Over the past 10 years the NFC South has had three of their teams play in the Super Bowl: New Orleans Saints in 2010 (win vs Colts), Carolina Panthers in 2016 (loss vs Broncos), and Atlanta Falcons in 2017 (loss vs Patriots). The Tampa Bay Buccaneers last played in (a won) a Super Bowl in 2003.
The Saints lost to the LA Rams in the NFC Championship last season (Yea, I know, let’s not get into controversial no-call), while the Falcons, Panthers, and Buccaneers will look to improve from sub-.500 records.
Here’s a look at some of the most anticipated training camp position battles for the NFC South in 2019.
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons most important task in 2019 will be to keep a clean pocket for Matt Ryan to throw from. Ryan was sacked 42 times in 2018, the second-most in his 11 year career. To address the situation, the Falcons spent two first-round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft on guard Chris Lindstrom and tackle Kaleb McGary. McGary has a good chance to start at right tackle, whereas both guard positions will be up for grabs.
Competing with Lindstrom for the guard spots will be free agent acquisitions James Carpenter and Jamon Brown. Carpenter started 10 games at left guard for the New York Jets in 2018 before being placed on injured reserve. Brown was named the New York Giants starting right guard in Week 10 and remained there the rest of the season. Lindstrom was the 14th overall pick in the draft, and the Falcons are hoping that the 22 year old can cement his place on the offensive line right away and be a reliable starter for the foreseeable future.
Carolina Panthers
With Mike Adams no longer on the team, the battle for the free safety position is wide open. Rashaan Gaulden played in 14 games as a rookie last season, but it was in a reserve role. Behind Adams, Gaulden was able to record 12 solo tackles. 31-year old Colin Jones will also fight for the starting spot. While he’s mostly been a special-teams player his entire career, he has experience in reserve roles at strong safety and free safety.
Two other relatively unknowns could make a play for the position as well, Cole Luke and Quin Blanding. In 2017, Luke had a decent showing in the preseason before being placed on injured reserve after week 1 because of an ankle injury. He spent 2018 on the practice squad. Luke will be making the jump from CB to Safety this season, so the learning curve could keep him from being a serious contender, but a strong showing in training camp and preseason would keep him in the mix.
Blanding was undrafted in 2018 after recording 495 tackles and 10 interceptions in his four years at the University of Virginia. He’s projects as more of a fit at strong safety, but if he plays plays well in preseason he could edge into the conversation at free safety.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints were in the nickel defense on 79% of their defensive snaps last season, so the battle for the starting nickel CB is an important one. P.J. Williams, Patrick Robinson, and fourth-round pick Chauncey Gardner-Johnson will make their bids for the position come training camp.
Williams has shown a decent amount of promise in his time on the field over the past 3 seasons, recording 83 solo tackles and 3 INTs. He’s young (26 years old), and the Saints would love to see the former First-team All-ACC, Florida State alum make the leap from reserve player to cementing his position as nickel CB. At 6’, 200 lbs he has good size for the position and can be physical with slot receivers at the line of scrimmage.
Robinson spent his first five seasons with the Saints, then took on a journeyman role in seasons with the Chargers, Colts, and Eagles before making his way back to New Orleans last season. He missed all but three games due to a broken ankle, but he’s a veteran at the position that shouldn’t be counted out of the race. In the 100 games he’s played over the course of his career he’s recorded 14 INTs, 255 solo tackles, and 77 passes defended.
Gardner-Johnson is a rookie, drafted in the fourth round out of Florida where he played safety before being moved to slot CB before his junior season. He allowed a passer rating of just 45.4 on throws into his slot coverage last season at Florida, according to Pro Football Focus.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers are about to experience their first Bruce Arians training camp, and change is coming after finishing 5-11 last season. In order to take steps in the right direction, The Bucs will need to surround Jameis Winston with the best supporting cast possible.
Last season, Tampa Bay employed a rushing game that featured Peyton Barber, who ran for 871 yards and 5 TDs on 3.7 yards per carry. Not terrible, but not great either. There’s room for improvement, and Barber will need to step up his game if he wants the majority of the carries in 2019.
Challenging Barber will be Ronald Jones, who will be going into his second NFL season. His rookie season was disastrous. After being drafted with the 38th overall pick, Jones appeared in 9 games where he recorded 23 carries for 44 yards and one rushing touchdown. That’s 1.9 yards per carry, folks. Not good. He will need to make major strides in 2019, but the Buccaneers obviously thought of him highly enough to make him an early day-two draft pick. Hopefully Arians can get him on the right path and unlock the potential that Bucs’ GM, Jason Licht, saw in him at USC.
