Saints Under Fire; Star WR 'Wasting His Career' In New Orleans
The New Orleans Saints are one of the worst teams in football again this season. They've been at the bottom of the league all year, which has resulted in some intirguing trade buzz.
Wide receiver Chris Olave was mixed around in a lot of these trade rumors early in the year, but those rumors quieted down when Olave revealed that he was working on a contract extension to stay in New Orleans long term. But not everybody in the football world is happy about Olave being in New Orleans.
FanSided's Justin Carter recently criticized the Saints for wasting Olave's career, citing the horrific quarterback play in New Orleans over the last few seasons.
Saints facing backlash for "wasting" Chris Olave's career
"Alvin Kamara seems content to just ride out the rest of his NFL career in New Orleans, so I'm not going to write about him here, other than to say that if Kamara hadn't threatened to retire if the Saints traded him, I'd have written about him," Carter wrote. "Instead, let's talk about another offensive player on the Saints roster: wide receiver Chris Olave. Is Olave a star? IDK! He has a pair of 1,000-yard seasons under his belt, but missed nine games last year, which stunted his development somewhat.
"But you know what stunted his development more? The list of quarterbacks who Olave has caught a pass from in the NFL. That list: Spencer Rattler, Tyler Shough, Jake Haener, Taysom Hill, Jameis Winston, Andy Dalton and Derek Carr. I mean ... come on, how is a player supposed to succeed with a list like that? Let's get Olave somewhere that has a good quarterback."
Olave's a star in the making and he's flashed this potential on occasion, regardless of his quarterback play. The talented wide receiver is one of the better playmakers in football when he remains healthy.
But it seems like he's happy in New Orleans.
It's hard to justify that Olave's career is being wasted with the Saints, especially considering his career is only just beginning. The Saints are a talented quarterback away from Olave breaking out as a top 10 receiver in football. Maybe the Saints can land this quarterback in the upcoming NFL Draft.
Dan Campbell has identified the Lions' biggest issues, and it's the difference between being good and unstoppable
The Detroit Lions bye week is over, and they had a good first quarter of the season, starting 5-2. Right now, they have the first-ranked defense in terms of DVOA and the fifth-ranked offense. Things look like they're going pretty well, but there are two problems. One problem that we identified is not scoring after forcing turnovers, and the other one comes right from the head coach.
The Lions are having a lot of problems converting on third down
"We are not getting the plays that we normally get because we are not converting like we should on third down." Campbell said Monday. "Third down is the most glaring thing right now. We have to be better. It's right there. That's the thing, Johnny (John Morton) and I have looked at. That's the big focus for us."
Campbell went on to say that's not just the third-and-longs that the Lions are having trouble with. They're struggling to convert on third-and-manageable, too. Third-and-manable being that 3rd-and-4 through 4rd-and-6 region.
He's right. There has been a stark drop-off in this category. The Lions finished the season last year, converting on 46.9% of their third-down attempts. That was fourth in the league. This year, they're only converting on 37.6%. That's 21st in the league. In the manageable department that Campbell was talking about, the Lions are converting 47% of their plays there. That's down from 59% last year.
To still be 5-2 is a sign that this is a really good football team. If they're able to get this fixed, which is not a huge thing that takes weeks and weeks to fix, they're likely going to be able to be an extremely dangerous football team down the second half stretch. A perfect time to have all your ducks in a row.
Lions to Host Minnesota Vikings Following Bye Week
Campbell mentioned the Vikings right after talking about teams that are in the race with the Lions. But on November 2, the Lions will have the opportunity to put a lot of distant between themselves and the Vikings.
Minnesota has lost two straight and sits in last place of the NFC North. With a win, the Lions would move three games in front of the Vikings, who finished second in the division last year.
The Green Bay Packers lead the NFC North and have already defeated the Lions. But the Lions trail by only half a game, and the two teams will meet for a rematch on Thanksgiving in Detroit.
After hosting the Vikings, the Lions will go on the road for consecutive matchups in the NFC East. First, Detroit will visit the Washington Commanders and then the Philadelphia Eagles. Those two squads were the final two teams standing in the NFC last year.
Washington upset the Lions in the NFC divisional round last January.
The Lions will have a third straight NFC East matchup against the New York Giants before then facing the Packers on Thanksgiving.
