http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/2478 Recent articles about Kevin Kaesviharn en-us Safety Kevin Kaesviharn drew a $25,000 fine for a helmet-to-helmet hit on San Francisco's Josh Morgan. *Source:* ESPN... Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:51:15 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/344552 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/344552 Safety Kevin Kaesviharn drew a $25,000 fine for a helmet-to-helmet hit on San Francisco's Josh Morgan. *Source:* ESPN... Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:51:15 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/344552 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/344552 Sure, they're battered and they've lost two in a row. The number one receiver, the number one tight end, and the starting fullback were all out. One of the mainstays on the offensive line was suspended this week and another had been hurt last week. No team had been able to throw for more than 200 yards on the 49ers this season. The two players responsible for four touchdowns last week were held to only 39 total yards. But none of that made any difference as New Orleans stayed perfect with their second win at home this season. The Saints started the first quarter with the ball but were only able to get it to midfield. The 49ers then drove down to score three points on a 47-yard field goal, their first of three in the game. The second possession for New Orleans ended when Brees threw his fourth interception of the season. However, the defense held tough, not allowing San Francisco to make a first down. Then the team seemed to get life from both the defense and the insertion of RB Deuce McAllister in the offense. Rookie DT Sedrick Ellis got his first sack of his career, the second of the day for the team. DE Will Smith's sacked JT O'Sullivan again on the next play which forced a fumble that was recovered by LB Jonathan Vilma. In the first half, New Orleans kept San Francisco from converting their third downs as they went 0 for 5 and out of the end zone. The defense ended the day with six sacks, two by DE Charles Grant, and two interceptions. New Orleans QB Drew Brees once again showed that he is the best quarterback in the league, finishing the day with 363 yards and 3 touchdowns. Before today, no team had thrown for more than 200 yards on the 49ers. Brees had 195 yards at halftime. Brees' best throw was arguably an 81-yard pass to WR Devery Henderson in the fourth quarter that looked like it would be a touchdown but he was tackled two yards shy of the end zone. The first touchdown was to WR Lance Moore, his first of two for the day, on a 5-yard pass with about nine and a half minutes left in the second quarter. The drive had been set up by Jonathan Vilma's fumble recovery and took 6 plays in about three minutes. New Orleans scored again on their next possession on a 10 play drive that ended with 33-yard touchdown catch by Lance Moore who finished with 101 yards receiving for the day. With less than two minutes to go in the first half, Brees threw a deep pass to WR Robert Meachem, a 47-yard catch on a drive that took less than a minute. The score going into halftime was the 49ers 6 and the Saints 21. One of the best stories of the game was the return of RB Deuce McAlister to the Saints' offense. McAlister had 35 yards in the first half on 8 carries and finished the day with 83 yards (73 rushing on 20 attempts) and a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. McAlister had only run the ball twice this season for a total of 10 yards and Coach Payton had been criticized this week for not playing him in the game against the Denver Broncos when the team needed one yard on a couple of occasions and came up short. As the second half began, the San Francisco offense showed life, converting a third down and driving all the way to the New Orleans 15 yard line. The defense held again with a sack and forcing San Francisco to kick a 38-yard field goal. The 49ers drove three more times down the field and into the red zone during the second half. The first two times, O'Sullivan was intercepted in the end zone, once by S Kevin Kaesviharn and once by CB Tracy Porter. K Martin Gramatica made all four extra points and a 31-yard field goal, recouping some of the goodwill lost last week when he missed two attempts, either of which would have won the game. Injuries were a constant concern. TE Mark Campbell was injured early in the third on a six-yard catch but he returned later in the quarter. Replacement rookie FB Olaniyi Sobomehin was also hurt. There were also several bad plays but the good outweighed the bad. Special teams allowed DB Allen Rossum to return the ball 55 yards early in the fourth quarter, a drive that ended with the Porter interception. The Saints lost a fumble three yards away from scoring a possible fifth touchdown. A defensive pass interference call late in the fourth allowed the 49ers to advance the ball 43 yards on a drive that gave San Francisco both a touchdown and a two-point conversion. With today's win, the Saints are 2-2 for the season and will play the Minnesota Vikings next Monday night. The Vikings lost to the Tennessee Titans this week and are 1-3. Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:15:51 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/340833 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/340833 The Broncos face the New Orleans Saints this Sunday at Invesco. The Saints stand 1-1 thus far and they are the first NFC team that the Broncos will face this season. Denver is not as familiar with New Orleans as they are with the Raiders and Chargers so look for this game to be highly competitive. The l Fri, 19 Sep 2008 08:58:17 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/335203 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/335203 After a dismal showing last week against the Houston Texans, the New Orleans Saints defense finally stepped up and played well shutting out the Bengals. The Bengals had 11 offensive series, with 10 ending in punts, and one with a turnover by interception. The Saints also only allowed the Bengals to cross mid field once while stopping Cincinnati on all but four of their third down conversions. (4-of-14-29%) and limited the home team to only 165 yards total offense. As usual, the Saints first team offense minus Jeremy Shockey who was suppose to play his first game as a Saints tonight drove down the field on their first possession, settling for a field goal, after a third down and 10 pass to Colston in the end zone was dropped. The Saints second possession of the night resulted in a one yard touchdown pass by Drew Brees to Ronnie Ghent, to put the Saints up 10-0 with 6:03 left in the first quarter. The third possession was stopped short by two incomplete passes, and poor running. The Saints were forced to punt for the first time, but managed to eat up time off the clock, and allowing the defense to get sufficient rest. Cincinnati however could not get things going in their first few possessions, all ending in punts. Tracy Porter getting the start after a horrible game last week, forced a fumble, and fought off blockers to tack on three tackles for the night. On the opposite side of the field, Mike McKenzie making his first start since a season ending injury late last year, made what looked to be a leaping interception, but was later ruled incomplete. Jonathan Vilma had a better appearance, after his debut last week as the Saints middle linebacker, with 1 solo tackle and 3 assist. Both Fujita and Shanle had good games as well, swarming around the ball almost every play. The defensive line gave good pressure up front stopping runs before they could get started. Kendrick Clancy had three solo tackles with two assist. Clancy saw more playing time with injuries keeping first round pick Sedrick Ellis out of the game. Orien Harris who has also had an outstanding preseason clogged up the line numerous times, allowing the second team linebackers enough time to make the stops. The second half of football seemed to be all Pierre Thomas; he had 5 carries for 46 yds, and 4 receptions for 35 yards, he did lose one fumble, but Coach Payton showed confidence, by giving him the ball and allowing him to redeem himself which he did. Both Reggie Bush and Marques Colston left the game early with injuries, but Coach Payton said after the game neither was serious, and that he was not worried. Drew Brees finished the night 14/22 199yds 1 TD, Tyler Palko also had a good night going 11/16 133yds 1 Int. Palko showed leadership, and made good adjustments keeping drives alive, and even had one rush for 9 yards. Both Robert Meachem and Lance Moore made strong cases for playing time, both finishing with 4 receptions on the night. Meachem had a beautiful grab that went for 54 yards, and Lance Morris made a 35 yard grab under tight coverage. Game statistics highlights for the New Orleans Saints: 15 different players caught passes on 27 attempts. The Saints racked up a total of 458 yards total offense, and ran for 145 yards on the ground, averaging 6.2 yards per play. The offensive player of the game for the Saints goes to Pierre Thomas, with the defensive player of the game going to Kevin Kaesviharn who finished the night with 2 solos and 2 assists with 1.5 sacks. Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:15:38 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/311901 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/311901 After last week's poor performance by the Saints' defense, the team gave its fans reason to hope by holding the Bengals to only 165 yards, 0 touchdowns, 4 sacks, one interception, and one forced fumble. The tradeoff for the team may be the injuries suffered by two major parts of the offense: Marques Colston who was injured in the first half with bruised ribs and Reggie Bush who left with a bruised thigh. Perhaps the most symbolic of the defense's efforts was the bloodied nose of Cincinnati's QB Carson Palmer at the end of the second quarter when he was sacked by safety Kevin Kaesviharn. The Bengals offensive line gave up only 17 sacks last year but the Saints were able to get three in the first half alone. The starting defense created pressure that made it difficult for Cincinnati to get anything going. The Bengals were only able to get 94 yards in the first half, four first downs, and crossed into Saint's territory once. CBs Mike McKenzie and Tracy Porter were effective, limiting Carson Palmer's options. McKenzie, who had just come back from a torn ACL, almost intercepted a pass on the Bengal's first drive but the ball touched the ground. Porter forced a fumble on the Bengals' first possession that was recovered by Cincinnati but set the tone for the rest of the night. Newly-acquired DE Bobby McCray and Kaesviharn each had 1.5 sacks. CB Randall Gay was the only Saint defensive player to get burned this week on a 19-yard throw to Antonio Chatham late in the second quarter. Drew Brees (14/22, 199 yards, 1 TD) threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Stecker with about six minutes to go in the first quarter. Wide receivers Lance Moore and Robert Meachem had 79 yards and 71 yards, respectively, the longest for Meachem a beautiful 54-yarder thrown by Brees midway through the first quarter on that touchdown drive. Devery Henderson dropped a potential touchdown catch in the end zone late in the second quarter. RB Pierre Thomas had 46 yards rushing and 35 yards receiving. RB Deuce McAllister had 9 yards on six attempts. The long-anticipated debut of TE Jeremy Shockey as a Saint did not materialize and the team said they wanted to give him a little more time before putting him on the field. Both kickers, Martin Gramatica and Taylor Mehlhaff, had field goals: Gramatica from 42 yards and Mehlhaff from 45. Carson Palmer (11/16, 105 yards) struggled throughout the first half as Cincinnati was without its two leading receivers: Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzedah. RB Rudi Johnson also did not play. Sun, 24 Aug 2008 12:10:13 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/311852 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/311852 Falcons position battles July 23, 2008 10:20 AM Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas Here's a look at two of the best position battles for the Falcons: Quarterback: Matt Ryan vs. Chris Redman (or even Joey Harrington) The Falcons drafted Ryan with the No. 3 overall pick and there's no question he's the future of this franchise. But is he the present? That's a dilemma for new coach Mike Smith, who hasn't made his immediate intentions for Ryan known. The Falcons have a lot invested in Ryan and he has all the tools to be a franchise quarterback. But the Falcons likely are giving some serious thought to whether they want to play Ryan right away. The team isn't likely to be that good and the Falcons could run the risk of turning Ryan into another David Carr if they start him immediately. This is a unique situation because fans are likely to be patient with the Falcons after last season's debacle. Redman, who had been out of football, played surprisingly well and showed good poise late last season. It might be safer to let him, or Harrington, take the lumps early on and give Ryan some time to get prepared and comfortable. Intensity index: Red hot Running back: Michael Turner vs. Jerious Norwood. Turner Norwood When the Falcons went out and signed Turner to a big contract at the start of free agency, the obvious assumption was that he'll be the feature back. But don't rule out Norwood turning this into a battle. In his first two seasons, Norwood averaged 6.2 yards a carry behind Warrick Dunn and he also catches the ball well out of the backfield. But there are questions about Norwood's size and ability to carry a heavy load. Turner is bigger and a more powerful runner, but Norwood could use camp to at least increase his rol WANT TO SEE MORE ON THE NFC SOUTH? CLICK THE LINK Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:35:27 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/296422 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/296422 2007 Summary: Josh Bullocks has been the starting free safety for the Saints since he was picked by the Saints in the second round of the 2005 NFL draft. But in three years, Bullocks has yet to fulfill his potential. Fast, with quick hips and great athleticism, Bullocks, again in 2007, seemed out of position often. Many blame some of the long pass plays on Bullocks not being in the right place, making the cornerbacks look worse than they actually have performed. Bullocks was injured for a couple of games late in the season, being replaced by the much less athletic, but smart and hard working Kevin Kaesviharn. Kaesviharn played well, but was not overly spectacular. 2008 Offseason: The Saints did not sign any big name free safeties in free agency, but did pick up a second year practice squad player, Tuff Harris, from the Miami Dolphins. If nothing else, his name sounds cool. ? Not drafting any free safeties, the Saints got lucky and picked up David Roach, one of the top 10 safeties in the class of 2008 as an UDFA. Many were surprised Roach was not picked up in the late rounds of the draft. Player summary: Tuff Harris (35) Chris Reis (39) David Roach (37) Kevin Kaesviharn (43) Josh Bullocks (29) It has to be mentioned that more than likely, one of these players will end up being the backup strong safety behind rising star Roman Harper. Chris Reis filled that spot on the 2007 roster, but that could mean nothing as both Tuff Harris and David Roach have the size and speed to fill both the free and strong safety roles. But, with that in mind, let's focus first on the starting free safety role. As mentioned before, Josh Bullocks was supposed to be the answer for the Saints at Free Safety. Drafted in the second round means that he was expected to at least be a solid starter for several years. Instead, Bullocks seems to either be confused, or just have bad instincts. Either way, Bullocks seems to be in the wrong place often. One can make a case for bad instincts as it was often said in his first and second year that Bullocks was hesitant to make a decision in the midst of a play. In 2007 it wasn't as clear cut that Bullocks was hesitant, yet he was still out of position a lot. It could have been bad schemes by Gary Gibbs, who knows, but in the end, Josh Bullocks is not shining brightly. First a bit about Chris Reis. Reis was a stand out NFL Europa player in his final season, earning defensive player of the week and making some big plays to help his team. He is decently fast for a safety, running a 4.52 at the 2006 combine (Bullocks ran a 4.49 in 2005), but Reis is problem is general athleticism. His hips seem stiff and he has a hard time keeping with faster receivers. He does have good instincts, and can hit, so he probably has to make it at backup strong safety to make the team. Kevin Kaesviharn is an interesting story. Kaesviharn graduated from Division II Augustana in San Diego in 1997. Determined to play professional football, he bounced around NFL training camp, the XFL and Arena Football League, until finally getting a real chance to play in Cincinnati when he played 10 games in 2001. Since that year, he was always the fan favorite in a "Rudy" sort of way. The player with a great heart for playing, but considered to have a low ceiling of potential. Keasvisharn would get replaced by rookies or free agents in Cincinnati, but kept performing well enough to get out on the field and make plays. He was in and out of the line up as the organization kept trying to replace him, until 2006 when he had a team leading 6 interceptions in 14 games. The Saints picked him up as a free agent in 2007, presumably to push Bullocks and give him someone he could learn from. Kaesviharn started a couple of games in 2007 and played admirably (some would say better than Bullocks), but at 32 is not the long term answer to free safety. In order for him to win the starting job, he would really have to shine brightly, as he has to be thought of as short term stop gap at best. More than likely Kaesviharn will make the team if healthy, however a starting role by one of the young guys, not named Bullocks, could push him off the roster. So, now Tuff Harris and David Roach enter the picture. Tuff Harris was on the Dolphins practice squad for most of the 2007 season. He did make it on the real roster, but was not active, but for one game, with no stats. Considering that the Dolphins were 1-15 and have no big names at safety, one has to wonder if he is just a camp body. Harris did post a 4.53 40 at the 2007 combine, so his speed is decent, but until camp starts, his abilities are going to be a mystery. David Roach has a little more promise, mainly because he is a rookie and didn't sit on a bad team's practice squad last year. On top of that Roach has chip on his shoulder after not being drafted. Roach was expected to be picked in the draft, even having a late second round draft, early third round rating by some. He has publicly expressed a desire to make every team that passed on him (which would be every team) wish they hadn't. The problem many thought they saw was stiff hips and a change of direction problem, both important to the free safety position. If true, this is a similar to the description of Chris Reis and considering that Roach is listed at 6'-2" and 215 lbs, he may end up kicking Reis out of the backup strong safety position. So watch for a battle between Tuff Harris, Kevin Kaesviharn and Josh Bullocks, with a possibility that David Roach could play his way into the fight if he proves the scouts wrong about his hips and change of direction abilities. Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:31:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/289251 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/289251 As Saints training camp approaches, starting on July 24th, there are going to be several very interesting battles for starting positions as well as roster spots. In the next few days we will provide you with some details of what positions to watch and some details about whom you will be watching. First let's define what positions we will be giving detailed player by player information on: CB: Due to Mike McKenzie's injury, we will probably see a lot more action at both right and left cornerback. Even if MM is completely healthy, Jason David will have a battle on his hands to maintain his starting position at RCB. WLB: With Jonathan Vilma more than likely locking down the MLB spot and Fujita returning as the SLB, there is going to be a fierce battle for the WLB spot. Mark Simoneau started at the MLB position and Scott Shanle returns after being last years starting WLB. What about Marvin Mitchell and JoLonn Dunbar? The rest of these position battles we will not be giving player by player breakdowns, but will be giving a summary of the position and competition. RB: Reggie Bush may be the star and Deuce McAllister may be the work horse, but right now, neither has a lock on the starting position. Can Reggie emerge as a full time starter? Can Deuce recover completely and show that he can carry the rock another year? What about Pierre Thomas? DT: Last year was a down year for the Saints D-line. The DE weren't perceived to be the problem, DT was. Young was hurt all year, Hollis Thomas came in overweight and now they have to face two rookies down, DeMario Pressley and Sedrick Ellis to keep their starting jobs. K: Martin Gramatica came in late last year to hold up the Saints kicking game as Olindo Mare failed to deliver. The Saints drafted a big legged kicker in Taylor Mehlhaff, who will win? TE: This position is probably the most painful to watch, but it will be a heated competition. The Saints haven't brought in any big name free agents as some fans had hoped *cough*SHOCKEY*cough*, and didn't draft any hopefuls at TE either. So the competition against the same TEs will be fierce, but probably not exciting. OL: This may come as a shock to some Saints fans to be here. The Saints have a very good pass blocking O-line that gave up a league low sack total. However, the run blocking was poor and Drew Brees' smarts account for some of that low sack total. The Saints have two 2007 draft picks and a 2008 draft pick that have a lot of promise. FS: Josh Bullocks has the athleticism to be a great FS, but he has not been able to translate that into stellar play. Kevin Kaesviharn figures to challenge Bullocks for the starting spot and don't forget about UDFA David Roach. WR: No, we're not talking about Colston. Marques is more than likely headed to a Pro-Bowl soon. We are, however, talking about the spot next to him. David Patten was a great asset last year, but Robert Meachem and a few others could challenge him for that starting spot across from Colston. The details of the training camp battles will come out in the following days as they are ready. Keep tabs on this page and get ready for some football! Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:58:25 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/288114 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/288114