I was totally surprised by Joelle's being an agent.
As for the new guy. I love him. While i'm sad about Miguel's passing, they must have been planning writing him out for awhile now. The show must go on and all that. Clearly he's the new guy. I was floored about who they picked. Who is he. AJ Chegwidden (spelling???) If you recall, He goes back to the show JAG, which I loved too. And, if you recall, he was the one who came to Gibbs' defense when the whole team was under investigation, leading to the temporary resignation of Tony, Ziva and Tim. If you never watched those couple of episodes, please do. Cheqwidden had that investigator pooping in his pants. (can I say that???) It was great.
I think they'll have Granger say he's had it. He's too old for this. Or something to that effect. Maybe they bring back his daughter for a little bit and make her the reason he leaves, wanting to spend more time with her.