Sigh… Why am I even writing this article you ask? Because multiple folks have and I’m sure more will ask for inputs on tonights JAC v NO game and I will just copy and paste this for a much more detailed Showdown Breakdown than anyone should ever have look for in pre-season week 2.
Jacksonville will visit New Orleans tonight in the Caeser’s Superdome down in New Orleans. You know, the greatest stadium in the NFL which will once again have fans in it and now that Drew Brees is retired one can ask, Did Breesus Live Here?
Granted, the real Caeser’s Palace out in Las Vegas is mostly known for it’s Pools more than the casino itself. The sportsbook has gone through some fairly decent renovations over the years and the shops attached to Caeser’s are certainly an enjoyable spot to visit if you want to blow a ton of money on designer brand stuff or maybe you just want to visit Mike Tyson at the autograph store there, none the less, it all pales in comparison to the olden days in the previously Louisiana Superdome when the bathrooms had a giant urinal in the middle of the bathroom where everyone would piss in during the 3rd quarter when hammered. Weird though, they didn’t seem to have any place to wash your hands in those bathrooms pre-Katrina renovations, or at least none of us Saints fans could ever pinpoint where they actually were. Wait a minute …
Ah – yes – showdown … Who the hell is playing?
JACKSONVILLE
QUARTERBACKS
Trevor Lawrence has not exactly had a pleasant time on Monday nights in the Superdome and Quarterbacks in general in pre-season are way over-valued beacuse they need the full game to match what potentially a skill position player can do on just a limited size unless the QB accounts for two touchdowns. The Saints pass rush was very good in week one of pre-season against a good Baltimore offensive line and should be enough to limit Lawrence from doing anything major — but a big play TD in the first Quarter is not out of the question.
Gardner Minshew, CJ Beathard and Jake Luton round out the Jacksonville depth chart. Of them I would have the most interest in Gardner Minshew
RUNNING BACKS
We have former Saint Devine Ozigbo in a pre-season game vs New Orleans, which is interesting because he once shined in a pre-season game for the Saints against the Jaguars. But it would be a mostly 4th quarter late play for Devine. Robinson, Hyde and Etienne should all see some work here from the Jaguars, however I would caution heavily against Etienne as the Saints LB have been excellent thus far in camp covering running backs and they have a top end CB vs slot players — where Etienne is likely to be used the most.
WIDE RECEIVERS
DJ Chark (LSU) is out so no narrative play there and we’ll want to attack the Saints backup DB and Safety’s over their starters. New Orleans projects to once again be good at covering big physical WR but likely fails when it comes to speed WR’s, which would most likely lean towards Shenault and Dorsett. Shenault is locked in for the Jags but Dorsett could use a big game to help cement his role. With Minshew likely getting some good late time in this game I like both.
TIGHT ENDS
Insert a picture of a train wreck, that is Tight End for Jacksonville in DFS
Top Jacksonville Positional Plays
- Gardner Minshew, Laviska Shenault, Philip Dorsett, Devine Ozigbo
NEW ORLEANS
QUARTERBACK
The attention tonight is on Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill. Multiple reports say that Sean Payton will declare his starter by the end of the week when the Saints final pre-season game is, but I honestly don’t think that matters too much because both are going to wind up playing at some point in the regular season. There’s also too much being made about Jameis making the start tonight over Taysom beacuse that was the plan all along and Taysom got the first game due to his seniority in the system and with the team. What is good for both of these plays however is that New Orleans is more than likely to throw the ball quite a bit today. They have a lot of questions at the bottom of their WR depth chart right now and they have three veteran type running backs whom they’re showing signs that they don’t want to run into the ground just yet. So both Jameis and Taysom will get to air it out, and I don’t think we’ll see Taysom run many designed run plays — however if the play breaks down for him tonight he will no doubt run against the Jaguars backups. Jameis will play into the 2nd quarter though so he’s going to get 3+ series and both could be used since it’s a showdown format. Ian Book and Trevor Semien won’t see the field much as they’re going to play all of game 3 although Semien could play the 2nd half tonight
RUNNING BACKS
Hi Alvin Kamara, okay, goodbye, go back to the locker room now. Imagine playing him in DFS tonight, I mean seriously, why? Latavius Murray and The guy who was on the team that blew a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl who’s name I won’t mention are the big question marks here. There is far too much noise around Murray being dead/over the hill/not the same this season so far. If the Saints don’t use him tonight it’s very concerning for his viability to make the team going forward in my mind — unless of course they are just giving him veteran rest but he’s also not doing much in practice lately either and he looked horrible vs Baltimore. Him and D.F. to me are fighting for a spot on this roster because Tony Jones Jr. has locked himself into making the 53 and should get another good volume tonight.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Welcome to the sneak show. New Orleans is going to change into a deep threat offense once again and that stems off play-action and the ability for Winston and Taysom to execute on deep throws — which is MUCH stronger of a suit for Jameis than Taysom. Believe it or not, Taysom is the accuracy QB and Jameis is the big play deep threat QB. Winston will take no less than two deep shots and one of them if not both will go to Deonte Harris. They held him out as a dressed but didn’t play scratch in week 1, but I am extremely high on Deonte Harris this season along with Marquez Callaway. These two UDFA Wide Receivers have both shown they can play in this league and are going to be trusted for the primary set of receptions in the Saints passing game, because holy hell everything after them is a hot pile of garbage with injuries to Michael Thomas and Tre’Quan Smith.
You need Harris tonight and Callaway is the steady higher reception target with so many injuries at WR for New Orleans. Lil’Jordan Humpfrey needs a big game to save his shot on this roster as veterans Chris Hogan and Kevin White are pushing to earn the trust of Sean Payton and the offense. For third down offense, Ty Montgomery has definitely carved his role out right now as the guy who basically tries to play AK41 when AK41 is off eating snacks on the sideline because he shouldn’t touch the field tonight. He’s showdown viable, but they know what they have in him and I don’t expect a big set of volume. And if you are trying to hype up rookie Kawaan Baker, you are one week early.
TIGHT ENDS
Juwan Johnson is New Orleans primary pass catching TE and I hope they don’t use him much today because he remains a sleeper in fantasy drafts while others try to chase Adam Trautman. Trautman is filling his own role or a hybrid of the old Josh Hill role and this is less about saying Trautman can’t be more and more about the Saints love for Juwan Johnson as a big bodied TE to get open vs LB’s and Safety’s in coverage. He is the only play here.
KICKERS AND DEFENSES
Josh Lambo (K) and New Orleans Defense are the only ones I would consider — but the Saints likely will give Aldrick Rosas a chance to kick a deep one if it comes up just to see if he doesn’t suck. My guess is that he will suck though.
SHOWDOWN EXPOSURE
Tier 1 plays: Laviska Shenault, Deonte Harris
Tier 2 plays: Jameis Winston, Gardner Minshew, Marquez Callaway, Taysom Hill, Tony Jones Jr, Phillip Dorsett
Tier 3 plays: Saints D, Josh Lambo, Devine Ozigbo, Juwan Johnson, Lil’Jordan