to adjust a bit more mentally to the pro level and able to hit wide-open WRs that Jimmy G likes to miss in big games, they should see a spark from the offense. On the flip side, the 49ers have been a flag machine in the secondary ”“ notably at the CB position. Jason Verrett went from the most pleasant surprise in 2020 to Jason Verrett in 2021 (one game played).

They should be creative as usual in the 2022 draft. I would love to see them move back and select CB Alontae Taylor. They may be able to obtain a second-round draft pick next season and mid-round draft pick this season. Alontae Taylor was ranked fifth in coverage grade according to PFF in 2021. He has the frame and quickness to cover the likes of OBJ and DeAndre Hopkins well next season. 

Round 3: QB – Bailey Zappe – Western Kentucky 

This selection makes a ton of sense. Bailey Zappe, who threw for 5,977 yards and 62 passing touchdowns in FBS record-breaking fashion, would most likely be an upgrade over a QB2 in free agency like Cam Newton and Ryan Fitzpatrick (assuming Jimmy G is out the door). They would also have a very young profile in Zappe on the QB depth chart. 

Kyle Shanahan once flirted with RG3 and Kirk Cousins on the same roster. Oddly enough, Kirk Cousins was the last QB standing. There is a chance Lance either isn’t the real guy, or Zappe is the better solution in a few years, too. 

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