Latest / AFR Saints / Saints Training Camp: Kendre Miller Injury, Jonas Sanker Rising & Barion Brown Update

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Saints Training Camp: Kendre Miller Injury, Jonas Sanker Rising & Barion Brown Update · AFR Saints

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  Speaker 2: Silver's Keishan kind of had a little calf thing come up.
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  Speaker 2: Kendrey had a back, Christian Miller had a little toe.
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  Speaker 2: Those kind of the main guys. It kind of had
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  Speaker 2: a little something came up. So keep an eye on
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  Speaker 2: the rest of guys.
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  Speaker 1: Mmmm, you heard what he said? Devastating? I did. I
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  Speaker 1: heard it. Christian Miller, He's got a toub. It's a shame. Man.
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  Speaker 1: Few come back from a toe. Prime of his career.
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  Speaker 1: He's got a tub, a little toe, a little toe.
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  Speaker 1: So is that not as bad or is it just
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  Speaker 1: actually the little toe. Here's what I've learned. A toe
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  Speaker 1: is a tough You got a toe, you don't be
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  Speaker 1: dismissive of the toe. A toe is a toe? Uh.
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  Speaker 1: That was Kellen Moore after day six of Saints camp
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  Speaker 1: Keishawn Silver. I had asked Moves who that is? So
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  Speaker 1: he's not making the team. Kendre Miller and then Christian
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  Speaker 1: Miller are the three he mentioned there, So it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: seem like anything serious as of this point. Anyway, There's
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  Speaker 1: three things that Kellen Moore talked about in his post
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  Speaker 1: practice availability that I found interesting. First and foremost is
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  Speaker 1: Kendre Miller and he sort of Kellen Moore, but keep
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  Speaker 1: play Number two. This was sort of the follow up
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  Speaker 1: there and was This was a pretty consistent line of
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  Speaker 1: questioning about Kendre Miller today from the reporters in attendance.
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  Speaker 2: So it is Kendre being limited yesterday related to this
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  Speaker 2: back injury or was it? Uh he had a little
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  Speaker 2: bit back. Yeah, just kind of last few days he
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  Speaker 2: was back. Just you know, he'll be a okay, nothing
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  Speaker 2: nothing worries some but just keep an eye on him.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing worrisome, but of course we're gonna worry. They followed
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  Speaker 1: up if there was concern with Kendra given the injury history.
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  Speaker 2: No, I'm good. No, I'm not worried. I'm not worried. Uh, Kendres.
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  Speaker 2: You know, guys just have all things to come up
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  Speaker 2: during this and so he was out there early and
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  Speaker 2: so we're just continuing to build these guys.
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  Speaker 1: Right, Well, Okay, they followed up like was the plan
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  Speaker 1: for him to be limited?
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  Speaker 2: I think to him, just yeah, continue to practice. He'll
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  Speaker 2: get reps today. Obviously, anytime something like this comes up,
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  Speaker 2: will will spasm. Then you know, he just check it
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  Speaker 2: and make sure everyone's everyone's good. So that's what we're
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  Speaker 2: gonna do with Ken.
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  Speaker 1: Ok I'm not being dismissive of Kellen Moore. I understand
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  Speaker 1: that he's the head coach. He has to sit there
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  Speaker 1: and it is mandated through the collective Bardney Agreement that
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  Speaker 1: he meet with reporters and answer questions. And he makes
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  Speaker 1: a lot of money as the coach of the team
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  Speaker 1: and all that stuff. So too, is it fair for
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  Speaker 1: every reporter in that gaggle to ask for assistant questions
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  Speaker 1: about Kendre Miller Because this is the problem with Kendre Miller.
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  Speaker 1: Nobody doubts the ability the athletics hasn't speed. When he's right,
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  Speaker 1: he looks awesome. It's a reason the Saints used as
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  Speaker 1: high a draft pick, as they did on Kendre Miller
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  Speaker 1: when they drafted him out of TCU. I mean he
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  Speaker 1: was the third round pick. He was number seventy one overall.
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  Speaker 1: I mean they invested a high degree of draft capital
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  Speaker 1: in a guy who during his time in TCU never
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  Speaker 1: shouldered a huge load of a burden of carries or
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  Speaker 1: anything like that because of how they used him. So
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  Speaker 1: the perception waskably came in with a lot of tread
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  Speaker 1: on the tires. Still, like as a freshman he had
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  Speaker 1: fifty four carries in the COVID year, as a sophomore
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  Speaker 1: he had eighty three. And then they had the one
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  Speaker 1: big year in twenty twenty two where he had two
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  Speaker 1: hundred and twenty four carries in the year where TCU
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  Speaker 1: went and played all the way for the National Championship. Well,
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  Speaker 1: you look at Miller during his time in the NFL.
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  Speaker 1: He's played in eight six and seven games in his
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  Speaker 1: three season in the NFL with the Saints, and he's
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  Speaker 1: coming off a torn acl now, and we all know
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  Speaker 1: that his inability to stay healthy even in camp, I
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  Speaker 1: mean whenever they were out in camp in California with
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  Speaker 1: the final year of the Dennis Allen era and he
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  Speaker 1: pulled the hamstring the first day of workouts. It was
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  Speaker 1: just like Dennis Allen was. He was done. And last
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  Speaker 1: year was a new beginning for Kendre Miller, and he
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  Speaker 1: really looked explosive even returning kicks during the preseason to
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  Speaker 1: season ago. And when you look, I mean he averaged
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  Speaker 1: four point one yards of carry that was a career
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  Speaker 1: high last year. So when he was out there, he
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  Speaker 1: was performing at a level he hadn't yet in his career,
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  Speaker 1: which was really great. And then he had the unfortunate ACL.
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  Speaker 1: But when you have an injury history and you are
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  Speaker 1: injury prone, anything that limits you takes you away from
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  Speaker 1: the field is something people are going to consider and
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  Speaker 1: going to talk about. And I think Kendre Miller is
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  Speaker 1: someone we talked about it before camp started. When we're
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  Speaker 1: looking at camp storylines, he is someone that has to
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  Speaker 1: make this team. Because Travis Achen and Alvin Kamara are
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  Speaker 1: on the like they're making the team. They are in
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  Speaker 1: Kendrey Mill because you invested a third round pick in
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  Speaker 1: and you're gonna give him every opportunity. But audrac Estimate
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  Speaker 1: played really well a season ago in his limited opportunities
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  Speaker 1: late in the season you drafted Devin Neil. It was
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  Speaker 1: a sixth round pick, but that's still someone that you
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  Speaker 1: look at as having draft capital invested in and you're
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  Speaker 1: willing to give him a shot, especially if they're the
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  Speaker 1: right person. And then you can look at the rest
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  Speaker 1: of that room where you've added Ty Chandler, who's a
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  Speaker 1: twenty eight year old, he's a young veteran. You got CJ.
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  Speaker 1: Donaldson as well. The point is, it's far from a
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  Speaker 1: given that Kendre Miller is going to make this team.
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  Speaker 1: So he's got to get healthy and got to get
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  Speaker 1: out there. So that's certainly one worth watching. On the
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  Speaker 1: complete opposite end of that spectrum is Jonas Sanker and
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  Speaker 1: I it caught my ear today when Kellen Moore was
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  Speaker 1: talking about Sanker, because Sanker has just completely removed all
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  Speaker 1: doubt that he is the starter at the Star of
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  Speaker 1: Isition in this defense. This is what Kellen Moore said
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  Speaker 1: on Wednesday.
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  Speaker 2: Playing the Star, you're in the middle essentially of everything.
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  Speaker 2: You know, you're in the action always, you have to
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  Speaker 2: have some element of disguise there, and so he does a.
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  Speaker 1: Really good job.
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  Speaker 2: I think he's going to continue to build that ownership
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  Speaker 2: of that position as far as understanding you know what
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  Speaker 2: to sell from a correck perspective. Quarterbacks look at these
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  Speaker 2: stars a lot. You know that usually you're trying to
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  Speaker 2: gather as much information from them. You know this back end.
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  Speaker 2: They can be all over the place that before the snap,
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  Speaker 2: but you're trying to keep an eye on this guy.
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  Speaker 2: And so he's just got to keep doing a good
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  Speaker 2: job of being creative enough, but steady and consistent.
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  Speaker 1: I want to point something out that this will make
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  Speaker 1: sense when I say it that you may not notice that,
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  Speaker 1: but I'll notice it. Muse will notice it because of
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  Speaker 1: what we do. If you look at the audio sheet
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  Speaker 1: that we have, right, Kellen mortals say nothing. His answers
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  Speaker 1: nine seconds, eleven seconds, seven seconds, ten seconds, ten seconds,
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  Speaker 1: there's one for twenty three seconds. You go to You're like,
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  Speaker 1: he'll say nothing. He tries intentionally not say anything. He's
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  Speaker 1: asked about Yonah Sanker gives you a thirty second answer.
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  Speaker 1: Coaches will often choose to talk about the things they
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  Speaker 1: want to talk about and be elaborative about it. The
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  Speaker 1: fact that Kellen Moore, uninterrupted gave you a thirty seconds
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  Speaker 1: on Yonah Sanker tells you he likes Jonah Sanker at
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  Speaker 1: Star And this is one of those things that kind
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  Speaker 1: of popped into my brain. It's really just been hammered
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  Speaker 1: into my brain because our buddy Ross Jackson over at
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  Speaker 1: Louisiana Sports DoD Net. I feel like Ross wrote about
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  Speaker 1: Yonah Sanker every day for three months. Now, that's an exaggeration,
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  Speaker 1: but it was such a central part of Saints' mini
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  Speaker 1: camp and OTA's the offseason work was trying to find out,
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  Speaker 1: you know, a Lotte Taylor's gone now in Tennessee, how
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  Speaker 1: they were going to make the rotation work at Corner
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  Speaker 1: and Star and Nickel and all the stuff. And Yonah
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  Speaker 1: Sanker just grabbed that thing by the throat and refused
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  Speaker 1: to let go. But this was Yonah Sanker talking about
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  Speaker 1: how playing safety helped them moving in this role.
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  Speaker 3: At the end of the day, I think safety is
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  Speaker 3: is just a different approach in terms of just being
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  Speaker 3: more patient and understanding that you are the last line
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  Speaker 3: of defense, whereas at Nickel, you know there's a little
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  Speaker 3: more room, you know, for air, because you know, let's
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  Speaker 3: say you fit on the wrong side of your man,
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  Speaker 3: you know the safety behind you he's got to make
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  Speaker 3: you right. And that was kind of you know what
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  Speaker 3: I was learning last years of safety and now you know,
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  Speaker 3: being in that other rule, I understand like, okay, I
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  Speaker 3: know my safety's expecting to fit here. Let me not
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  Speaker 3: screw them over and go the wrong way.
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  Speaker 1: So it's good when you look at Jonas Sanker's snaps
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  Speaker 1: a season ago, he had six hundred and forty nine
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  Speaker 1: snaps at free safety, two hundred and sixty seven is
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  Speaker 1: a box safety, and then fifty five in the slot.
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  Speaker 1: So by a country mile, the role he's playing now
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  Speaker 1: was his his smallest impact a season to goo playing
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  Speaker 1: that slot it want to call it slot, nickel, corn, star,
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  Speaker 1: whatever you want to call it, right, not the boundary corner,
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  Speaker 1: not playing deep in safety, but that that's safety close
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  Speaker 1: to the I'm playing in the slot. Played fifty five
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  Speaker 1: snaps there a year ago. I mean he so he's
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  Speaker 1: been there, but not very expansive and elaborative, which is
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  Speaker 1: why in this offseason that was a wide open role
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  Speaker 1: like it ain't no more like Yona. That is one
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  Speaker 1: position that, barring injury knocking for Micah is is done.
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  Speaker 1: And Yonah Sanker is telling you it Kellen Moore is
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  Speaker 1: telling you like that position is locked down by Yonah Sanker,
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  Speaker 1: which is awesome to see. That clearly is a draft
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  Speaker 1: hit with Sanker coming out of Virginia a year ago
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  Speaker 1: playing some deep safety for you at the free and
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  Speaker 1: now moving into that star role. Hopefully when they kick
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  Speaker 1: it off and play for real, he plays up to
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  Speaker 1: the level. But right now they're telling you they ain't
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  Speaker 1: got anybody better than him playing that role right now,
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  Speaker 1: which is really good when you get answers to questions
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  Speaker 1: that early in camp. And then the other is something
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  Speaker 1: that should hit close to home, and it was Barrion Brown.
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  Speaker 1: And Barryon Brown is a guy who dropped all the
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  Speaker 1: way in around six when the Saints took him, but
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  Speaker 1: has this real explosive a ability as a returner, right,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, he has the SEC record for combined return
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  Speaker 1: touchdowns in a career. So Barryon Brown is going to
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  Speaker 1: make the New Orleans Saints roster as a return specialist,
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  Speaker 1: like with Rashid Shaheed being traded a year ago, like
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  Speaker 1: this is a given. I mean he Barrion Brown is
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  Speaker 1: making the team and he will be your primary return specialist.
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  Speaker 1: Punt kickoff that's what he's gonna do. He's gonna make
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  Speaker 1: the team to do that and be a receiver depth piece.
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  Speaker 1: The real question though, is can he be a better
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  Speaker 1: receiver and work his way up into more of the
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  Speaker 1: rotation to get targets at receiver and not just be
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  Speaker 1: a return specialist, a special teams guy and a depth piece.
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  Speaker 1: And this was so much QUBLA eight Please, this was
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  Speaker 1: so interesting listening to Kellen Moore talk today about Barryon
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  Speaker 1: Brown and what they saw from him while they were
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  Speaker 1: going through the evaluation before the draft.
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  Speaker 2: We watched a lot of evidence of him playing receiver
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  Speaker 2: and playing impactful plays in the SEC for a number
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  Speaker 2: of years, not just the LSU year, but the Kentucky year.
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  Speaker 2: And when you watch all that exposure and get to
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  Speaker 2: know very on, you're really fired up to have this guy.
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  Speaker 2: And so he's doing a great job. And I think
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  Speaker 2: the hardest part for these young guys really isn't the physical.
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  Speaker 2: You know, there's an aclamation there, but there's so much
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  Speaker 2: mental and so I think that's credit to him that
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  Speaker 2: he's been really prepared to go out there and play.
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  Speaker 1: Remember the knock on Baryon Brown when he got to LSU.
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  Speaker 1: Do you remember remember the knock. The knock on Barrion
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  Speaker 1: Brown was drops. It too many drops. I went back
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  Speaker 1: and looked it up today. These are the charted drop
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  Speaker 1: the attributed drops from Pro Football Focus and maybe the
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  Speaker 1: other outlets give him more. But as a freshman he
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  Speaker 1: dropped five. As a sophomore he dropped six. As a
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  Speaker 1: junior that was his injury injury season at at Kentucky four.
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  Speaker 1: And then last year with LSU dropped six. So drops
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  Speaker 1: were a problem for Baron Brown during his forty years
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  Speaker 1: in college. But Kellen Moore is telling you, like the
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  Speaker 1: physical has been there for Brown. He keeps flashing big plays.
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  Speaker 1: The question really for young guys is the mental. And
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  Speaker 1: he's actually acclimated way faster than you would anticipate. I
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  Speaker 1: look at this and I go, you know, with the
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: news of Jalen Polk's retirement, it's going to open the
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  Speaker 1: door for somebody because it just clears the deck. It
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: removes a chair, so somebody gets to move up or
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: remove someone from a chair, so someone gets to move up.
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  Speaker 1: Like we know a Lave and Polk are there at
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  Speaker 1: the front and Velay you know with his play late
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  Speaker 1: in the year probably earned that that opportunity. But what's
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  Speaker 1: to say Barrion Brown doesn't come in and leap frog
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: Bryce Lance and Devon Velay and maybe become your number three.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not predicting it saying that's gonna happen. What I'm
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  Speaker 1: saying is you have a guy with a dynamic skill
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  Speaker 1: set who has big playability and track speed, but is
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  Speaker 1: also clearly figuring out the mental component of the game
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  Speaker 1: and may factor in more as a receiver than I
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  Speaker 1: we Saints anyone thought here initially. So great to see
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  Speaker 1: from the former LSU Tiger making waves early in Saints camp.