A Look Around the NFC South on SB Nation

A weekly look at the top stories being discussed on the other three NFC South blogs on SB Nation.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (via Bucs Nation)

• Bucs have three of the NFL’s best under-25 players. and one of them played his college years about an hour from New Orleans, for the LSU Tigers. And the likelihood is, he will be a thorn in the Saints’ side for years to come.

• PFF regrades the Bucs’ 2018 draft as elite. We all know how the Saints managed to win four NFC South titles in a row: they had that insane 2017 draft, which included players like ‘Shon Lattimore, Alvin Kamara, Marcus Williams and Ryan Ramczyk. Well, the Buccaneers didn’t do too badly in 2018, and that is one of the reasons why they’re the defending Super Bowl champions. Adding Brady was essential, but without all these pieces around him, the Saints would have likely been the team playing in the NFC Championship Game in Green Bay this past January.

• Predictions for the Bucs’ 2022 free agent class. Teams are built in the draft, but championships are also won by adding or retaining key players in free agency. Here’s an interesting look at Bucs players who will be entering free agency following this upcoming NFL season, and whether they will be staying in Tampa or playing elsewhere in 2022.

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Atlanta Falcons (via The Falcoholic)

• Say hello to your new and improved Falcons red zone threat. We have heard it all about Atlanta’s rookie tight end Kyle Pitts. But did you know that Pitts never dropped a read zone pass throw his way while at Florida? That’s 31 targets. That’s also insane!

• Falcons head coach Arthur Smith talks about mandatory minicamp, says little about Julio Jones. There’s a big red elephant (All you Bama fans know what I’m talking about) in the Falcons’ locker room right now and that’s Julio “I’m outta here” Jones. With the Falcons less than a week away from mandatory minicamp, rookie head coach Arthur Smith is probably now realizing that all anyone wants to talk to him about is whether or not Jones will be in attendance.

• Key roster battles for the Falcons on offense as minicamp starts. One o the fascinating parts of the NFL offseason is the fact that starting jobs for most players are up for grabs, especially for bad teams, which Atlanta was last season. Here’s a look at some key offensive battles for the Dirty Birds.

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Carolina Panthers (via Cat Scratch Reader)

• Panthers waive Tommy Stevens, whom the Saints wasted a 7th round draft pick on in 2020. Stevens, who was thought to be a Taysom Hill-like player, did not make it in Carolina after being released by the Saints in November last year.

• Players do not often make it past their rookie contracts in Carolina. Bad drafting philosophy? Stinginess? Insanity? It is no wonder that the Panthers are as bad as they have been for a while now, as this piece illustrates the fact that very few players drafted by the panthers ever get a second contract to stay in Charlotte.

• Panthers expected to move second round pick to safety. Jeremy Chinn, who was Carolina’s second round pick in 2020 and played linebacker last season is making a move to the secondary. Chinn was a bright spot in an otherwise lost season for the Panthers in 2020.

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