Buccaneers
Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin tore his ACL late in the 2021 season but was able to have a successful rehab and return to catch a career-high 104 passes in 2022. Still, he says he didn’t feel like the same player for most of last season, and he expects that to be different in 2023.
“I think I’m very close to it. I feel like a lot of my explosion is coming back,” Godwin said via Adam Silvan of Pewter Report. “I feel very comfortable with the things that I’m working on. It feels really good to be able to have the opportunity to work on my skill development this offseason, as opposed to just working to rehab an injury.”
Falcons
Falcons third-round DE Zach Harrison arrived at Ohio State with a ton of hype as the top recruit in the entire state of Ohio. The Buckeyes have been a factory for high-level pass rushers in recent years, with Joey Bosa, Nick Bosa, and Chase Young earning top-three picks in the NFL Draft. Harrison didn’t reach that same level of success. But the way he responded to that still caught the eye of the Falcons.
“Being that huge recruit and not having that success that all these kids expect when you’re 17, 18 years old. You’re going into college and you’re a five-star kid, you expect all of these things,” Falcons area scout Ryan Doyal said via Tori McElhaney of the team website. “So many of these guys when they get to these programs and they don’t have that success they don’t really rebound from that. They never really come out the other side of that.”
“You saw a kid who, mentally, didn’t go into the tank when things didn’t go the way he wanted it to initially,” Doyal added. “A kid who kept grinding kept working, kept doing the things that we value so much as an organization. That really tied me to him.”
That showed the intangible factor NFL teams are often looking for. Physically, Harrison has attributes that just can’t be taught at 6-6, over 270 pounds, and one of the largest wingspans in this draft class. New Falcons DC Ryan Nielsen places a premium on length and power, a blueprint Harrison fits perfectly.
“Throughout the process, (I’m) watching his tape, watching his drills and he played with power,” Nielsen said. “He’s a powerful guy and the No. 1 way to win in the league is with power, and he has that… Coming in right now you know that he’s going to play with power.”
And while Harrison had just 11 sacks in four years in college, including a career-high 3.5 in 2022, his pressure numbers were stronger, including 33 to lead Ohio State in 2022. The Falcons believe he’s a much more disruptive player than the sack totals indicate and his best football could be ahead of him.
“We’re getting a guy who has done a lot of good things,” Nielsen said, “but there are still things left that he can do.”
Saints
The Saints brought in QB Derek Carr to be their starter, but former No. 1 overall pick QB Jameis Winston is happy to be the backup, despite feeling that he still has the skillset to be a starter in the NFL.
“The main thing is the opportunity, and I’m just grateful every chance I get an opportunity to step into a building and play a sport I love,” Winston said, via Katherine Terrell of ESPN. “However, I know that I’m still a starting quarterback in this league. But, man, I have to be, like this is all a process. There are some Hall of Famers that made their big break at 30. So I’m still young, I’m still 29, but right now my role is to serve this team in the role that I’m in. And I’m all in to doing that. Because again, I’m grateful for the opportunity to be able to still wear a Saints uniform or to be in the NFL in general.”
“It’s just very familiar,” Winston said of being in New Orleans. “I trust this organization, I believe in this team that we have a great defense, great offense. And last year we had a lot of opportunities to break open some games, but with the addition of Derek, I think he’s gonna bring a lot of good things to this team. The best dependability is availability. And the past three years or so, I’ve been banged up. So the leadership, they have to continue to move forward. And I just know when I first got here, we were gonna have some of the top players, some of the best coaches. So in terms of trusting this organization, I just know this organization — especially during the Sean Payton era — has been very successful. And [head coach] Dennis [Allen] has basically carried that over, because he is built to be a successful head coach. So for me, my accountability is just focusing on my health and being ready when that opportunity presents itself.”
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