FUTURE: New Orleans Saints Tyler Shough Faces MUST-WATCH Test With Buccaneers Getting Healthy

FUTURE: New Orleans Saints Tyler Shough Faces MUST-WATCH Test With Buccaneers Getting Healthy

The Bucks are finally getting healthier with even more help on the way. And the New Orleans Saints are just trying to figure out who in their roster is a part of their future. [Music] You are Locked on NFL Crossover, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What’s up and welcome in to a crossover Thursday episode of Locked On Saints and Locked on Bucks, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network. We want to thank you for making Locked On Saints and Locked On Bucks your first listener review every day. Don’t forget you can subscribe or follow for free on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast. And of course, follow along on Twitter. I am James Jarco, JrCo_Bucks, host of Locked OnBucks. He is Ross Jackson at RossJack Nola, host of Locked On Saints. Crossover Thursday is presented by Price Picks. Download the Price Picks app today. Use code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. All right, we have the key matchups. We have keys to victory. All of that is coming up in a little bit. But Ross, there are plenty of stories around these two very, very different teams. And the last time these two teams met, it was the start of the Tyler Shuck era. So, what is the biggest story going on there with the New Orleans Saints heading into this matchup? Yeah, kind of a continuation of that week eight matchup uh is a big part of what it is that you’re going to be watching for New Orleans. I think the Saints are trying to figure out what their future looks like and who’s a part of it. And so, I don’t know that the rest of the season’s about wins and losses. In fact, I really think it might be about more about losses than about wins, right? you’re trying to hold on to maybe some of that premium draft capital. I’m not suggesting that the Saints would tank. I don’t believe that the NFL tanks. I don’t think that that’s a thing for most teams, especially when you’ve got guys like Lovey Smith in this business that will actively coach against it. Um, but I I do think that but I do think that for New Orleans, like throughout the rest of the season, wins aren’t going to make anybody feel better about how the team is doing and losses can’t make anybody feel worse about how they’re doing. And so the rest of it now is the individual player development and seeing kind of how these guys, including as you mentioned Tyler Shuck, can he be the guy for 2026 and then does he prove during 2026 that he can be the guy for the future? I think those are the kinds of things you’re looking for as this season wraps up in New Worlds. Yeah, I mean definitely a lot of young talent on that team, but you know, the Bucks went through all of this not that long ago. So, you know, Bucks fans kind of remember, you know, let’s evaluate. Let’s see what we have in the pipeline before we move into free agency, before we move into the draft. See who’s going to stay, who’s going to go, who can actually contribute and help get this team back to the top of the division. And I mean, I don’t know. I I realize Saints fans at this point are like, “We want better draft stock, but is anybody really going to be upset if they play spoiler and they help the Panthers uh you know, by beating the Bucks this Sunday?” Uh mad about that. I think Saints fans would be pretty excited about that. And and look, I I mentioned on a New Orleans radio station uh at the beginning of the year that if I’m a Saints fan, I’m excited. I am excited about the future potential of this team. You have some really really solid pieces, but now it’s about finding the rest of that future core to to really start to compete. I don’t know if Shuck is the guy. I mean, what are what are your thoughts on Shuck so far? Because I’m I’m I’m kind of indifferent. Yeah, so far he’s the guy on the roster and uh that means he’s the guy, right? Uh, and I I think really the situation for New Orleans is the best case scenario is that they feel good enough about Tyler Shuck to give him 2026 and then you end up kind of figuring out is he a franchise guy throughout that 2026 season. I would venture to say that not a lot of folks really knew of Drew Brees as the franchise guy until after he had his full season in 2006 before it was like, oh, all of a sudden like this is making a lot of sense. This could be the guy. And then I think 2007 solidified that when he went for over 4,000 passing yards. And so unless not that I’m in Tyler Shuck to do that in 2026, but it’s typically the process, right? You don’t just figure that out in one year or in Tyler Shuck’s case half a year. You have to kind of give this an entire season to get a look at it. So I think you’ll get an opportunity to learn a little bit more about that in 26. So, he’s the guy in the building right now, which makes him the guy, and he’s probably a better option than what the draft class has to offer, which is just a draft class that has become completely disappointing. Uh, in terms of what we thought this draft class is going to be versus what it is, people are already saying, “Ah, wait until 2027, just like they said, ah, wait until 2026, just like they said, wait until 2025.” Like, you know how this quarterback game goes, uh, in the draft. But I think it’s the other pieces, too, though, James. I think that it’s Quincy Riley, the starting corner opposite Kool-Aid McKinstry. I think it’s Jonas Sanker, the young safety. I think it’s Calvin Banks Jr., the rookie uh left tackle. I think it’s Devon Vele who just had a breakout game up against the uh Miami Dolphins. Particularly strong second half in that game and him coming up with eight catches for 93 receiving yards. Something folks have been waiting to see all season after the Saints traded a fourth and seventh round pick in the preseason to get him here to New Orleans. I think that it’s those pieces and more as well. even down to the field goal kicker an Irish Northern Irish kicker Charlie Smith for Maybridge coming in and getting his first opportunity last week and hitting the third longest field goal a debut field goal in a player’s history in a kicker’s history and so I think that it’s all of those things man like it’s yeah it’s the quarterback position but you’re also trying to figure out what do you have around that quarterback position so you know how to address that over the course of the offseason yeah and I also think it’ll be interesting to see how Shuck can do if you give him a little bit more help isn’t going to do it all on his own Kamar you know he’s out of the lineup and and he’s not who he once was. So, it it’ll be interesting to see how all of that plays out and and what the Saints off season looks like. I you know, the biggest storyline for the Bucks though is that they’re getting healthier and the offense is finally time. Yeah, it’s finally on the verge of looking the way it was intended to. So, last week against the Cardinals, you get back Ben Bredesen. So, now the offensive line is as healthy as it’s going to be this season. Cody Mal suffered a season ending injury, but now finally you have 80% of your starters in their correct spots, you know, moving forward the rest of the year. And then you get the return of Bucky Irving who showed that he was just as electric as ever. But now the 21-day practice windows have opened up for Mike Evans and Jaylen McMillan. McMillan for for those that don’t know, he suffered a terrifying neck injury in preseason against the Steelers. Teddy threw a super high ball. McMillan went up and came down on his neck. Uh was was taken off the field. He’s been in a neck brace. Still made the catch though. That’s the important thing. But McMillan is able to to start practicing again. And then Mike Evans who broke that clavicle against the Detroit Lions on prime time. He is ahead of schedule. That practice window has opened for him. Now, I don’t think either of those guys is suiting up Sunday against the Saints. Optimistically, I would say that there’s a legitimate chance that Mike Evans plays against the Falcons next week. You’ll probably get a couple of weeks out of Mike there as he’s reintegrated into the offense. Then I’ve kind of penciled the Miami game in week uh 17 as the potential Jaylen McMillan return. Give him a couple of games to integrate into the offense. And then finally, you could be heading into the postseason with an offense that has Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Amecha Ibuka, Jayla McMillan, Tez Johnson, and Bucky Irving. It doesn’t matter that the defense stinks, Ross, if the offense has that many weapons and can put up 40. Yeah, absolutely. That’s that’s such a huge part. That’s a big thing about like you’re looking at on the opposite side here in New Orleans where the defense is performing well, but the offense can’t score points. And so I think people would much rather have the stinky defense with the really really good offense. I mean, Saints fans lived through that for many years here in New Orleans watching Drew Brees play across some really really really bad defenses here uh in the state of Louisiana. And so it’s a not a bad situation for them to be in. So but but what I’m hearing from your timeline that pertains to this game in particular is that Mike Evans and Jay McMillan might not be back on the field this weekend even though those 21-day practice windows have opened up, right? Yeah, that’s that’s what I I would say Jaylen McMillan has like no chance of playing. Mike Evans, you never know. Uh, you know, if he’s out there and he’s feeling good because he’s been cleared obviously because that window is open. If he’s out there, he’s got his legs under him. He could go out there and play. I think it’s unlikely. I would rather see him get through this week of practice than get a couple of more practices in before a Thursday night game. uh you know and and with the injuries the Bucks have had, who knows if any of these receivers end up getting banged up, but give him that little extra time. Um all due respect, I don’t think they need Mike Evans to win this game. Uh go ahead and and just ease him back in and then get him ready for Atlanta, which is going to be a I hate to say it. Kurt Cousins against Tampa is really really good. He’s got a couple of those teams, man, where he just manages to show up. Yeah, I and I’m gonna have to talk to this week during Kirk Kirk is probably what he’s gonna call it. Um, so yeah, I I would say, you know, going into this game, I would be shocked if Mike Evans or Jaylen McMillan were activated and suited up to play on Sunday. Good stuff. All right, we are going to get into some of these key matchups that is coming up next on a crossover Thursday episode of Locked On Saints and Locked On Bucks, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. This episode is brought to you by Price Picks. The holiday season is one of the best times for sports. Bowl games, big basketball matchups, playoff pushes, it’s all happening at once. And while we’re all making choices every day, one of the most fun places to make the right call is Price Picks. Price Picks is the easiest way to get in on Daily Fantasy. Just pick more or less on at least two player projections, lock in your lineup, and you’re in the game. It’s simple, fast, and available in 45 states. Creating a lineup takes less than a minute, and the app makes the whole process smooth and intuitive. And the new stacks feature, well, it lets you choose the same player up to three times in one lineup. Like more on Baker Mayfield’s passing yards, touchdowns, and rushing yards. Download the Price Picks app today and use code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Price picks. It’s good to be right. Thank you again for making Locked On Saints and Locked On Bucks your first listener view every day. And thank you for making Locked On the number one sports podcast network. Ross, there are a couple of matchups that could make or break this game. Want to start uh with the with the visiting team? What’s the first matchup you’re looking at that could really, you know, put the Bucks back up against a wall and and create some excitement for not just Saints fans, but also Panthers fans? Yeah, I think the biggest thing is if the Saints offensive line can find any way at all to create some time for Tyler Shuck. Uh you mentioned that the Bucks defense isn’t at its strongest. They’re one of the worst passing defenses in the league right now in terms of passing yards allowed. And so for the Saints who look to maybe have struck a rhythm a little bit with now multiple wide receivers and tight end Jawan Johnson who go all kind of get in the mix here in the passing game with rookie quarterback Tyler Shuck buying him time the quarterback is going to be the most important part. And so you can go up against a really bad passing defense all you want, but if you can’t keep your quarterback upright or if you can’t keep your quarterback in the pocket or you’re not allowing your quarterback to have the space in the interior to be able to step up in the pocket, then you’re not going to be able to take advantage of that opportunity there. And so I think for me, if the New Orleans Saints offensive line is finding a way to create a clean pocket and you’re not going to you’re not going to keep Tyler Shuck clean the entire game, right? That’s a really good defensive line there, particularly on the interior. Um, and especially with with Vita who just had another sack last week against the Cardinals, like you are gonna have trouble. But if you can minimize that trouble as much as possible and allow Tyler Shuck and these pass catchers to be able to take advantage of the weak passing defenses across from them, that to me would be the thing that would give the Saints fans and Panthers fans who are going to be watching to see if the Saints can play spoiler here the most confidence going into or or rather, you know, early on and throughout the matchup. And and early on is really important. Saints have to start this fast as opposed to waiting until the second half to get going. Yeah, I I’m glad you brought that up because it is exactly what my defensive key is for the Bucks and that is the pass rush against Tyler Shuck because the defense was relentless against Shuck and Rattler in that week eight game. Uh against Shuck specifically, two sacks and interception held him to 56% uh completion percentage. you know, only threw for 128 yards, but I mean, it was it was a no-win situation for Chuck in that game. Like, he was kind of thrown to the Wolves, but since then, he still had an issue turning the ball over. He’s been sacked 12 times over the last four games. So, you can get to him and force him to either go to the ground or force him into mistakes. And and what you can’t afford to do is let him have the kind of day he had against Carolina. 70 plus completion percentage, no turnovers, managed that game beautifully to lead them to a big upset win. Now for the Bucks, you mentioned the the interior of the defensive line. Well, now you also have Hassan Reic back who did not play in that week eight game and if you take a look at the pass rush that the Bucks had coming out of the buy against the Patriots, against the Bills, against the Rams, it was virtually non-existent. Then you look at what they did against the Cardinals. The pass rush looked far better than it has because of the threat of Reic. You know, Buret, he was sacked twice last week. He took an intentional grounding to avoid another sack. Had numerous throwaways because he was under pressure. And Renick just adds that other dimension that offenses have to account for. And it’s really opens things up for BS to bring more of his exotic blitzes at any moment. and that creates problems for an offensive line that really struggles in protecting their quarterback. So, the defense for the Bucks can set the tone early in this game. It’ll just be a matter of not falling apart in the second half like they did last week. Yeah. Yeah. in context around that interception, he hit Chris Ave directly in the numbers and then Antoine Winfield just wanted the ball more. And so I don’t hold that one against Tyler Shuck as much, but under pressure, like we’ve still seen some things that maybe have, you know, given you some pause in terms of what the development of Tyler Shuck is looking like, but he has looked a lot better under pressure than I expected him to. I said the same thing about Spencer Rather. Something about what Kell Moore is doing works in that place and they do get the ball out quickly and he has been pushing the ball downfield. But to your point, like there’s no denying it. The New Orleans Saints offensive line has been weak this season. And it’s gotten weakened because of injuries as well. It hasn’t gotten any better because of that. And then you look at the trading away of Trevor Penning. I don’t know that that really necessarily hurt them to lose Trevor Penning, but Dylan Raidens hasn’t hasn’t necessarily stepped up uh to provide better play so far. And so I think all of that in context that that matchup there offensive line, defensive line, regardless of the context around the interception against the Bucks, you’ve seen more interceptions over the course of the past few games from Tyler Shuck as well. And so just finding ways to be able to kind of, you know, get those things figured out and keep things clean, keep things comfortable, and allow them to be able to have like a cleaner attack, I think would go a long way. But that’s a that’s a lot easier for me to say than it will be for them to do against that Bucks front. Yeah, especially in a game where weather conditions are as of right now not looking great, right? It’s going to look like it could be a real nasty, sloppy kind of game. But Ross, when you take a look at the Saints defense going up against an offense that has Chris Godwin back now, has Bucky Irving back now, what’s kind of the the matchup that can make or break that side of the football? Yeah, I think it’s matching up with with the wide outs. I know some of them might not some of the top guys might not make their way back out onto the field, but I don’t know if it necessarily matters. I think the Saints still have to be able to show that they can continue to do that. Now, I will say that the Saints are the seventh ranked passing defense in the NFL right now. And you might say, well, that’s because they can’t stop the run and so everybody’s been running against them. Well, they’ve had the second most passing attempts against them over on the defensive side as well. So, it’s not a volume issue. They have been standing up to the passing defense or to passing offenses, but they just have to keep that going. in particular, I’m going to really be watching the matchup when Chris Godwin goes into the slot and matches up with Alante Taylor. For me, that’s going to be one of the key matchups in this game where, you know, I if if you know, one pass, you’re going to you’re going to get yardage as a slot receiver. But, can you minimize the yardage in terms of making tackles at the catch point, reducing yards after catch, and can you eliminate the explosive plays? That’s easier. That’s that’s really really hard to do up against a guy like Chris Godwin, regardless of how long he’s been back. And so for me, that matchup right there, Alante Taylor, Chris Godwin, but all together matching up with the wide receivers and pass catchers that Baker Mayfield’s going to be distributing to, I think is going to be big for the Saints defense. Yeah, and you know, that plays exactly into what I’m looking for, and that is Baker against the New Orleans secondary. You know, the the week eight game, the Bucks offense struggled when they probably shouldn’t have. Luckily, the defense was able to pick him up and then of course you had the officials take not one but two touchdowns away from Antoine Winfield Jr. Not that I’m still bitter. I’m more upset for Antoine as a person than I am for that game in particular. But anyway, I know it was 23-3 instead of 30 to three. My goodness. Well, but when you’re putting together like all pro resumes and pro bowl I hear you. I’m just making fun of two touchdowns taken away. That was that was brutal. It was rough. That’s rough. Um, but if you go back, this was also the first game where Baker was really not playing like himself. This was kind of starting surprised by that the down tick. He missed open receivers. He was sailing passes. His timings was off and and that trend would obviously go on to continue. But this time around, I think the Bucks do need to attack the Saints secondary, and they need to do it relentlessly. You mentioned that the Saints are are seventh in pass defense, but they’re also 25th in completion percentage allowed, 25th in pass yards per attempt allowed, 25th in passer rating allowed, 24th in touchdown to interception ratio allowed. So, you can throw against this team and and we saw Baker make some great throws last week and he was a couple of drops away uh you know from having a huge day. Some bad drops by his receivers. Ibuka in the first meeting, three catches on nine targets. That’s not good enough. Godwin didn’t play in that game, but now Godwin had a a huge performance minus the drop in the end zone against Arizona. Ibuka is looking for a little bit of redemption after some bad drops since coming out of the buy. So, there are going to be a lot of opportunities for Baker to push the ball down the field. And then you have the threat of Bucky Irving in the back field as well. That’s going to keep the Saints defense guessing a little bit as to what the uh the offense is going to be able to do. But Baker should be able to throw the ball in this one about 30 times and and have a huge performance. Yeah. Yeah. And that’s going to be big. That’s going to be big. And and I think that a big part of that too, just to add to sort of the, you know, you have that symbiotic nature between coverage and pass rush. Um, since he got back into the lineup, Chase Young’s been excellent. And since Chase Young got back into the lineup, the Saints passing defense is top five. And a big part of it is because of how well the pass rush works with him. They’re not a high pressure defense, James, but they’re a they’re a high pressure to sack conversion defense. So, when they do get pressure, they tend to get home and make the play. And thanks to Chase Young and really Cam Jordan, who has six and a half sacks all of a sudden this season. It’s And he’s leading the team. It’s it’s it’s remarkable. He made himself a good $600,000 just last week, getting two sacks in Miami. Uh but you know those guys have also made it a point to get after the football and we saw that in the last meeting between these two teams as well. It didn’t amount to much for New Orleans but we saw them like going after the football when they were getting into the backfield and getting to Baker Mayfield. I would expect that trend to continue and for them to continue to be aggressive and trying to get that ball back to their offense. Yeah, I I do remember Chase Young getting the better of Tristan Wors in the uh the first go round and that is not something that happens often. So Chase Young absolutely playing some great ball. Glad Ben Bredesen is back to help that interior uh when he’s going to have to go up against Cam Jordan. All right, what do these teams have to do to get a win on Sunday? That is coming up next on today’s episodes of Locked on Saints and Locked on Bucks. Wrapping things up here on a crossover Thursday and Ross, you already mentioned it. The Saints aren’t exactly looking for wins. They’re not tanking, but they’re not, you know, they’re not in the hunt. They’re they’re not in the playoff race anymore. So, it it’s more about the future than it is the present. All that said, a win in Ray J would probably put smiles on a lot of faces. So, what do these Saints need to do in order to win this game? Yeah, I think they have to force I think it’s two things for me. You got to force uncharacteristic play from the Bucks. They did a pretty good job of that in the week 8 meeting. They just weren’t able to take advantage of that. You mentioned that that Bucks offense and Baker Mayfield struggled maybe in a game where they shouldn’t have, but the Saints helped to force that and create that environment and create that situation where that happened. And so, you need to do that again, right? Baker Mayfield up to a certain point this year was an MVP candidate and then has kind of hit this mid-season slump. And look, all the injuries around him certainly factored in that. He had an injury himself that factored into that. And so you know what he’s capable of though is really the most important thing to me. It’s not that oh he has he hit you know I don’t want to say a slump but he had a downturn at some point during the season. That doesn’t mean that you should take it lightly. You should be focused on the fact that you know what he’s capable of doing. Don’t let him get back to that. So you have to force the the sort of uncharacteristic play uh out of the Bucks offense. And that I think you need to as a team translate what you did in the second half against Miami to the first half against Tampa. I asked Kell Moore about this directly on Monday uh during his day after press conference. How do you take a second half performance and then a week later make that like carry that momentum to your first half performance? And he basically outlined like look it’s it there’s a lot of mental tricks. There’s a lot of like you were having to really coach them differently, coach them better. Like he took a lot of accountability on it. And so I’ll be very curious to see if they’re able to achieve that because I don’t know how you do that. I don’t understand how you consistently go from starting slow. This is a team that has 19 first quarter points all season, worst in the NFL in that metric. They’ve never scored more than seven points in a quarter and they only did that once. And so how do you take that trend of a season and then all of a sudden turn that on its face in week 14? I’m not super convinced you can do it, but if the Saints are going to get a win, that is what they’ll have to do. And if they did did do that, that would be a big- time shout out to a fantastic coaching job well done uh here towards the end of the season, which would be another good sign for New Orleans. Yeah. I mean, it’s all about building for the future, right? So, if you can start to get that, you know, going towards the end, you’re going to know, okay, this is the recipe. This is the the way that we can handle these things so that next year we know how to get, you know, these guys to start fast and to continue to push. Um, so yeah, and that’ll and the Bucks for the most part this season, they’ve allowed teams to start off really fast, which has led to some problems throughout the year. Uh, you know, for for Tampa, in order to win this one first on on offense, you can’t have the self-inflicted wounds. That’s really what has hurt you more often than not. It it’s been the drops by, you know, Ibuka, Andz, and Shep. But the most glaring obviously is Ibuka. This was a guy that was the far and away front runner for offensive rookie of the year and he has just cratered. Part of that is of course the the play around him. It’s been the play of Baker Mayfield. It’s been the play of the offensive line. All those things factor into it. But now you’re looking at Tetero and McMillan as being the favorite because I has not been himself getting those opportunities like he had last week against the Cardinals for a big third down conversion to get them into field goal range, hitting him in the hands and falling to the ground. You can’t have that. You cannot allow a team like the Saints to stick around in this game. You have to put the pedal to the metal and just keep it there. So, stop with the dropped passes. Again, another, you know, Chris Godwin, he’s another one that never drops passes. When Tom Brady says that that guy has the best hands he’s ever thrown to, probably shouldn’t drop passes that hit you right in the hands there. Um but then the penalties they they had two touchdowns on one drive negated by penalty. Now of course um Tristan Worse ended up scoring a touchdown there and you know that so watch out for Tristan Worse. You know he had more touchdowns in November than Jamal Chase. You know people look up to that but you know you you cannot hurt yourself. And then defensively it’s exactly what you did in week eight. It is being opportunistic and capitalizing off of those opportunities. It’s getting to Chuck, getting him on the ground, forcing him into mistakes, speeding up the internal clock, getting those happy feet going, and really creating a sense of panic there in the pocket so that guys like Antoine and Ty and Jamal Dean can take the ball away. Yeah, that’s going to be huge. And that’s going to be kind of the the the crux of this matchup is who’s going to make the most plays. It’s often the s that’s often the situation for for any game of course, but I I think in this one like this is one of those ones it’s either a slog to 20 or it’s a a sprint to 40 and we’ll see which one ends up being the case. I think it’s going to be more so a slog to 20 based upon like both of these teams scoring uh metrics so far this year and the situations they’re in presently going into this week. Uh, but yeah, I think, you know, if one of these teams turns it on and all of a sudden starts scoring points, obviously that’s going to be a big time um shift uh for what this or or big time uh piece of what will dictate what this match up looks like by the end. Yeah. And again, with the potential for a monsoon at kickoff. Yeah. Right. Yeah. I keep forgetting about it. It’s very much going to be that slog at 20. It might be a slog to 10, but it’s going to be good oldfashioned muddy, dirty, sloppy football that I grew up on, and I am here for it. Uh, like I told Evan Klosski on on my Tuesday episode, at least it’s not the 4 in of snow that I got overnight. So, you’re not going to have to deal with snow in Tampa, but the rain is is going to make it interesting. All right, Ross, the the Bucks are eight and a half point favorites in this one. I’m not sure if they can cover eight and a half, but you know, how do you see which way do you see this game going? Yeah, I see this going Tampa’s way. I was going Tampa and the points 2617, but I’m going to back my scoring projection off because I didn’t take into account the weather situation and I I might take this down to like a 10-4 win for Tampa and that it’s a bit of like we said that slog uh and it’s going to look a lot closer than it actually feels, but I think the weather is going to have a pretty big impact here. So, I’m thinking maybe 1710 1410 in favor of the Bucks and then kind of see where things go from there. Yeah, I I don’t know if I’m going to have a a score prediction until my Friday episode. That’s usually when I do mine. But I feel like this is going to be a Bucks win, but a Saints cover just because of of kind of all the things we’ve laid out here. Now, y the Saints in week eight was one of two times the Bucks have won by double digits this year, right? But you take into account, you know, the the weather and kind of the ups and downs here. Um, and it’s a divisional game and the Saints, I I truly believe in my heart of hearts, they want to go out there and and try to be the reason the Bucks don’t win the NFC South. They couldn’t stop Mike from his thousand last year, stop them from making the playoffs this year. That that might help. Uh, and those Ray J games between these two teams specifically are always weird. Yeah, they really really are. Um, but you know, the Bucks control their own destiny. They win the next three games, they win the division. So, the Saints can really create some problems in this one. It’s going to be a good one. Um, it’s going to be an interesting one for sure. But yeah, I I lean Bucks win, Saints cover. So, that is going to do it for our Crossover Thursday episodes of Locked On Saints and Locked On Bucks. Please make sure that you are subscribed on YouTube with the notifications turned on, as well as wherever you get your podcast to both of these shows. Ross and I will be back on Friday for our final game previews. And until then, stay safe, stay healthy, and thank you so much for joining us here on a Crossover Thursday, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.

The New Orleans Saints turn their attention to the future as Tyler Shough headlines an evaluation of the team’s young core against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With Quincy Riley stepping up alongside Kool-Aid McKinstry, and Jonas Sanker and Kelvin Banks Jr. showcasing upside, Saints fans wonder which emerging talents will anchor their rebuilding effort.

Devaughn Vele’s breakout and the debut of Irish kicker Charlie Smyth add intrigue as New Orleans tests its reshaped roster. Despite being out of the playoff race, the Saints have the chance to play spoiler and disrupt Tampa’s postseason push.

0:25 – Bucs Health, Saints Future
11:08 – Saints’ OL The Difference
21:31 – Keys to Victory & Predictions

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Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More
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LouisianaSports.Net’s Ross Jackson hosts the Locked On Saints Podcast keeping the Who Dat Nation up-to-date with everything you need to know about your beloved New Orleans Saints.

And follow Ross on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New Orleans Saints and talking with fans.
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/RossJacksonNOLA

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