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 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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By: Jake Rajala

The San Francisco 49ers are handing the keys of the offense to Trey Lance, but they are far from a rebuilding stage. The 49ers have added Charvarius Ward and George Odum, but they haven’t hit the jackpot in free agency yet. I still expect them to have a strong chance of inking a top-tier player.

With that enunciated, here are a few profiles that the 49ers could sign:

• P.J. Williams

The former Saints S/CB P.J. Williams would be an exciting addition for the 49ers. The 49ers GM John Lynch needs to be drooling over the versatility and aggressive nature that Williams displays. Williams is also coming off a career season (3 ints, 2 sacks, 4 QB hits). The two highlights of his 2021 season were having a pick-6 against Tom Brady in Week 8 and laying a clean, vicious hit on Chris Godwin that ended his season in Week 18.

• Julio Jones

The 49ers are the perfect darkhorse to land Julio Jones in my opinion. Kyle Shanahan and Julio could reunite in the Bay Area. Shanny could have Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and Brandon Aiyuk. The Rams added the superb Allen Robinson and it would only be fair if SF added Jones to their arsenal. If Jones wants to join a genius offensive mind and push for his first Lombardi trophy, he should head to San Francisco.

• Jadeveon Clowney

The Rams didn’t really need edge rusher Von Miller in 2021, but they believed his talent was important enough to help them take the next step. Lynch could make a creative and bold decision to snag Clowney (9 sacks in 2021) at this late stage in free agency and pair him with Nick Bosa. After all, Dee Ford’s tenure in SF appears to be nearly finished.

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The Tennessee Titans have officially released their starting cornerback Janoris “Jackrabbit” Jenkins. According to NBC Sports, the Titans will save $6.9 million by axing their beloved CB. Here is how productive the 33-year-old CB has been in recent years:

• Four interceptions in 2019
• Three interceptions in 2020
• 1 interceptions in 2021
• six deflections, one forced fumble, and 54 combined tackles in 2021

It’s clear that Jenkins might be old (33), but he can still contribute well for at least another season on a new squad. The Titans know Jackrabbit provides playmaking ability and depth, but they want to go in a new direction at their CB spot. Mike Vrabel will really lean on the 2021 first-round pick Caleb Farley to be an impact performer at the pivotal CB position moving forward.

Jackrabbit is out of “the Music City” and the next (potentially last) chapter of his journey has begun. The question is: where will Jackrabbit sign next? Well, here are a few destinations that make a ton of sense for Jenkins.

• San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers could obtain a steal in Jenkins by adding him to their young CB unit. There has been a lot of speculation that the 49ers could sign Stephon Gilmore. If they can’t ink Gilmore, they could fall back on landing the hungry, quick Jenkins on his last legs at this point in his career. The ascending Ambry Thomas might even be potentially joined by Gilmore and another veteran like Jackrabbit this offseason.

• New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints have familiarity with Jenkins and they might need more depth at the position this offseason. P.J. Williams is a free agent and he might be out of the Big Easy. Bradley Roby could also be cut to free up cap space. Paulson Adebo had nice flashes, but Jenkins may be able to start over him in the near future. All in all, Jackrabbit has the potential to be a superb CB2 or CB3 for Dennis Allen’s defense.

• New York Jets

The New York Jets haven’t been unearthly active in free agency, to say the least. They could still find many diamonds in the roughs at positions of need this offseason. Robert Saleh could grab a fine, talented veteran in Jenkins. The Jets could really use all the pass-defense help they can get in the AFC East against Josh Allen, Tua Tagovailoa, and Mac Jones.

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